Valentine’s Day requires one to exhibit and express their love to their loved ones. This very motto of Valentine’s Day was revived by the science-loving students of the almost godforsaken area of Pakistan, Thar.
Thar, usually in the news for its shabby and ragged infrastructure and life support, had the honor to host the two-day Thar Science Festival in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Cultural Complex, Mithi. The event was organized in collaboration with Alif Ailaan and Thar Educational Alliance. The Science Festival was joined by about 73 regional school, both private and government. It was inaugurated by the Chief Monitoring Officer, Samiullah Sanjrani and the Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Siyal.
The event attracted science Enthusiasts from all over Sindh and beyond to witness this huge leap in the educational history of Pakistan.
There was a record 3000 count on the first day of the event. Besides giving students and even adults a huge load of scientific knowledge, this festival also managed to fascinate some grossing technology brands of Pakistan like Robotech, LearnOBots and Advon who conducted live experiments on the venue.
Spectra, in this report, brings to you major highlights of the event.
The event was organized by Sindh Government and Thar Education Alliance in collaboration with Alif Ailaan and other science outreach organizations.
Despite being held at a remote location, the event attracted a large number of people to the delight and surprise of its organizers.
Scene of jam packed auditorium and stalls at #TharScienceFestival. This place is buzzing with energy of #Thari kids. @TharEduAlliance @Sanjrani_Samii there are no words to describe the feeling. Totally awestruck.
@SindheduDept @seldofficial @BBhuttoZardari @ShahNafisa pic.twitter.com/TnXoeETKS7— Saad Sultan (@SaadSul) February 15, 2018
A key attraction of the event was LearnOBots stall, a science outreach organization which promotes innovation in science and technology among kids by employing experiential and experimental learning.
Learning by experiencing is the best way to learn science. Children at #TharScienceFestival experiencing technology and learning with #fun pic.twitter.com/X92Tq371mE
— LearnOBots (@learnobots) February 15, 2018
Children were in particular fascinated by the robot demonstration by LearnOBots.
Robots always fascinate children. Its a fun way to learn about #Science, #mathematics, #Mechanics, #coding and #technology #TharScienceFestival @AlifAilaan @TharEduAlliance @Udhyaana @Nimra_T01 pic.twitter.com/K6ycMsPb5I
— LearnOBots (@learnobots) February 15, 2018
Alif Ailaan was also part of the festival and helped in making the event a huge success. Here, a science outreach activist demonstrates the concept of conductivity.
Student's holding hands is not part of an assembly exercise but is to form a human circuit through which the orange piano board 'Maki Maki' functions. #TharScienceFestival pic.twitter.com/14Jw7YdkBN
— Moiz Hussain (@moizology) February 15, 2018
A number of different students displayed their projects as well. Their projects like volcano eruption, well pulley and recycling of plastic showed their remarkable creativity.
Rahul and Laksh both are students of Class 6th at Amar Jagdeesh High School North Colony, Mithi Tharparkar.. demonstrating volcano eruption 🌋 #TharScienceFestival @BBhuttoZardari @AseefaBZ @seldofficial @JamMehtabDahar @sherryrehman @pseudorebel @gabeeno @ShafiNaqiJamie pic.twitter.com/LdgxeCwibg
— Thar Education Alliance (@TharEduAlliance) February 14, 2018
And here, one smart girl has taught how to recycle plastic bottles and the other smart one has made a little well pulley #TharScienceFestival pic.twitter.com/ujBKr4jNKk
— meena gabeena (@gabeeno) February 14, 2018
Here a student displays his projects showing remarkable programming and circuit-building skills.
The students’ projects were not limited to just physical sciences but extended to mathematics and arts as well. Here, a fourth grader stands behind his explanatory model of Pythagoras’ theorem.
Some projects not only demonstrated scientific talents of the student but also showed their awareness of prevalent issues in society and their keenness to provide solution to those problems. Here, students of a government school of Mithi demonstrate vertical garden.
#TharScienceFestival, Introduction of Vertical garden at your flat or home. This project introduced by a student of Dewan Public School Mithi, at #TharScienceFestival
@prshivani @farhadjarralpk @Sanjrani_Samii @BBhuttoZardari @BBCUrdu @geonews_urdu pic.twitter.com/gZzou6d9zT— Advocate Hamlesh (@HamleshKhemani) February 14, 2018
Another group of students had developed a clean electricity generating system driven by wind energy.
Gahamar Singh has developed an air wind project that produces electricity … have a look. @TharEduAlliance #TharScienceFestival pic.twitter.com/uPbivnWGKC
— meena gabeena (@gabeeno) February 15, 2018
Some students aptly used the platform of this event to call out attention to lack of faculties and facilities at their institutions.
I met these lovely college girls here in #TharScienceFestival , they had a list of complaints abt their college tht they want me to raise. 1. There’s only 1 girls college with limited teachers. , 2. They only offer pre med&pre engineering , 3. There is no bio teacher available pic.twitter.com/dQjGxtjiKB
— meena gabeena (@gabeeno) February 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/MominaKhawar/status/963722073909661702
The event was a huge success and gave Thari students a rare chance to connect to practical aspects of their studies. Here a student expresses her view on the event.
In #TharScienceFestival
taking views of student about science and future of science in Tharparkar
Thari kids deserve quality education in their schools@AlifAilaan @AseefaBZ @BBhuttoZardari @farhadjarralpk
@prshivani @saifsamejo @kdsindhi @MathsSciencePK pic.twitter.com/zHRZordWZs— Thar Education Alliance (@TharEduAlliance) February 14, 2018
Twitter was all praise for the event.
The #TharScienceFestival is a wonderful initiative that allows the children of Thar to learn and engage with science in a practical way. My heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to everyone who has made it possible. @seldofficial @TharEduAlliance https://t.co/qEbIvXmmNo
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) February 14, 2018
Pakistanis are often the victims of a lack of their own imagination. But we don’t have to be.
This is Thar. #TharScienceFestival pic.twitter.com/Ovu8J2O22e
— Mosharraf Zaidi (@mosharrafzaidi) February 14, 2018
The ripple effect has just begun. Anxiously anticipating Sindh govt. to take this forward in a systematic & sustainable way across the province.@BBhuttoZardari @JamMehtabDahar @seldofficial @SindhGovt @SikanderAliShoro#HyderabadScienceFestival18 https://t.co/MjblNox3l6
— Aleena Khan (@aleenakhanpk) February 12, 2018
Let’s hope that more such events are carried out, not just across Sindh but all over Pakistan to spread the love of science.
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