Atal Tinkering Labs at school must have hand tools and Scrap yards – Yogesh Kulkarni

Pune, February 9th,2018: It is very important for children to understand and learn the phenomenon behind science. Which is the main objective behind Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL).So, the schools should ensure that the labs instil hand tools and ScrapYard, said Yogesh Kulkarni, Executive Director, Vidnyan Ashram, Pabal at the First State Level ATL Meet organized by Dr. Kalmadi Shamrao High School.

Malti Kalmadi, Secretary of Kannada Sangh, Pallavi Naik, Principal Dr. Kalmadi Shamrao High School, Chris Bastian Pillai, Founder Robominds, Madhish Parikh, ATL Incharge of Best High School, Ahmedabad, Akshay Chawla, Intel Innovation coach,Best High School were present asthe dignitaries on the occasion.

Atal Tinkering Labs are dedicated work spaces where students learn innovation skills and develop ideas. The lab activities are designed to spur the spark of creativity and go beyond regular curriculum. The ATL’s are established under Atal Innovation Mission of the Central Government.

Kulkarni further said, ”Students should try to understand the scientific work behind the problems surrounding them. As childhood is the period which helps in shaping the personality in future. Many Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) have Electronic equipment, Sensors, 3-D printers, and Robotic equipments, they are no doubt fascinating and glamorous. But the purpose of the laboratories of ‘Atal Tinkering Lab’ established in schools is that these laboratories should make children have an interesting way to understand the world before finding the solution. And this can be achieved with simple hand tools.”

Pallavi Naik, said, ATL meet is an initiative to know how different schools in Pune are tinkering young minds. More than 20 schools have registered for the meet. ATL is a sharing and learning platform where students will be taught how to sustain tinkering.

Adding to the meet a panel discussion was organized where panelists were Vivek Ponkshe, Education head at Jnana Prabhodini, Chris Bastian Pillai, Madhish Parikh, Akshay Chawla. The objective behind the panel discussion was to discuss ideas on how to sustain tinkering culture in school.

The panelists emphasized that all the teachers must be oriented to the concept of tinkering. A tinkering period must be integrated in the time table. Schools must publicize about their ATL. As the children have less exposure to the science. Therefore, it is wrong to expect some dramatic solutions from school students. Hence schools must not focus on a final product rather they should give a lot to explore and try multiple times. All schools must stay connected and share their success and failure stories. These are the topics panelists came through during the panel discussion.