Foldscope in Chhattisgarh: covered 5 regions, 30 districts and 329 teachers in one week

Feb 24, 2024 • 1:45 PM UTC

Surguja, Chhattisgarh, India

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Workshops and Events

Rafikh Shaikh

I'm a science educator interested in everything science.

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In one week, from 18 February to 24 February 2024, we conducted 5 Foldscope workshops—one workshop in each region of Chhattisgarh. Three hundred twenty-nine teachers from around 30 districts of Chhattisgarh participated in the workshop and learnt to assemble and use Foldscope.

Thanks to the Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education, TISS, Mumbai, Samagra Shikha, Chhattisgarh, SCERT Raipur and Foldscope Inc. At least one teacher in each district of Chhattisgarh has a Foldscope and is trained to assemble and use it. In future, if the state decides to give more Foldscopes to the school (the collector of Durg district said she'll do it in her district), these teachers can act as master trainers.

All the teachers are part of a telegram group and can be supported online. Many of them also have registered on the microcosmos.foldscope.com site. It was such a humbling and inspiring experience to meet these passionate teachers from various parts of Chhattisgarh. One teacher travelled 150 km on the bike to attend the workshop; this example shows their motivation.

All these teachers have completed three online courses designed and offered by CETE-TISS. I was one of the designers and coordinators for these courses, and during online interactions, I spoke about the Foldscope. The teachers showed interest, which is how the idea to give them Foldscopes originated. Dr Anusha, Amitabh Anand, Sanjeeva, Shamin Padalkar, Avanish Utsav, and others from CETE and Samgra Shiksha Abhiyan of Chhattisgarh contributed to making it possible.

This is a short post; I'll write a detailed post later.