Driving the science express in rural Gujarat

Vijaysinh Parmar/TNN/Chulla village (Sabarkantha): He goes where no man has been before to set up science labs. Armed with special kits and models, primary school teacher Prakash Suthar from Chulla village in Vadali taluka, Sabarkantha district, spends his weekly offs and holidays travelling to remote villages on his bike. He has been on this mission for last eight years. Many of the schools he visits are in tribal pockets. Suthar calls his journeys ‘Vignan ni Tirthyatra’ (pilgrimage of science). The aim of these ‘yatras’ is to simplify the subject and spread awareness among children in rural areas. These children have no access to science labs where they can understand in practice what they learn in textbooks. In the initial part of this drive, he wrote postcards to all village primary schools in the taluka saying if teachers were ready to spare time on Sundays or holidays, he would come to their schools and make a presentation using experimental models. “I will not even charge for travel expenses,” he said in the card. In order to make science easy, Suthar has developed many models for classes V, VI and VII. With them, children can perform more than 100 scientific experiments which cover their entire syllabus. When a teacher or student asks him for models, he makes another kit for them. “I let students experiment as they want. Even if they break a model, I don’t mind. After all, the models are not meant to be showpieces.” Teachers now ask him to establish science labs in their schools. So far he has set up 20 in the district. “My aim is to simplify teaching of science in village schools. Teachers can do this too,” he says. Earlier, if a teacher was unable to communicate science effectively, there was a chance that students would drop out. Experimental models prevent this by serving as teaching aids. Suthar has also broken the myth that science models are unaffordable. He makes them using waste material and inexpensive stuff. As a result of his efforts, students from remote villages have started taking part in state science fairs. “Prakash’s dedication is commendable. It’s because of him that our students have started participating in science fairs and have also won prizes. He was with our school for five years. Now, he is with Chulla primary school,” says Geeta Sagar, principal of Kesharganj Primary School, two km from Chulla village. Before he joined Chulla school, children from that village used to come here to study, but not any longer, she adds.