IIT-Madras launches summer STEM programme to reach out to rural school students

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said, “These five days will create a major change in your (students) lives. This program will instill confidence in Government School Students”. He said that Chief Minister MK Stalin is “keen that Government Schools become a place of pride for students. This program will help motivate students to become job generators instead of job seekers.

Chennai: In a bid to motivate young students and kindle their passion for creative and innovative thinking for scientific and technological advancements, IIT Madras is conducting an outreach program for rural school students through a summer program on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from 20th to 25th June. The programs will be taught in English and Tamil. The Institute is planning to make this program available through online mode and make it available to rural students across India.

An average of one lakh rural school children are targeted to be connected to the program per year. The program will have a hands-on practical component of 70 percent with the remaining 30 percent comprising motivational lectures by expert members from Industry and academics. The idea is to motivate students by imparting knowledge on fundamental principles and providing experiences that would enable them to think big.

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Minister for School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the program in the presence of Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Prof. R. Sarathi and Prof. Anbarasu Manivannan, Professors in the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras. Addressing the inaugural event at IIT Madras Research Park, Thiru.

Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said, “These five days will create a major change in your (students) lives. This program will instill confidence in Government School Students”. He said that Chief Minister MK Stalin is “keen that Government Schools become a place of pride for students. This program will help motivate students to become job generators instead of job seekers.

STEM Education will greatly improve ‘learning outcomes.” Thanking IIT Madras for taking up this initiative, Poyyamozhi said the Department has given importance to students from disadvantaged blocks while selecting students for this program. “The 100 students is only a beginning and many more students will be brought in. This program has 70 percent of a hands-on component with the rest being theory,” he said.

Poyyamozhi added that students will also learn about copyrights, “which are important. Tamil Nadu should become the leader in filing copyrights in the country.” Speaking on the occasion, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, said, “We have selected key topics such as electronics, which are important for the nation, to be taught during this five-day event.

This is the first of its kind program being held by IIT Madras. Now, 100 students are attending this program but our target is to reach out to one lakh students.” Prof. V. Kamakoti thanked the School Education Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, for its cooperation on the initiative. “Students learn a lot of theory in their classes but practical classes are also important and they need not be conducted only in institutions.

We are providing kits during this workshop that will enable practicals to be done even at home. My wish is that I want all these 100 students to get degrees from IIT Madras,” he said. In the first batch, the program initially brings together 100 children studying in Class X in Government Schools from rural areas to IIT Madras to provide a residential summer program.

Topics in basic sciences will be covered including Environmental and Electronic aspects in Engineering, Technological growth in Renewable Energies, and Applied Mathematics, among others. The students are from districts such as Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi, Krishnagiri, Perambalur, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruvannamalai, and Villupuram.

The Institute is also arranging travel facilities to the campus besides food and accommodation for the students. A special kit has also been prepared for this program in which the students can carry out as many as 100 electronic experiments.