Ahmedabad to host 17th National Children Science Congress

By ENN, Ahmedabad, The 17th National Children Science Congress (NCSC), a prestigious national academic event, will be organized for the first time in Gujarat at Ahmedabad between December 27 and 31, 2009. Gujarat Council of Science City, in association with SGVP International School, Ahmedabad, will host the five-day prestigious scientific programme. All the activities during the conference will revolve around the central theme of 'Planet Earth - Our Home, Explore, Care and Share'.

The programme is organized every year in different states during the same period with support from National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. NCSC is designed to encourage children's involvement in the process of scientific innovation. Children in the age group of 10-17 will take part in the conference.

While giving outline of this unique programme, Smt. Anandiben Patel, Hon'ble Minister of Revenue, Disaster Management, Roads and Buildings, Capital Project, Women and Child Welfare expressed that "programme like this children science congress will provide a forum to the child scientists to pursue their natural curiosity and to quench their thirst for creativity by experimenting on open-ended problems. While encouraging the children to visualize future of the nation and helping them in building a generation of sensitive and responsible citizens, it will also stimulate scientific temperament and throw light on various scientific principles."

With the passage of the time, the NCSC has gained popularity not only in India but also in foreign countries. As a result, 100 child scientists along with their escorting teachers from SAARC countries will attend the 17th NCSC. Apart from the 800 selected child scientists from India and abroad, over 50,000 local students are expected to take part in the various programmes organized during the event.

Moreover, different scientific institution from within and outside Gujarat will take part in the scientific exhibition highlighting science, technology and society interface, to mark the event.

An opportunity to interact with prominent scientists of the country will enable the children to satisfy their curiosity about various scientific issues. This interactive session will be a major attraction of the summit.The scientists, who will give answers, include,Prof Yashpal, Chancellor of JNU, Dr. Narendra K. Sehgal, Dr. J. N. Goswami, Prof. Abhijit Sen, Dr. R. R. Navalgund, Dr. Saroj Ghose, Dr. Samar K. Bagchi and many other eminent scientists.

Highlighting the scientific component of the entire programme, Shri Ravi S. Saxena, Principal Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat expressed that the NCSC will enable the participants to think on some significant societal problem, ponder over its cause and subsequently try to solve the problem by using the scientific process. Child scientists are encouraged to express their findings in vernacular languages. The Department of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat has patronized the event to inculcate scientific temper among the younger children and to practice the method of science form their early career.

"This encourages a sense of discovery in the children by using skill for keen observation, raising pertinent questions, building models, predicting solutions on the basis of the model, trying out various possible alternatives and arriving at the most suitable solution through experiments, field work, research and innovative ideas' Shri Saxena added.

As a part of the conference, a host of programmes like technical session for child scientists, activity corners for child scientists, scientific exhibition by premier scientific institutions and themes, poster presentation session for child scientists, cultural programme by the child scientists and state cultural team, panel discussions for teachers, interaction though videoconferencing and so on are organized during the five-day event. Apart form that, orientation programmes by panels of judges, interaction with the state coordinators and popular talks will also be held.

The Gujarat Science City, working under the aegis of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat which is emerging as an
effective and large scale science education and popularization platform in the state and country is taken all the initiative to organize the national level event as Host. Shri Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratisthanam (SGVP) International School has been extending the infrastructural facilities as Co-host for this programme.

For 17th NCSC, the child scientists across the country and abroad will feel the approach and methodology on informal community based learning in the sprawling campus of the Science City which is different from the formal mode of education.