IITGN’s Curiosity programme to train 75K KGBV girls in STEM education

The online programme, which reaches 746 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) of Uttar Pradesh, aims to improve science education by widening the horizon for students and teachers beyond textbooks and curriculum.

Students of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya attend a session conducted by the Centre for Creative Learning, IIT Gandhinagar.

To encourage girl students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the Centre for Creative Learning (CCL) at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP), has started a specially designed programme called ‘Curiosity’ for 746 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) of the state.  

The programme aims at improving science education by widening the horizon for students and teachers beyond the textbooks and curriculum. Though the programme is built around STEM education, the experiential learning is expected to percolate in the pedagogy of other subjects as well in the long run. The main goal is to develop a replicable implementation model that is built using engaging content, sustained work with teachers and STEM labs as the pivots. 

100 modules on teaching middle school science  

As a part of the ‘Curiosity’ programme, CCL is also developing 100 modules on teaching middle school science in an experiential manner with help of interesting toys and activities. These 100 modules are planned to be implemented in three stages: 1) By conducting online workshops with all 746 KGBV schools, 2) By providing a ‘Curiosity Box’ to all these schools, containing all materials to enable teachers to conduct various immersive activities with students, and 3) By conducting offline face-to-face workshops with all these KGBV schools in UP. These modules, which are specially designed in Hindi for enhanced understanding and learning of students, will be delivered all through the year.  

Online tutorial workshops 

CCL-IITGN has already started conducting online tutorial workshops twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday for one hour each. About 100 girl students of Classes VI to VIII from each of the 746 KGBV schools join the sessions through Zoom and YouTube, taking the total number to about 74,600 students from across the state. The students are also accompanied by their science and math teachers, and sometimes by principals and district coordinators as well. 
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