“School in a lab” and “lab in a box” may seem paradoxical
metaphors. However, Kuppam campus of Agastya
Foundation has combined these two beautifully to create a rich learning
experience for school children in rural India. In the process, Agastya has
created a model which might create for the rural education what Grameen
Bank has done to the micro-finance. What exactly has Agastya done? We got a glimpse
of it during our memorable Kuppam visit earlier this month thanks to Dr. Shibu Shankaran and Ramji Raghavan. Here are three characteristics of Agastya-model that stood
out.
Experience-first, explanation-next:
Agastya has turned the learning process upside-down. How many of you remember anything about conservation of angular
momentum? I don’t. However, when you sit on the swivel chair, hold the
revolving cycle wheel in your hand and then turn it, you experience yourself
revolving (see picture). This experience makes you much more receptive to
understand the principle behind it. The whole of Kuppam campus is like a large
laboratory where there are hundreds of instruments you can “play with” first. However, what makes Agastya unique is that it
has created a pedagogy (way of teaching) around it. When students come in the
morning from nearby villages to the campus, they first perform experiments. Of
course, you need to explain them enough for them to perform the experiment.
Set-up with the kids |
However, the major part of theory is taught after
the experiment. On an average, a student within 30km radius of Kuppam visits
the campus four times a year. And during each visit, he attends two sessions: one in the
morning and one in the afternoon. Isn’t four days a year too short a time? And
what about the other students outside the 30km radius? Well, Agastya has
thought about that too.
Agastya Hubli centre |
Hub-and-spoke model: Agastya currently has 21 satellite centres spread across 10 states in
India. In fact, when I visited Agastya’s Hubli centre last February I got to see the Bhishma’s chair and much more. Students in
and around Hubli area visit the Hubli centre. Apart from this Agastya has
created a “lab in a box” concept where instruments necessary to perform specific experiments
are put in a box. And these boxes reach schools through 60+ mobile vans. Agastya
is currently experimenting with a “lab in an auto” and a “lab on a bike” concepts. Making
lab accessible to kids is just one part of the story. What about the teachers? Well,
Agastya trains the teachers as well. However, what is perhaps even more
impactful is the “young instructor leader” program. This program identifies
bright students and trains them to become champions. What better way to learn
than peers explaining it to you? You say, “Fine. But how is Agastya able to
make scientific equipment available at low cost?” That leads to the third leg
of Agastya’s model.
Build capacity to make low-cost instruments: When
you are trying to reach millions of kids in several thousands of schools, cost
of instruments matter. We visited the workshop in Kuppam campus where Agastya
makes many of the student-friendly instruments. There were some which were made in
Bangalore. Our 14 year old son said he wouldn’t mind doing an internship in the
workshop.
Agastya is not claiming to be the “complete” institution.
Currently, it is heavily biased towards hard sciences. Arts curriculum is just taking
off. Theatre and music is nowhere to be seen. But, most importantly, Agastya is
learning and innovating every day. Unlike most educational institutions in India its “idea
box” is alive and breathing and language of experimentation is very much part
of the culture. I wish Agastya a great future.
Lab in a box |
Idea box at Agastya |
Workshop for lab equipment |
Related article:
“Agastya
is empowering rural India”, Ramji Raghavan’s interview at Education World,
Mar 7, 2012. Ramji, the brain behind Agastya, explains the model and its
impact.
Agastya is doing a great job. Reading your blog makes me more determined to visit it and see it for myself.
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