When A Beedi Roller's Child Designs Robotic Programmes...
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When A Beedi Roller’s Child Designs RoboticProgrammes MalaKumar
March 20,2015
Bangalore, Education, Inspirational
0
They make robots, programme them and work like pros. Meet the newgeneration of government school kids and learn how they are becomingrobotic champions.
‘The Masterminds’ are just back from an unforgettable contest at the
national level, the First Lego League Challenge in New Delhi. Earlier inJanuary, they had won the regional round of the robotics challenge. A weekbefore that, ‘The Masterminds’ and the other team calling themselves ‘TheTransformers’ were preparing for the regional round of the prestigious FirstLego League India Challenge in Bengaluru, and the excitement andconfidence in the air was palpable. That was when this reporter met thebudding robotics champs.
“She’s very good at programming, he is excellent at model-making,and I like to do everything,” says class 8 student Ramakrishna, talkingabout the members on his team, The Masterminds. These are not traitsthat we generally hear mentioned about children studying in a governmentschool in India.
The teams had been preparing for the contest, comingin one hour early to school in the morning, and oftenstaying back two hours after school. But how did thisgroup of government school kids get into robotics?
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group of government school kids get into robotics?
Thrill of learning.
Nearly 120 students of the Seva Bharat Trust Government School inViveknagar have been part of a robotics programme for over a year now,thanks to an intervention by Bengaluru-based not-for-profit AksharaFoundation, and Lego Foundation, Denmark.
Akshara Foundation had seen the incredible power of Lego blocks in thelearning process of children in over 200 balwadis in Bengaluru, 40anganwadis in remote Malur, in Kolar district, and in over 40 anganwadis inDharwad.
“All children are gifted equally. Given the sameopportunity, every child can flourish,” believes AshokKamath, the Chairperson of Akshara Foundation.
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The Masterminds with the master.
And so, the two foundations decided to have a pilot robotics lab in agovernment school. “We like to come and work here very much,” saysAmin. Like many of his teammates, he wants to find solutions to problems.
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Last year, The Transformers created a roboticprogramme that could regulate the switching on and offof a light bulb based on ambient light. This year, for thechallenge, their project looked at answering problems ineducation.
Robot ics for all ages.
“These children are extremely bright,” says Sridhar P, their mentor.“They are quick learners, problem solvers and want to do a lot,” addsthe instrumentations engineer from Indian Institute of Science who gave upa lucrative tech job to join Akshara Foundation and teach robotics.
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He has been noticing the rise in critical thinking, information literacy,communication, teamwork and analytic skills among the students, and ishoping that with more encouragement from the community, morestudents can be part of this programme.
The Robotics Lab at Seva Bharat Trust GovernmentSchool has about 20 computers. A weekly scheduleensures that all the students in the programme get achance to work on programming, model making andproblem-solving.
Boys at the lab
Outside the lab, the problems come in different forms for these students.Coming from economically weaker sections of society, these students seetheir parents working hard in important but low-paying jobs as beedirollers, drivers, domestic helps, plumbers and electricians. They struggle tocommute, and have little or no academic help at home.
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In school, the students have to manage the regular curriculum, taught inKannada, Tamil or Telugu. In the lab, unlike their counterparts in eliteEnglish-medium schools, they have to start by making sense of key-boardcommands.
Imagine learning the meanings of Delete, Enter, File,Format and Extract while you learn more sophisticatedthings like programming!
Working on the laptop
Girl students have other problems like getting permission to stay back afterschool. And in spite of these problems, these students have participatedand displayed their projects at forums like the Indian Robot Olympiad atVisvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum.
They were the only team to participate from agovernment school in the hi-tech robotics contest lastyear.
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year.
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At the FLL Challenge, The Masterminds presented an idea called ‘NeedBased Education’ and The Transformers emphasized the importance ofinteractive learning. They made the presentation in English. “The secondpart of the Challenge was the Robot game, in which the children hadto build robots to do various task in a given time of 2.5 minutes. Inthe first session, the Transformers stole the show by scoring astraight 255 points, which till then nobody had scored and they stood3rd in the Robotic Game,” says Sridhar proudly. The Masterminds stood4th in the Robotic Game and qualified to participate in the national round inNew Delhi.
So why robotics?
“Robotics is exciting, helps children to learnon their own and innovate. It involveslearning creatively; and since it involvesplay, there is no tension in the learningprocess. If we have to improve education ingovernment schools we have to provide
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them this enabling environment,” saysAshok Kamath.
Girls at robot ics lab.
“Not just that, we have to involve theentire ecosystem in the schooling process– teachers, parents, adminstrators,public. In ten years time, millions oftoday’s children are going to be lookingfor jobs. If we don’t educate them well inthe next ten years, can you imagine theextremely huge number of young menand women looking for jobs but unable toread and write well? It is a problem that isinvisible and so people tend to ignore it.”
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Akshara Foundation and other organizations like this are looking ahead andtrying to find innovative solutions to get children learning well. The RoboticsLab at the Viveknagar school shows what a small intervention can do. It hasshown that children can shine well with even small inputs in terms ofinfrastructure and encouragement. If a small pilot programme, heldtogether by one mentor, can transform the learning process of so manychildren, and have them shining, imagine the effect if more people join themovement to accelerate learning in schools through innovative andsustained ways!
The Masterminds told me, “Last year we were stunnedjust seeing the technology and the preparation of theother teams. We were the only team from agovernment school. This year we are confident we willwin!”
Robot ics team in Delhi.
By reaching the national level of a sophisticated challenge, they havealready won! And just recently, another team from the school, the DragonBoys, has made it to the nationals of the Robocup Junior Competition!
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us:
Haryana is improving the status ofthe girl child in amazing ways. Thecontest has received over 500 entriesso far and the winners will be given acash prize along with a trophy andcertificate.
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[email protected], or connect with us on Facebook andTwitter (@thebetterindia).
About the author: Mala Kumar is a freelance journalist, author and editorwith Pratham Books, a mutli-lingual publisher. She loves to play with words andchildren. She learnt a lot about money while writing the series of books called‘Rupaiya Paisa’, including the fact that investing in every child’s education todayis a wise way to ensure a healthy society for all in the future.
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Sujata Kini · University of Pittsburgh
Brains and determination cross barriers of economic constraints -- as an educator -I feel immensely proud to see that the tough circumstances have not dimmed thequest for excellence and knowledge ---kids like these make me forget the terriblestate of many in our country - for a few hours at least - they keep the flame burning -hats off !
Reply · Like · · 20 May at 19:481
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Rachna Kachru · College of Vocational Studies
Awesome.....simply brilliant
Reply · Like · 7 April at 05:15
Aman Raj · Top commenter · Online Evangelist at Hotelogix, smart hoteliering
Things that truly make you proud as an Indian.
Reply · Like · 3 April at 02:16
Alena Jahns · Works at Vikasana - Organisation for education and socialdevelopment
awesome! I am so impressed :)
Reply · Like · 25 March at 01:27
Nidhi Sharda
Simply brilliant..:)
Reply · Like · 21 March at 11:55
Vivek Vivek · IIM Bangalore
Congratulations to these kids, and to Ashok Kamath and Akshara Foundation!
Reply · Like · 21 March at 02:59
Hari Manian · Sales Executive at Rameswar auto
very impressive , i will guide my kid towards such talents
Reply · Like · · 20 March at 09:581
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