Agastya International Foundation

This programme aims to educate working children. The organisation observed that working children cannot find time in the daytime due to their daily wage-earning activity, so centres were opened in villages which would function at night. This ensured that the children do not compromise with their earnings and also got educated at the same time.

Through this initiative Agastya seeks to empower teachers, it is a 4-day session held at its Campus Creativity Lab premises. It is attended by teachers from all over India and trains them in the hands-on method of teaching which stresses on experience and guides them in creating low-cost models and teaching aids leading to better education delivery.

YIL’s are students themselves who also get a chance to teach their peers. This programme enables the children to grasp concepts better since they teach their counterparts. This exercise helps the children to improve on their communication and retain what they learned and were taught. The YIL’s also get to visit science fairs and meet experts in the field of science as an added bonus.

The organisation reaches out to children who study in remote under-resourced schools through its mobile science labs. These are vans equipped with models and science experiments also accompanied by two instructors who conduct the experiments and explain the working of the models to the schoolchildren. The experiments and models arouse interest in the children towards science and learning.

For those places where its mobile science labs cannot reach, Agastya has provisioned bikes equipped with models and experiments driven by an instructor. These bikes also have the facility of internet and a laptop available on them. The instructors drive these bikes to extremely remote areas and expose the children to science experiments and concepts ensuring that learning reaches even the unreachable areas of the country.

I-Mobile lab- The iMobile program addresses the lack of science and computer labs and focus on integrated learning through a science-digital linked curriculum. The program is intended for Class 7 students from 12-15 targeted government schools depending on the strength of the school. At the end of one academic year, it is expected that majority of learners will improve literacy levels in several domains – science, digital, language and numeracy. Through its inclusive, participatory model, the program will also initiate an interest and appreciation for science, making classroom-learning fun. Reach and benefits of the iMobile Lab • The iMobile Lab can generate 8,000 exposures* through science sessions and 4,000 digital literacy sessions per year with 12-15 schools impacted by the program. • Mapping to science curriculum - Agastya has built a large repertoire of hands-on science models. Models will be mapped to school science syllabus and introduced in the classroom. iMobile lab curriculum will combine these hands-on science models, digital literacy sessions, science fairs and teacher participation to make science concepts appealing and engaging for the learner. • Language neutral – The program will give plenty of opportunities for learners to improve both vernacular and English skills. Language skills will improve as a natural part from the learner needing to communicate (in communication-based assignments) rather than forced as “language-lessons” on the learner. • Science Fairs by Young Instructors will be opportunities for iMobile Lab beneficiaries to impart their skills to the rest of the school building on their confidence, self-belief and communication. • Orientation to IT Enabled Science and Community projects - In the last few sessions of the academic year, the program will engage learners to identify opportunities where the technology and science skills they have learnt can be leveraged to improve their everyday life (in-school or out-of school).

To scale its reach and impact, Agastya had initiated the Lab in a Box (LIB) program in the year 2009. The LIB program comprises of 10 boxes filled with experiments covering different concepts from Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The LIB program has proved to be a great resource for government school teachers to execute hands-on science activities on a regular basis. The Lab on a Bike (LoB) program is a variation of the LIB program wherein an Agastya instructor uses the LIB to conduct hands-on science classes in the schools. The instructor travels to different schools each day along with an LIB which fits onto the side of his bike (as shown above). On completion of visiting all the pre-defined schools, he starts his next cycle with the second box and so on.

The Mobile Science Lab (MSL) is a powerful and innovative instrument to revolutionize rural education and make hands-on education increasingly accessible. It is a catalytic channel that is fun, engaging and interactive, aimed to raise awareness among disadvantaged children and teachers of the value of learning - with a focus on science. Each MSL travels to doorstep of remote schools with 100+ hands-on science models covering a wide range of topics in Physics, Chemistry and Biology for Class 5 through 9. The teaching approach is consistent with the National Curriculum Framework and the topics overlap the NCERT syllabus.

At the Centre, around 100+ science experiments and models are exhibited (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Ecology and Astronomy). Government school teachers and children visit the Centre and are given the opportunity to interact with simple science experiments and models. Science Centres act as a resource centre and a venue for Teacher Training, Young Instructor (YI) training, Summer Camps and Science Fairs. Agastya can also conduct special training activities like Project Based Learning (PBL), Discovery Based Learning (DBL), and Integrated Learning from the second year of operations. The Science Centre is a space for children and teachers to experience learning in a hands-on, interactive and positive environment. Children perform experiments, learn to make simple models with easily available low-cost materials and participate in team-based projects.

To scale its reach and impact, Agastya had initiated the Lab in a Box (LIB) program in the year 2009. The LIB program comprises of 10 boxes filled with experiments covering different concepts from Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The LIB program has proved to be a great resource for government school teachers to execute hands-on science activities on a regular basis. The Lab on a Bike (LoB) program is a variation of the LIB program wherein an Agastya instructor uses the LIB to conduct hands-on science classes in the schools. The instructor travels to different schools each day along with an LIB which fits onto the side of his bike (as shown above). On completion of visiting all the pre-defined schools, he starts his next cycle with the second box and so on.