IISER Boot Camp to strengthen science education in KVS

Berhampur: A five-day Boot Camp for Science and Mathematics Trained Graduate (TG) teachers in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) is being organised on the campus of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)- Berhampur. The camp aims to strengthen science education in schools at the grassroots level.

Eighty selected TG teachers, including 40 from Science and 40 from Mathematics streams, are participating in this programme being held from July 22 to 26. Boot Camp aims to inculcate innovative teaching techniques among teachers, give them an exposure to the research environment and develop a better understanding of concepts. It also provides opportunities for self-improvement and learning the latest innovations in advanced teaching methodologies.

The event, sponsored by KVS, started with a ceremonial lighting of lamp by IISER-Berhampur Director Prof Ashok K Ganguli, KVS Deputy Commissioner Dr Shiharan Bose and Deans of IISER-Berhampur.

During the inauguration, Prof Ganguli inspired the participants by emphasising the importance of continuous learning and innovation in teaching practices and highlighted the role of such programmes in enhancing the quality of education and equipping teachers with the latest methodologies to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students.

The PG teachers were fascinated with the Boot Camp and enjoyed learning science through activities to widen their exposure to the latest discoveries and current progress in scientific fields. Teachers were exposed to exploring state-of-the-art research labs at IISER-Berhampur, which are dedicated to physics, chemistry, biology and earth & environmental sciences.

Teachers are fed with ideas to explore curricular science concepts in a manner that would be exciting to students. A large number of activities covering a range of topics from school curricula are demonstrated with detailed explanation of scientific principles. This is considered as a step to improve teaching-learning in classrooms, get the students excited about learning science and fuel their curiosity.