Panaji, government-run and aided schools in Goa go beyond teaching traditional subjects and now impart coding and robotics education in tune with the changing times, opening up a world of opportunities for students and preparing them for the industries of the new age.
Around 65,000 students at such schools in the coastal state are learning coding and robotics at a young age as part of an ambitious government training program that aims to prepare them for the future.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant recently told the legislative assembly that the state government has been implementing the Coding and Robotics Education in Schools (CARES) scheme to equip students with new skills so that they are prepared for industry.
He said the scheme has been successfully implemented in government-run and aided schools and students have been winning laurels at the national and international levels.
Sawant said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, IT teachers of all schools were trained by the Directorate of Technical Education and Goa College of Engineering to become "master trainers".
He maintained that coding and robotics equipment is provided to schools for free, helping students learn new skills and prepare to meet the needs of the digital world.
Dr. Vijay Borges, CARES project director, said the plan is being implemented for the past four years in all middle schools and targets 65,000 students.
"Knowledge delivery through engineering professionals participating as 'Teach for Goa' fellows. They deliver the content to students using project-based learning and problem-solving pedagogy," he explained.
Borges said that through the scheme computer laboratories are modernized to facilitate the teaching and learning process. His aim is to create responsible citizens of tomorrow who are innovative, adopt technology and facilitate the building of an "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India).
He pointed out that CARES is a flagship scheme of the Goa government, which imparts computational, mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills to students, as envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020.
Damodar Gaonkar, principal of the government secondary school in Gaodongrim village in Canacona taluka, about 110 km from Panaji, said students from rural areas are also showing great interest in coding and robotics subjects and are performing excellently. .
"I am amazed by the fact that students have shown great interest in learning coding and robotics. I am very happy that students are competing at the national and international level," he said.
Rohini Shet, a computer science teacher who teaches coding and robotics at the school, said students have been given a particular syllabus for each standard.
"For the sixth standard, we teach Scratch software and in the seventh standard, we teach Dojo software and some kind of Blender software. For the Class 8 students, we teach Sonic pi software and some graphic editing," he explained.
The students seemed excited to learn the new age subjects.
One of them, Samruddha Devidas, said: "I really enjoy learning coding and robotics. I am more interested in learning coding and robotics (than other traditional subjects) as I get to know a lot of new things... it also improves my creative thinking."
Another student, Babita Bhadvan, is also happy to learn coding and robotics.
"They have taught us new coding methods. For example, they have taught us how to create music and make new videos," Bhadvan said.
Around 65,000 students at such schools in the coastal state are learning coding and robotics at a young age as part of an ambitious government training program that aims to prepare them for the future.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant recently told the legislative assembly that the state government has been implementing the Coding and Robotics Education in Schools (CARES) scheme to equip students with new skills so that they are prepared for industry.
He said the scheme has been successfully implemented in government-run and aided schools and students have been winning laurels at the national and international levels.
Sawant said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, IT teachers of all schools were trained by the Directorate of Technical Education and Goa College of Engineering to become "master trainers".
He maintained that coding and robotics equipment is provided to schools for free, helping students learn new skills and prepare to meet the needs of the digital world.
Dr. Vijay Borges, CARES project director, said the plan is being implemented for the past four years in all middle schools and targets 65,000 students.
"Knowledge delivery through engineering professionals participating as 'Teach for Goa' fellows. They deliver the content to students using project-based learning and problem-solving pedagogy," he explained.
Borges said that through the scheme computer laboratories are modernized to facilitate the teaching and learning process. His aim is to create responsible citizens of tomorrow who are innovative, adopt technology and facilitate the building of an "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India).
He pointed out that CARES is a flagship scheme of the Goa government, which imparts computational, mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills to students, as envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020.
Damodar Gaonkar, principal of the government secondary school in Gaodongrim village in Canacona taluka, about 110 km from Panaji, said students from rural areas are also showing great interest in coding and robotics subjects and are performing excellently. .
"I am amazed by the fact that students have shown great interest in learning coding and robotics. I am very happy that students are competing at the national and international level," he said.
Rohini Shet, a computer science teacher who teaches coding and robotics at the school, said students have been given a particular syllabus for each standard.
"For the sixth standard, we teach Scratch software and in the seventh standard, we teach Dojo software and some kind of Blender software. For the Class 8 students, we teach Sonic pi software and some graphic editing," he explained.
The students seemed excited to learn the new age subjects.
One of them, Samruddha Devidas, said: "I really enjoy learning coding and robotics. I am more interested in learning coding and robotics (than other traditional subjects) as I get to know a lot of new things... it also improves my creative thinking."
Another student, Babita Bhadvan, is also happy to learn coding and robotics.
"They have taught us new coding methods. For example, they have taught us how to create music and make new videos," Bhadvan said.
