Aug 12 proposed as National STEM Day

Ahmedabad: On June 1, the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), one of the many landmark institutions founded by Dr Sarabhai in the city, will complete 60 years. On the occasion, officials have proposed instituting Aug 12, the birthday of Dr Sarabhai, as National STEM Day.“The origin of the VASCSC can be traced to the Group for Improvement in Science Education (GISE), established by Dr Sarabhai in 1963 at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). Success of the experiment on teaching science innovatively led to the creation of VASCSC,” said Dilip Surkar, director of VASCSC.VASCSC is known for its landmark national-level projects such as Science Express and Mobile Science Labs which give hands-on experience of scientific experiments to school students.While Nobel Laureate Sir C V Raman laid the centre’s foundation, former President of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, was the chairman of the VASCSC board. Prof Raman delivered his celebrated lecture ‘Why the sky is blue’ in Ahmedabad at the centre, said officials.Surkar added that in its six-decade journey, the centre has touched millions of lives through its various initiatives. “The centre has trained over 30,000 teachers, conducted STEM workshops for over 2,000 schools, established over 100 STEM and mathematics labs, and nurtured over 180 space clubs among other activities,” he said.