With the creation of Aavishkaar, Sandhya and Sarit have reinvented the purpose of teaching mathematics and science.
How many parents who returned from the US of A admit their child to a government school? Not many you would say, but Sarit Sharma and Sandhya Gupta did just that as they believed that it was in sarkari schools that the child gets to play the most and learn fearlessly. Although they had no connection with Kandbari, seven km from Palampur in Himachal Pradesh, they established Avishkaar – Center for Science, Arts & Technology as they wanted to stay in a cold place as they were used to the US climate.
After admitting their child, they would make frequent visits to the school and realize that the teaching of Math and Science was much to be desired. The couple also visited more schools in the state and realized that science and math are the primary vehicles of learning and decided to simplify.
Currently, Aavishkaar is working in association with Teach for India across the nation. Aavishkaar trains Teach for India fellows in teaching Science and Mathematics. They are also working with some government schools in Assam. The upcoming plan for Aavishkaar is an association with the Punjab government to implement their method of teaching Science and Mathematics in the state board of Punjab.
Avishkaar is also associated with the Tibetan Government. Their system of teaching mathematics is now being used by many schools under the Tibetan government. “The present education system is about remembering things. At Aavishkaar, students are made to understand things. For example, the present schools teach what multiplication is and what division is. But they do not teach why they are done or how they are done,” says the founders of Aavishkaar.
“India is a great place to experiment with innovations in education. Being a changemaker, you are also a decision-maker. There will be successes and failures, but all of those are yours. And most importantly, you will get to work with other changemakers, and together we can bring about changes in conventional education,” says Sarit Sharma.
“The way of teaching Mathematics and Science in our conventional education system is wrong. It just makes children memorize things but not understand things. We are not here as a parallel education system or after-school tuition center. We are working on changing the education system so that students understand the concepts,” says Sarit Sharma and Sandhya Gupta, founders of Aavishkaar: Center for Science, Arts & Technology.
We work with other changemakers, and together we can bring about changes in conventional education.
