On 8th July 2023, programming and Science sessions were conducted at Comrade Ratan Sen Collegiate Girls' School, Rupsha, Khulna under the STEM & ICT Skills for the Girls of Coastal Area (SISGCA) project funded by Malala Fund in association with BdOSN. 50 female students from classes 6 to 8 participated actively in these sessions.
The main objectives of this SISGCA project are - Reducing disparity in digital device use (mainly by girls in coastal areas), Enhancing students' problem-solving abilities through exceptional ways of learning, reinforcing foundational concepts that will serve as a strong base for their future science-related queries, engaging and educating students in the fascination of Science and Technology, promoting a positive attitude towards the subjects. To assist them in becoming skilled for the future workplace.
The session started with a welcome speech by Laxman Kumar Saha, Headmaster of Comrade Ratan Sen Collegiate Girls' School, Rupsha.
Then Niaj Masud Rahat, Academic Mentor, Scratch Bangladesh, briefly discussed the importance of programming to keep pace with the modern world and prepare for future careers. After that, he utilized interactive teaching methods and group activities to make learning programming sessions enjoyable and engaging. He tried to teach hands-on what programming is, basic discussion of scratch programming, and how to apply it through tablet devices. They were taught in groups of two tablets each, and interactive activities were done to impart some basic concepts of programming. Students were informed about how we use programming in apps and games on our phone devices in our daily lives. Foster a curiosity and passion for programming, encouraging students to explore programming beyond the classroom and nurture a lifelong appreciation for learning programming for the future age of artificial intelligence.
Tayeb Ul Islam Tamim, Academic Mentor, SPSB, utilized interactive teaching methods and group activities to make learning math enjoyable and engaging. They are informed about the introduction and basic use of the Microscope. Foster a curiosity and passion for science, encouraging students to explore the subject beyond the classroom and nurture a lifelong appreciation for learning science and technology.
By the end of these sessions, students should feel more eager to learn their studies in a different way and possess a positive attitude towards the subjects. Also, some books were gifted to the students by the project to boost their motivation.