Sparking ideas: The quiet innovation wave in Chandigarh’s Government Schools
CHANDIGARH: In a government school laboratory, a group of children huddle around wires, sensors and a half-finished prototype. Something has gone wrong. Instead of waiting for the teacher to provide the answer, they discuss the problem, alter the design and test it again. The model may or may not work. But learning has already happened. This transition from memorising the “right answer” to developing the confidence to ask the right question is the reality. It captures an important shift taking place in Chandigarh’s government schools, where experiential learning is being used to nurture scientific temper among children.
At Government High School, Dadu Majra, the transformation is particularly visible. Its Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL), established in 2017, has evolved into a space where students from Classes V to X learn through regular hands-on activities and workshops. Under the mentorship of ATL In-charge Bharat Bhushan, students are encouraged to identify problems, explore possible solutions, build prototypes and learn through experimentation.
Scientific temper is not created by memorising scientific facts. It develops when children learn to observe, question assumptions, examine evidence and test ideas. That philosophy lies at the heart of experiential learning. A child working on a prototype discovers that failure is not necessarily a poor outcome, it is information. Why did the circuit fail? Why did the mechanism not move as expected? What could be changed?
The teacher, in turn, moves from being the provider of every answer to becoming a facilitator of discovery. Over the years, this approach has taken students of GHS Dadu Majra far beyond their classrooms. Their projects have reached platforms such as the Atal Tinkering Marathon, School Innovation Marathon, INSPIRE–MANAK, Rashtriya Bal Vigyan Pradarshani, IRIS National Fair and National Toy Fair. Four projects reached the Top 200 in the ATL Marathon 2018, three progressed to the Top 100 and two to the Top 50. Six projects later reached the Top 300 of ATL Marathon 2020, with one making it to the Top 10 under the She Codes programme. The school was also recognised as a Star ATL of India from Chandigarh during January–June 2020.
These achievements matter, but the larger story lies in the participation behind them. In 2025, twenty eight student projects participated in the national-level Buildathon. Over different years, dozens of students have developed models, entered innovation challenges and represented the school at science exhibitions.
Innovation, therefore, is not being treated merely as preparation for a competition. It is gradually becoming part of the culture of learning.
For children in government schools, access to such platforms can be transformative. A student does not need a sophisticated laboratory at home to experiment with technology. The school itself becomes the space where curiosity meets opportunity.
Students from Dadu Majra have participated in national science exhibitions in Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Raipur and other cities. Two projects reached the national level of INSPIRE–MANAK, while student Saloni secured a place among the Top 60 nationally. Two teachers and two students were also invited as special guests to the Republic Day ceremony in New Delhi.
The exposure extends to teachers as well. ATL In-charge Bharat Bhushan was selected for a delegation to the Sirius Centre in Sochi, Russia, for a Deep Learning Technology Program and was recognised as a Regional Teacher of Change by the Atal Innovation Mission. When teachers themselves become learners and innovators that mind set travels back to their classrooms science becomes a way of thinking.
The significance of experiential learning goes beyond producing future scientists. When children build a working model, they draw simultaneously upon science, mathematics, technology and communication. They learn teamwork while developing a prototype, resilience when it fails, critical thinking while diagnosing the problem and communication when presenting their solution.
The laboratory thus becomes a training ground for skills that conventional examinations cannot always measure. The sustained performance of Government High School, Dadu Majra demonstrates what such a culture can achieve. The school has repeatedly won the overall best trophy at state-level science, mathematics and environment exhibitions, while its students have developed projects around health, resource management, digital technology, transport and communication.
But trophies are only the visible outcome.
The deeper achievement is a child who looks at an everyday problem and thinks, “Can I find a better way?” As artificial intelligence, climate change and emerging technologies reshape the world, education must prepare children not merely to recall information but to interrogate it, apply it and create with it.
Chandigarh’s experience shows that scientific temper cannot be confined to an annual science exhibition. It requires sustained opportunities to observe, question, experiment, build, fail, improve and try again. The ultimate goal is not to turn every child into a scientist. It is to nurture a generation that values evidence over assumption, curiosity over passive acceptance and solutions over helplessness. That is how we will achieve our goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
