‘Give platform to children to become scientists’
   Date :05-Jan-2023

Give platform  
 
 
 
By Kaushik Bhattacharya
“It is essential that children get encouragement to participate in science exhibitions which will pave way for them to become future scientists,” said Dr Satish Wate, former Director, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) during the inauguration of Children’s Science Congress on the platform of 108th Indian Science Congress on Wednesday.
“You Learn, You Perform, You Exhibit”, was the slogan given by Dr Wate to the children who were participating in the event. He also spoke about ‘Self-Reliant India’ in relation to the aspects like the Covid-19 vaccine success in India, defence, agriculture and space missions.
Dr Wate urged children to draw inspiration from the former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. “India has progressed a lot in science and technology. Our children should get a proper platform to carry forward our legacy that we created in science and technology,” said Dr Wate. ‘Understanding Ecosystem for Health’, was the theme of Children’s Science Congress during the 108th ISC held at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Campus. The objective of National Children’s Science Congress programme is to exhibit creativity and innovativeness, more particularly to solve societal problems. The inauguration programme saw the release of the Abstract Book of Children’s Science Congress at the hands of Dr Satish Wate and Dr Subhash R Chaudhari, Vice-Chancellor, RTMNU.
Dr Vijaylaxmi Saxena, General President, ISCA, Dr Manoranjan Mohanty, Head, NCSTC, Government of India, Dr R Ramamurthy, Ex-General President, ISCA and Dr Nishikant Raut, Convenor, National Adolescent Science Conference also shared the dais.
Dr Chaudhary, in his speech said, “What we read by itself is not complete education, it is very important to adopt a research culture to complete that education and it is equally important to inculcate the temperament of research in children”. He said that if the children were shown the scientific direction, then they can easily solve even the biggest of problems.
Dr Vijaylaxmi Saxena, quoted Ravindranath Tagore - “The highest education is that does not merely gives us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence”. She said, “ISC is committed to spreading the concept of Sustainabile Development of Research, Production and Environment”. She also spoke on science and technology being important pillars for the sustainable growth of our country. Dr S Rama Krishna, General Secretary ISA proposed a vote of thanks. The programme was conducted by Ankita Moon. The Children Science exhibition was also inaugurated on Wednesday at the hands of Dr Satish Wate. Large number of students from different parts of the country exhibited their innovations.