The students who presented their projects were trained by their respective EMRSs. Photo: X/@PIB_MoTA
Web applications that trace the journey of Chandrayaan-3, applications that spread awareness about road safety, cleaning the oceans, and reducing hunger — these were some of the 20 coding projects tribal students from Eklavya Model Residential Schools across the country exhibited on September 25 in Delhi after less than a year of basic training in computer science and block programming code.
The students who presented their projects were trained by their respective EMRSs, where teachers were given special training for the modules as part of a collaboration between the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Amazon India, and Learning Links Foundation to bring computer and coding education to tribal students in the country.
AI added to curriculum
As students who learned from the first phase of the project launched last year presented their projects at an exhibition at Hotel Park in New Delhi, the second phase of the project was also launched by the Tribal Affairs Ministry. Based on experience from the pilot, the module has been revised to introduce a customised coding and artificial intelligence (AI) curriculum that is aligned with CBSE skill education.
These will be in addition to the current courses in coding, logical sequencing, learning loops, and block programming. “The 20-hour module is constructed taking into account the current exposure of tribal students to computer science and coding,” the government said in a statement.
It will start with fundamentals of computer science at the level of Class 6 and will advance with each grade. For instance, the students will be introduced to concepts of artificial intelligence in Class 8. By Class 10, the AI module aligned with the CBSE skills curriculum will be introduced in the academic year 2024-25.
“Collaboration between Amazon Future Engineer programme and NESTS, has the potential to bridge the academic gap existing among tribal communities, ensuring their successful careers in emerging technologies,” Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said on Monday in a recorded message before the launch of the second phase.
One official at the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS), which administers EMRSs, told The Hindu, “It is important for tribal students to see that they are able to understand concepts of emerging technologies. And that is why we have arranged this exhibition – so that they are confident about learning these subjects and are able to show it to the world as well.”
A new beginning
The son of a farmer in Adilabad district’s Narnoor area, Satyanarayan had not seen a computer or laptop till he started studying at the EMRS in Narnoor and was introduced to block-based coding last year. On Monday, in his first trip to New Delhi ever, the Class 9 student was among the 20 students who presented their first-ever coding project to the public – a visual-interactive web application that traced the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
“It starts with a teacher asking students to go on a journey with her and then proceeds to show how the mission took off, went on and landed on the Moon. Then there is a graphic of the Pragyaan rover coming out of the lander, to collect samples. The rover then signs off saying it has work to do,” Satyanarayan told The Hindu. “I didn’t realise I’d be this confident at the end of the day but explaining to everyone how I made this really made me feel good.”
Similarly, Khushi, a Class 7 student at EMRS Indu in Gujarat, had come up with an interactive application to spread awareness about cleaning pollutants from the oceans.
The Ministry is currently running a 3-day workshop in Delhi to train EMRS teachers in the revised module. In this phase of the module, teachers from 54 EMRSs in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Odisha, and Rajasthan are participating.