VIJAYAWADA: When four students from GNR High School boarded a train to Mumbai last November, they carried with them a model they had spent weeks building and a head full of nervous excitement.
They were about to compete at a national Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics competition alongside students from some of India’s best private schools. More significantly, they were the only government school team from Andhra Pradesh and the only school representing the State. They did not return with an award. Instead, they came back with something more valuable- confidence.
“They saw projects that were much bigger and more advanced than ours,” recalled Internet of Things (IoT) instructor Pranathi. “But not once did they feel defeated. On the journey back, they kept saying, ‘Ma’am, next time we can do this... next time we can add that.’ They didn’t lose confidence; they became more determined.” And that determination fills every corner of the school’s Innovation Lab.
Established by the Sujana Foundation in collaboration with Seeds Impact and inaugurated by Vijayawada West MLA YS Chowdary, the lab is one of a kind in a government school in Andhra Pradesh, VV Ravi Kumar, school headmaster asserts. Here, students don’t simply learn about technology- they build with it. Robotics kits, IoT devices and a 3D printer have become tools through which they want to solve everyday problems and imagine a better future.
The team that travelled to Mumbai presented a Smart School Climate Sustainability Network, an IoT-powered model that could monitor outside temperature, and classroom noise levels, automatically water plants using soil moisture sensors and even alert schools about changing weather conditions.
“The students wanted to build something that could actually help other schools as well,” Pranathi said. “They wanted technology to solve problems around them.” And that spirit has only grown stronger.
With a broad smile, Class X student Lakshmi Jahnavi eagerly demonstrated the smart medicine dispenser she had built when she was in IX. As she explained how sensors could dispense tablets at the right time for patients, her excitement was unmistakable.
“I realised technology isn’t just for computers,” she said. “It can make people’s everyday lives easier.” Across the room, Class IX student Akanksha spoke just as enthusiastically-not only about the projects she had built, but about what they had done for her confidence.
“When we showcased our work before dignitaries in a program last year, we were the only government school there,” she told TNIE, unable to hide her smile. “People stopped to ask us questions and appreciated our work. That made us feel really proud. Now, when I go home, I explain these ideas to my friends, and they get excited too.”
Her next goal is already taking shape: a smart food spoilage detector that could use sensors to identify when food has gone bad before it is consumed. And the younger students are already dreaming about the problems they wish to solve.
Ask Class VII students Moksha Vardhan and Dhanunjaya about the Innovation Lab, and the ideas come tumbling out faster than they can finish their sentences. Smart hospitals. Home security systems. Cars that refuse to start if the driver has consumed alcohol. Infrared sensors that stop vehicles before they hit pedestrians. Jewellery designed using a 3D printer. Even human body parts that could help medical students learn.
“It’s our favourite class,” they said almost together, breaking into laughter as each tried to describe the next invention before the other. For Pranathi, that excitement is the biggest reward. “Children today are incredibly curious. Sometimes they understand concepts so quickly that they go beyond what we’ve taught them. We don’t have to tell them to think of new ideas-they come looking for us with them.”
The impact is visible beyond the laboratory too. According to VV Ravi Kumar, the school welcomed 15 students from nearby private schools this academic year, with several parents choosing the government school because of the opportunities the Innovation Lab offers.
The Mumbai competition may not have ended with a podium finish. But for these young innovators, it marked the beginning of something far more important. They returned believing that big ideas don’t belong only to big schools. Sometimes, all it needs is a curious mind, a handful of sensors and the confidence to ask, “What can we build next?”
