School in Singrauli’s tribal belt turns to stars with telescopes

Bhopal: In Singrauli's tribal belt, the night sky is moving from textbook pages into classrooms, with government school students now peering through professional telescopes to explore the cosmos.In a first such initiative led by the district administration and funded through corporate CSR, two 10-inch telescopes have been installed at the excellence school in Baidhan, allowing students to directly observe celestial bodies like the moon, Saturn's rings and distant nebulae.The project, implemented with technical support from IISER, aims to move science learning beyond textbooks and give students a practical understanding of astronomy. Teachers will also undergo training to help them integrate observation-based learning in classrooms. The telescopes, equipped with high-precision mirrors, enable clear viewing of planetary features and deep-sky objects, something most students have never experienced firsthand."A total of six such telescopes will be installed in schools across the three tehsils of the district. Two telescopes will be installed in each tehsil. It will be done in schools which have the highest number of enrolments. Besides, training will be provided to the teachers from IISER Bhopal," Singrauli collector Gaurav Benal told TOI.He added, "The aim is to infuse astronomical curiosity in children. Normally, even after we complete Class 12, we have not seen any heavenly body; we have only seen its pictures in books."Officials said similar facilities will soon come up in model schools in Chitrangi and Deosar blocks. The initiative is expected to especially benefit students in remote tribal areas, offering them exposure to modern science tools and sparking interest in space studies at an early age.