hile a majority of government school employees look forward to holidays and dread the idea of attending schools on holidays, even if it is for national day celebrations, here is a teacher who packs up his bag on every holiday to impart practical knowledge of physics and maths to schoolchildren. What makes him unique is that he doesn’t use laboratories to perform these experiments. He has transformed his personal car — a TATA Manza — into a moving laboratory and has named it “Jaswins Mobile Manza Car Science-Maths Laboratory”. It is here that he conducts 100 experiments — 50 each of maths and physics — free of cost for any institute keen to hold his lectures.
State awardee Jaswinder Singh, a physics teacher posted at Government Senior Secondary School, Shekhupur, Patiala district, has taken up the cause of popularising these subjects among schoolchildren, especially those studying in government schools and who generally shun these subjects. The idea is to simplify these subjects.
He feels this can be done only by performing practicals. So, every holiday is an opportunity to tie up with an educational institute and make students learn the basics of physics and maths. He packs the entire apparatus in his bag, drives his car to different places and sets the laboratory in about an hour for display.
Motivation strong
He often uses his casual leave for the same purpose, thereby ensuring that he does not do injustice to his primary job of teaching at the school. He never skips school for promoting his cause.
Talking about his initiative, Jaswinder Singh says the general trend is to give theory more importance than practical, whereas it should be the other way round. “Usually theory is considered more important than practicals and marks are given either on recommendation or the conduct of students, which is illogical. Unless students get to perform experiments on their own, it is impossible for them to understand the complex theories and experiments. Therefore, I decided to start this mobile laboratory. If students can’t reach a laboratory, we should take it to their doorsteps,” he says.
Starting with an investment of only Rs 10,000 in November 2012, he has already showcased his car at 60 exhibitions and conferences in North India and has got immense response for his efforts. He takes about three hours to conduct all experiments, which are mainly related to classes VI to XII and vary from the working of solar energy devices like solar fans, bulbs and LED geysers to complex mathematical problems and development of their formulae. He ‘displays’ the Archimedes principle, besides Newton’s and Pascal’s law on the roof of his car, simplifying things for beginners.
“After I conduct and exhibit the experiments, I ask the students to perform them with their own hands. This raises their curiosity and develops their interest. I try and explain to them how all these devices are operated,” he says. Various charts explaining maths tables, conversion tables, unit conversion tables and development of various formulae are displayed on his car.
The recognition
About his future plans, he says he has mainly catered to the North, but now he wants to take his innovation to all parts of the country to spread the message that if we want to churn out academically bright students, it can be done only if we explain to them the logic behind everything.
Recognising his contribution, he was conferred with the Shiksha Rattan Award by the Punjab Government in February 2013. He has been selected by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology for the National Award for Outstanding Efforts in Science and Technology Popularisation among Children, which will be presented to him on February 27 in New Delhi.
Poll
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and feared that he may lose. I was then working for a fortnightly
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