Government school students are second to none. What the determined youngsters need is encouragement, right mentoring and support to showcase their talent, and that was amply evident at the Telangana School Innovation Challenge 2020 grand finale here on Monday.
From the frugal hydraulic lifting and rotating wheelchair, whose idea the young innovator got seeing her father battle paralysis; a system that stops tap supply once the container below is removed thus helping conserving precious water; to a wearable multipurpose agriculture bag that reduces the burden of farmhands, a number of such innovations and the students behind them won the hearts of visitors to the event.
Making it to the grand finale were 25 ideas and the students behind them were from government schools from different parts of the State. Reaching there was no easy task given that 4,041 schools from across the 33 districts of Telangana had registered. A total of 8,750 students and 7,093 teams submitted their ideas after completing the online course on design thinking.
Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao, accompanied by Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and Special Chief Secretary Education Chitra Ramachandran, went round the stalls featuring the students’ innovation and was generous in his praise for the youngsters. On learning that the wheelchair innovator’s father, bedridden for months after paralysis, was the lone breadwinner and that the family stayed in a rented house, the Minister instructed the officials to explore the possibility of providing assistance. Mr.Rao was heard saying that he will also speak to the District Collector. The girl was part of a three-member team from the Govt. Girls High School in Nalgonda.
The top honour at the finale went to the all-girls’ team from ZPHS Mulkalapally, Yadadri district, for the Organic-Zero Waste Sthree Raksha Pads they had devised. They bagged the first prize of ₹75,000.
The second position was bagged by all-boys’ team behind the wearable multipurpose agriculture bag from ZPHS Danthalapally, Mahabubabad, and the third prize by the team of students from Adilabad behind the organic chalk.
While enquiring with the students about their innovation, showing keen interest in their work and appreciating their confidence levels, the Minister also praised the school teachers and others who handheld the students. The 25 ideas that made it to the finale were selected after several rounds of evaluation. The innovation challenge was organised by Telangana State Innovation Cell in collaboration with UNICEF India, the Education Department and Inqui-Lab Foundation in Hyderabad on Monday.