GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN CHENNAI HONEYWELL AND AGASTYA BRING ‘HONEYWELL SCIENCE LAB EXPERIENCE
Chennai, July 25, 2018 – Agastya International Foundation (Agastya) and Honeywell India today announced the expansion of Honeywell Science Experience – an experiential science education program for students and teachers of government schools in Chennai, Madurai, Hyderabad, and Mysore. As part of the program, Honeywell’s not-for-profit entity, Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF), is supporting 25 science centers, 35 mobile science labs, and 3,000 student mentors, benefiting more than 135,000 students and 783 teachers across all these cities as well as Bengaluru, Gurugram, Delhi, and Pune. In Chennai alone, the program will benefit 11,000 students and 69 teachers.
Designed to cultivate curiosity, nurture creativity, and instill confidence, Honeywell Science Experience is vastly different from the typical rote-based learning system that discourages questioning and student-teacher interaction. It aims to foster child and teacher participation in experiential learning, and boost science education through its uniquely scalable, hands-on teaching-learning methods.
Speaking at the program expansion, His Excellency Robert G. Burgess, U.S. Consul General in Chennai, said, “Today more than a hundred thousand students from India are pursuing post graduate programs in the U.S., mostly in STEM. I congratulate Agastya and Honeywell for bringing this experiential learning program to creative young minds from vulnerable communities.”
Ramji Raghavan, Founder, and Chairman, Agastya, said, “It is our privilege to launch this program with Honeywell in Chennai. We run one of the world’s largest hands-on science education programs and believe that innovative, fun, and student-centred learning is needed to enable scientific learning among children, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, rural, and remote regions.”
Akshay Bellare, Vice President & General Manager, Honeywell Technology Solutions India, added, “Being one of the world’s leading technology companies and a top recruiter of technology talent in India, Honeywell understands the importance of STEM education and its impact on the global economy. Having seen great results in the schools where we have already launched our program, we are excited to see the transformation that the Honeywell Science Experience program will bring in Chennai.”
Launched in August 2016, Honeywell Science Experience targets middle and high school students and teachers in government schools.