OREANDA-NEWS. November 30, 2011. In line with its philosophy of improving the quality of life of the communities living in and around its area of operations, Tata Power is implementing an education excellence programme in villages around Tiruldih Project and has now extended its science awareness programme to a new village, Choura, through a science fair.

Choura, one of the villages adjoining the Tiruldih Project, has two middle schools. Similar to the other neighbouring villages where this programme was undertaken, the learning levels of the students of Choura was also much below the national average. This lead the company to undertake the education excellence programme in the area.

The main aim of the programme is to involve children in the science fair, and increase their awareness about science. Thirty students were initially selected from Classes 6 to 8 of Choura middle and Urdu schools, and trained for three days on the basics of science, to develop them as Bal Vigyan Mitra, where they were acquainted with various models depicting different concepts and theories of science. These students were also trained to display and explain them to other visitors.

The science fair was visited by hundreds of students from schools of neighbouring villages and the selected children proudly displayed their models. The programme lasted for one full day and the best student participants were rewarded and recognised by the company.

Speaking on this initiative, Praveer Sinha, project director, eastern region, said, “Our effort through this science fair is to create interest in science amongst the students of middle schools, develop a logical mindset, and inclination towards the subject, which will help them in conceptualising the subject more effectively during high school, where they will be able to relate to the subject with their practical experiences.”

“Looking at the enthusiasm of students to take part in the science fair we are sure that their interest in studies will also increase, which is the essence of the education excellence programme,” added D Santra, deputy general manager, Tiruldih Project.

Once again, the science fair was a big success and also witnessed participation and applause from officials of the Education Department. Along with local villagers, parents of the students and members of the school management committee also appreciated this initiative.