There are approximately 1.3 million schools in India and close to 315 million students enrolled in school across the length and breadth of the country. And yet, there are only a few schools where we see school children not just present but thoroughly engaged, involved and taking complete ownership of their tasks and activities.

Welcome to Universe Simplified Foundation, a non-profit founded by Henna and Meera, youth from Mumbai who aims to promote innovation and problem-solving skills in children through inquiry-based, hands-on and collaborative learning.

Henna and Meera, both have been born and brought up in Mumbai. Henna graduated as a B.SC in Computer Science from Sardar Patel College, Mumbai and Meera graduated with a B.Sc in Physics from SIES College, Mumbai. Later on, Henna went on to do her MBA from Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) and returned to India upon completion of her degree. Both of them have a shared love for Astronomy and Science and this passion for Astronomy led Meera to found the Stargazing Club in Mumbai.

When asked about her motivation behind starting the foundation, Henna narrates an experience which many students would have faced in their own childhood and schooling. She says, “When I was a kid I was really passionate about astronomy but that interest was lost because our education system did not encourage questions and nurture a child’s curiosity. The focus was on rote learning with the sole intention of clearing exams.

“Many years later, while working at my family business that passion came back and Universe Simplified Foundation was born with the intention of taking hands-on astronomy workshops for children so that they get a platform to explore their interest further and to ignite their spark of curiosity.”

When Henna and Meera started working in schools they realized that over all these years, nothing had changed and that science was still being taught through textbooks. So they set up hands-on, kit-based workshops around scientific topics such as sound, light, a human body, etc. which was focused on clearing the child’s concepts.

Universe Simplified Foundation had done many one-time hands-on science workshops with more than 2000 children but they could not really gauge the impact they were having and therefore, they wanted to set up science clubs within schools and communities for longer-term impact. Also, meanwhile they had the opportunity to talk to several people in the Makerspace Movement and they reflected that while kit-based learning is an excellent jump from textbook-based learning, students were still inclined to following instructions on how to assemble the kit. Their observation was that while it helped clear the student’s concept, it did not challenge them to think independently.

Children engaged in the creation of a Solar Car

In the past 1.5 years, Universe Simplified Foundation has shifted from one-time workshops to long-term interventions and the idea of science clubs within schools evolved into innovation hubs where students get continuous exposure to hands-on learning. After an initial pilot, 5 Innovation Hubs were set up last year (2017-18).

The Innovation Hub program runs once a week for two hours either at a school or a community centre. The curriculum of the Innovation Hubs is based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) integrated into project-based learning. The methods are highly inquiry-driven and experiential while encouraging the overall spirit of collaboration among the students instead of competition. No certificates were given as they wanted the children to be a part of the program for the pure joy of learning.

Timelapse video in the classroom

On the surface it seems that Universe Simplified Foundation is dealing with just a mindset problem. However, the monster that they are fighting is gargantuan and deadly which affects humanity as a whole.

When probed to understand the long-term vision of Universe Simplified Foundation, Henna says, “We are leaving our children with numerous challenges such as garbage, water pollution, air pollution, etc. However, the current education system is not designed to equip our children to address these real-life challenges. Rote learning, for the sake of clearing exams, curbs children’s creativity and original thinking.

“Our aim is to build a network of innovators and problem-solvers who would be empowered to address real-life challenges. By working through an experiential and an inquiry-driven project-based curriculum, the children’s ability to think in terms of solutions increases. Our students learn STEM skills such as how to make projects using motors, solar panels, electronics and robotics, but we have consciously designed to bring in local problem-solving aspect too. In the second half of every year, the children pick a local problem such as garbage, electricity or even a rat problem in their school and use a ‘Design Thinking’ approach to come up …