Jammu , DEc 10 ( KINS)The chief secretary also asked the School Education Department to promote scientific temper among the students in areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence by proactively engaging them in various experiments and scientific activities.
The NITI Aayog will soon set up 1,000 Atal Tinkering Labs, 187 by the end of the current financial year, in Jammu and Kashmir, said the Union Territory (UT) administration Thursday.
The labs will be built as a part of an initiative to provide children with opportunities to experiment and widen their understanding of scientific phenomena.
A statement issued by the administration said of the 187 labs, 31 will be established across government schools under the UT and 50 others in Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and private schools. “The process to establish the remaining 106 labs will be initiated shortly,” the statement added.
In a meeting with officials of the departments concerned, the UT’s Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta said, “These centres should be viewed as innovation hubs to expose the children to scientific experiments, stir innovation in the young minds and encourage them to contribute to the scientific advancement of the nation.”
The chief secretary also asked the School Education Department to promote scientific temper among the students in areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence by proactively engaging them in various experiments and scientific activities.
Mehta further directed the department to fix timelines for setting up the laboratories and asked the officials to emphasise on nomination of trainers or champions to run the labs against suitable incentives.
He also instructed the officials to ensure regular maintenance of infrastructure and equipment at the laboratories in collaboration with other government departments.
The School Education Department was directed to explore industrial linkages which can be created to tap the IT sector and enhance the technical prowess of the younger generation in finding scientific and innovative solutions to existing problems.( KINS)
