CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) is targeting reaching another 50,000 Government school students by 2026 period in seven states through its initiative to popularise science and provide career guidance in vernacular languages to government school students.
"This outreach initiative is being provided free of cost with the objective being to motivate students to take up careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Schools and students who are interested in participating can register through - https://biotech.iitm.ac.in/Faculty/CNS-LAB/outreach.html, " a release from IIT-M read.
Highlighting the need for such initiatives, V Srinivas Chakravarthy of IIT-M said, "Popular science serves as a bridge, translating complex scientific concepts into a language that makes it more accessible to a broader audience. It allows individuals without a scientific background to engage with and appreciate the beauty and importance of scientific discoveries."
"We are very happy to say that we were able to reach 9,193 rural and government schools and we were able to distribute 3,20,702 books to the students. Currently, we are able to reach out to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. The need for these activities is so high for our school students in India and what we are doing is just a beginning, " he added.
The Institute has distributed 3,20,702 books to 9,193 rural and Government schools in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
With financial support from IIT Madras and CSR partners, Prof. V. Srinivas Chakravarthy and his team have published and distributed free popular science books to rural and government schools.
Over the three years, this effort had been expanded to Hindi-speaking States as well.