“Vigyan Yatra,” a science outreach program undertaken by IWSA for taking science to the underprivileged students of rural schools in Maharashtra!

In keeping with the mandate of IWSA, of taking science to the masses and developing a scientific temper at all levels in the society through its various science education related programs, this project was conceptualised with the aim of extending the outreach activities of IWSA to underprivileged school students from remote Zilla Parishad schools of Raigad district in Maharashtra. The idea was to help these students understand the basic concepts and principles of science that are taught in their schools, through demonstrations / hands-on simple experiments, scientific models, and other teaching aids. This could encourage scientific literacy, curiosity, imagination, innovation, and problem-solving skills in these students for solving their local problems. Several distinguished Indian scientists like APJ Abdul Kalam, Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Bhabha, MS Swaminathan, Anil Kakodkar, to name a few, have emphasized the need to bridge the urban-rural divide and use science and technology for grassroots development and for solving day-to-day practical problems of the common man.

Under the scheme of Vigyan Yatra, IWSA members, along with a few volunteers, are planning to visit at least 15-20 Zilla parishad schools within one year, carrying with them, in a van, several scientific models, charts, teaching aids, and experiments which they will explain/demonstrate to the students, and talk about their day-to-day applications.

IWSA adopted a very novel approach. It contacted the prestigious and privileged Delhi Public School, at Nerul, Navi Mumbai, with a proposal of a free, two-month Mentorship / Internship Program for students of Classes IX and XI, to ideate, design and make models in various branches of science and mathematics that would satisfy the above criteria. Besides, the involvement of these young students from a privileged section of society would instil in them a sense of ‘social responsibility’ towards their under privileged counterparts in rural India.

About twenty-five students mentored by 35 mentors from IWSA and a few external experts, contributed 22 science models to IWSA which were exhibited in a science model competition on 4^th of October, 2025. (Some photographs of the models, and some Newspaper coverage is attached). Several of these models have been used as teaching aids in the Vigyan Yatra trips to rural schools.

The details of the schools covered within the talukas of Raigad district, during December to March are as below