National Science Teacher Workshop at IISF, Faridabad
- Experience sharing from a Secondary Science Teacher's perspective -

Hanjabam Sangeeta Devi *

With the students and teachers from Manipur participating in IISF

Being an enthusiastic science teacher with a yearning to learn new things and a contemporary style of teaching, I always look forward to participating in workshops and events. I never looked back when Madam Kamala Leishangthem (MES ,Nodal officer NIF and Additional Director of Education Dept, Manipur) shared the details ofIndian International Science Festival with us.

The India International Science Festival (IISF), the much awaited festival by science enthusiasts like me, is a celebration of India's achievement and laurels in the field of Science and Technology, an initiative of the Honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi under his vision of Science for Society.

IISF was first organised at IIT, Delhi (December 2015), and I was fortunate to participate in the 9th edition at Science Teachers Workshop at IISF 2023 from 17th to 20th January, 2024 at NCR Biotech Science Cluster, Faridabad, Haryana.

Firstly, I had to get through the application process, which was in no way an easy task. Here, my experiences as an E-content tutor for the Education Department during the pandemic and the videos of practical experiments completed in collaboration with my students came in handy.

Group Photograph after the Workshop

After my confirmation for participation at Science Teachers Workshop at IISF 2023, I booked my flight ticket with the assurance of reimbursement of TA.

Meanwhile, I came to know about the participation of 4 students from different parts of Manipur, one each from Chandel, Ukhrul, Kakching and Moirang and a Teacher ( Sir Sarju of Kakching Hr Sec. School) as a guide to participate in one of the event (Science Village) at IISF. I was glad to have some companions from my home state Manipur.

I took a flight to Delhi on 16th January along with the teacher and the 4 students. Weather conditions delayed the flight for a while both during departure and arrival but finally we landed in Delhi IGI Airport at around 6 :30 PM. We took a Taxi and drove directly to my accomodated Hotel at Gurugram. It was a freezing cold winter night at Delhi.

My suitcases were packed with warm clothes with prior information from the organisers and some of my friends. After reaching the designated hotel, I checked-in and freshened up. Happy to find myself to be in a neat, clean and cosy room which was to be shared with another roomate.

Later I met few other co participants of the workshop, had a warm and delicious dinner together and wound up the day with a good night's sleep.

Hands on activity during the workshop

The workshop was for 4 days and had science teachers from every corner of India but only a few representatives were from the North Eastern States and only 3 teachers, Oja Chungkham Indira and Oja Paonam Joychandra and myself, were from Manipur.

It was my first time participating in such a humongous event that too at a National level. Since the event lasted just 4 days, the schedule was packed with multiple events such as Panel Discussions, Activities, Speeches which I was fortunate enough to witness. I felt inspired by all of it.

Science teacher workshop was just one of the many events of the India International Science Festival (IISF), similarly many such workshops were also present for the students, innovators, researchers. Hundreds of stalls participated to showcase the best talents and works from within the country. Several cultural events were also arranged during the evenings.

Due to limited time, I wasn't able to check out each and every stall but I was glad to find some work from my own state of Manipur like MASTEC and IBSD. I was also delighted to meet enterprenuer Moirangthem Muktamani Devi, a Padmashri, 2022 awardee from Manipur.

Those 4 days passed pretty quickly and I felt so motivated and inspired after participating in the workshop. I have acquired many teaching techniques and other important knowledge from my co-participants which will be useful teaching tools for my students and surely benefit them.

At National Science Teacher Workshop, IISF, Faridabad

I want to kindly ask all the Secondary Science Teachers to actively take part in such events to learn new and innovative teaching methods to enhance the learning experience of the students.

Even after the completion of the workshop, the participant teachers have kept in touch and every fortnight, with the guidance of the NIF authorities, we discuss different methods of teaching to make sure that Science as a subject becomes more interesting to every student out there.

Perspective of Science teaching changes a lot when one attends such workshops and events . This article may sound simple but it carries a lot of weightage as attending such workshop at national level by women teacher would play a pivotal role in shaping the children by broadening their horizons through us.

With Padmashri Awardee Moirangthem Muktamani