‘Sky-watching’ event at Delhi govt schools

Students across 29 Delhi government schools will on Monday participate in a “sky-watching” event for the first time using telescopes provided by the Samagra Shiksha

Students across 29 Delhi government schools will on Monday participate in a “sky-watching” event for the first time using telescopes provided by the Samagra Shiksha — an overarching programme for school education extending from pre-school to class 12. The Delhi unit of the programme has set up astronomy clubs in these schools in the past three years.

“Through this activity, students will learn, through practical exposure to celestial events like a lunar eclipse, the movement of planets, the arrival of comets meteor shower etc. that will help in building confidence among students and prepare them for future,” said Mohinder Pal, deputy director of education (Samagra Shiksha).

Kavita Rana, assistant project director at Samagra Shiksha, said team members will also be visiting all the schools holding the event on Monday. “Mentors from ISRO and IIT,Kanpur will be participating for the activity,” she said.

Schools have been asked to comply with Covid-19 norms regarding physical distancing and sanitisation. Parents of the students will also have to submit a no-objection certificate to the school.

“Students will be able to gain hands-on experience and see what they learn in their books. This is bound to increase their interest in science. We are calling over 30 class 9 and 10 students to school to watch the full moon and Saturn rings,” said Vijay Kumar, librarian at RPVV Shalimar Bagh.