Nothing more exciting than seeing the young minds diving deep into the wonders of science and exploring the fascinating field of astronomy. In a pioneering initiative by Ranjit Singh Rozi Shiksha Kendra (RSK) and Department of SPASE, IIT Kanpur, Astronomy & Science Clubs are started in government schools in the state. This initiative aims to ignite young minds with a passion for science and space exploration.

Under this program, schools will receive specially curated Astronomy & Science kits featuring 100+ hands-on experiments. The kit has experiments designed to make learning interactive and engaging. As part of the launch, the first kit was donated to Dr Kiran Prajapati, District Coordinator (District Science Club), Kanpur Nagar, marking the beginning of an exciting journey in scientific exploration.

State Bank of India (SBI) has generously donating CSR fund to support the establishment of Astronomy & Science Clubs in the first 10 government schools. The inaugural ceremony was graced by Mr. Deepak Kumar Dey, CGM, SBI who said “The launch of Astronomy and Science Kit Club at Ranjit Singh Rozi Shiksha Kendra marks a significant step in the interest of science. By bringing together IIT Kanpur’s team we aim to elevate the minds of kids and create a lasting impact on the value of their studies". According to Shri Roopesh Gangwar, Chief Manager of SBI ‘after doing pilot with the few schools, we will support IITK to reach out to a larger number of schools in the coming year. It is an innovative project that the bank is keen to support’.Mr Yogesh and Ms Shubhi Shukla demonstrated some experiments and showed how hands on learning simplifies leaning. Prof. Sandeep Sangal, Principal Investigator of the RSK project, highlighted the dual objectives of RSK: providing free, high-quality education to children and offering employable skills to rural youth. "The rural education initiative of IIT Kanpur is novel as it uses technology to reach out to schools located in remotest locations and offers highest quality education. The kit made is low cost and can be easily replenished by the schools”. More than a dozen schools are already receiving education from IIT Kanpur and several others are going to get connected this year.

Prof Sudhanshu S Singh, associated with the RSK project ‘we are happy to associate with the State Bank of India and look forward to working together for the benefit of rural schools’. Ms Shubhi and Yogesh Kumar demonstrated some of the experiments in the kit. According to Ms Rita Singh, Coordinator of RSK ‘We want the students to run the club themselves and call our team directly without hesitation. They should feel free to experiment and make projects’.

Dr Tejpreet Kaur, Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of SPASE, highlighted the sun,moon, earth and planets by showing a model and she added “ Astronomy is not just about looking at the star its about understanding our place in the universe”. She told that the involved astronomy activities are part of astronomy outreach project Khagolvani, supported by the International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Development (IAU-OAD). She added, “Soon we will start organizing night sky watching sessions in the schools along with hands-on astronomy and space science experience to students.

The ceremony also saw the presence of other dignitaries, Prof. Amitesh Omar, Head of the SPASE Department; Tejpreet Kaur, Institute PostDoctoral Fellow Department of SPASE; Prof. Sandeep Sangal, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Prof. Sudhanshu S Singh, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rita Singh, Coordinator of RSK; among others.