Express News Service BENGALURU: Every Saturday, Ashok R travels 13 km to Sampangiram Nagar to teach 70 odd children Science at the government school here. This school has no Biology, Zoology or Chemistry teacher for the past two years. Mugging up these subjects has become common practice. Since Ashok started taking classes, he has been trying to get these kids into the subject. Ashok is from the Karnataka Vijnana Parishat. He has volunteered to teach students for a couple of hours on Saturdays as part of Shikshan. This is a city-based initiative where youths from the city have teamed up with scientists, IPS officers and national sportspersons to encourage students to study and learn Science and Computer Science. Besides that, former IPS officer Annamalai grooms these kids to become well rounded individuals with personality training. Assistant DRDO researcher Vinod Kartavya formed a group to help other government school students learn the basics of computers and Science. “We wanted to give them sustainable laboratories that are inexpensive. The Indian Literacy Project developed science kits and Samarpan Trust by the Infosys foundation gave five schools one kit each. Our volunteers helped the teachers get acquainted with the equipment. A volunteer was roped in from the Karnataka Vijnana Parishad to teach at a school that lacked a teacher,” he said. Senior DRDO scientist Srinivasan said that more than teaching Science as a career option, they were trying to instill a scientific temper in students. He helps volunteers frame the curriculum for practical classes and teaches Computer Science at a government school at Nagavarapalya. “We teach terms in the vernacular for students who come from Kannada medium. Eventually we end up teaching them quite a bit of English,” he added. Headmistress of government high school, Sampangirama Nagar, Shamantha said that with the transfer and retirement of teachers, there are vacancies. However, these vacancies take time to be filled. “The chemistry teacher retired two years ago. Another teacher and I have been teaching Chemistry, Biology and Zooology using CDs and models,” she said. The five science kits to be installed at this school will be donated by the Bengaluru Political Action Committee headed by Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. This school is among five schools that will receive science kits from Shikshan.

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