The Ariviyal Anandam (Science is Joy) program, an initiative of AID Tamil Nadu (TN), has been expanded to the entire district of Krishnagiri. The pilot program conducted in two blocks, Shoolagiri and Krishnagiri, was immensely sucessful and is being expanded to all blocks, with support from UNICEF. UNICEF has allotted Rs. 8.88 lakhs towards purchasing science experiment kits ad training science teachers. The program was also featured in an article in the prominent Indian daily, The Hindu.
The program aims to communicate the excitement in science by getting children to perform simple experiments in different areas of science. Ariviyal Anandam completely changes the classroom atmosphere - children practise experiments in groups and excitedly discuss results instead of listening to the explanation in a lecture. Within a short span of four months, as many as 200,000 children, in grades 7 and 8, will experience science through 35 experiments. Since teachers are proactive in engaging the children, this "learning science by doing" paradigm gets entrenched in the educational system.
Bouyed by this success, AID TN is also implementing a pilot program in two blocks each of two districts - Sivagangai and Kanchipuram. AID welcomes you to visit the children benefiting from Ariviyal Anandam.

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Ravishankar Arunachalam, Chennai