Hyderabad: Following the success of its first edition in 2020, the state in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), YuWaah, and Inqui-lab Foundation today announced the launch of the Telangana School Innovation Challenge 2021.
The programme was launched today by IT and industries minister K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) and state education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy at Pragathi Bhavan. The Telangana School Innovation Challenge (SIC) was launched last year to nurture design thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurial mindsets among young people.
Starting from October 2021, the programme will include a host of activities from learning modules to activity-based problem solving, conceptualizing innovative solutions for the chosen problem statements. The top innovation from each district across the state will be selected, which will culminate with a boot camp for the 33 finalists followed by the grand finale.
TSIC is a one-of-its-kind programme in the country promoting 21st-century skills and design thinking for teachers and students. The initiative owes its success to the unique and innovative SIC challenge management technology platform through which 25,000 government school students from class 6th to 10th and 5200 teachers, who were onboarded and engaged on UNICEF’s UPSHIFT social innovation curriculum, said a press release on Monday.
This year the programme aims to include Social Welfare schools, Tribal schools, Residential schools, and Private budget schools in addition to government schools and consequently impact a larger set of students, the release added.
All the finalists will receive incubation support and the top three winners will even win cash prizes. “The government of Telangana through TSIC has been upfront about innovation to begin from a young age. This edition, the TSIC along with Education department, UNICEF, and Inqui-Lab, aims at creating the access to Innovation for 50000 school children across the State” said KTR, according to the release.
During the programme’s launch, Sabita Indra Reddy also said that the first edition of the TSIC had received an overwhelming response of 25,000 excited students. “The aim is to provide students, especially from non-residential local government & social welfare schools, a unique platform to present their thoughts and ideas for the future progress of their communities,” she added.
John B. Trew, Adolescent Education & Skills Specialist, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, said, “Fostering a culture of innovation and problem solving from a young age is increasingly imperative in preparing our young people to handle the challenges that await them in the post-pandemic world. We are delighted to collaborate with TSIC and Inqui-Lab Foundation once again for this remarkable innovation challenge, designed to encourage students to work collectively in teams, equip themselves with the right knowledge through learning modules, and come up with innovative and prudent solutions to issues faced by their respective communities.”