CHENNAI: Over 13,210 government middle, high and higher secondary schools would start Vanavil Mandrams, which would help engage students of classes 6 to 8 in science and maths experiments on a regular basis. The school education department asked teachers and students perform a few basic science experiments in presence of their local minister, other elected representatives and district collector on Monday, the inaugural day. The schools have been allocated Rs 1,200 each as an initial amount to procure materials needed for the experiments.
Earlier, the school education department conducted a meeting with teachers across various districts to give their suggestions regarding improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning among students.
“The teachers gave details of various topics in textbooks that are difficult to understand and how they can be improved with help of various experiments. If encouraged properly, the students can also try to do experiments at home. Over 12,000 teachers have been trained to improve STEM learning in the schools,” said a circular from the school education department.
Officials in the department said they have also roped in over 700 volunteers, the majority of them from Illam Thedi Kalvi programme so that they could perform experiments in schools with help of mobile kits.