Narmada Bal Ghar provides scientific education to students in Morvi

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Narmada Bal Ghar (NBG) hosted a science fair on February 10, in Morvi, Gujarat, where over 125 teams of students ages 8 to 18 showed exhibits on science, including Li-Fi Communication Technology, Hyper Loop Transport, Alternate Energy, Environment, Robotics and more.

NBG was founded by Bharat Mehta in 2014, with a vision to supplement the prevalent science education system.

Mehta saw that students were able to reproduce text with last minute memorization and that  convinced him to develop a supplemental system which focused on imparting understanding, challenge curiosity and develop self-confidence while not defy prevalent system or the official curriculum.

NBG then formed a Development Group. I.T. based in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and other cities.

In early 2015, the first step of the NBG System of Learning was implemented at 50 schools in Gujarat, offering English and/or Gujarati medium of instruction.

Since then it has moved to over 580 schools in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and other states.

NBG now wants to extend their services across India, since 85 percent of schools are using local language as the medium of instruction. They intend to apply a Multi-Step Learning Ladder where the first step is to put dead text into lively action by offering necessary tool kits and supplies to conduct experiments that are in the school text book curriculum.

The NBG Teachers Training Program trains the school teachers who conduct the experiments using the kits as part of the enhanced education delivery so that students can question, discuss and understand the material by seeing what is happening instead of taking notes and memorizing.

To strengthen implementation, NBG team visit schools periodically under a service called “Project Support” where the feedback is supplied to sponsors and retained as records.

The school curriculum is designed to meet the average ability student as many bright students end up wasting their time and eroding their innate abilities due to the limitations of class standards.

The NBG System also offers after-class Science Clubs to enable the rapid progress of students in subjects of their interest which are not covered in school curriculum, such as electronics.

NBG also has labs named Makers Room and Innovation Incubator, in Morvi, and Pune, Maharashtra, where qualified engineers and professionals guide the students in their projects. NBG labs are also equipped with 3D printers, solar energy kits and electronics.

They have ‘hot links” as well.

These are links to videos from Khan Academy, BBC’s How Stuff Works and similar sites that perform the same experiments so that village students can gain knowledge of the world they live in.

NBG has empowered teachers and students of over 90 percent of the schools in Morvi District reaching over 100,000 students.