Tamil Nadu’s Karimnagar district is home to a young software engineer aspirant who is also breaking gender stereotypes. An ambitious 17 year old, M. Srija is passionate about mathematics and machines and the STEM classes are usually the best part about her day.
But the pandemic led lockdown suddenly put a halt to her STEM classes. An anxious and bored Srija would spend hours just revising her previous lessons in the hope that soon her classes would resume.
Luckily, DEF facilitators were soon able to bring STEM sessions online, making it easier for Srija and other dedicated students across districts to continue learning, but safely from home. She said, “I learned a lot from STEM. Life skills, career skills, digital literacy, coding from scratch; it will all be very beneficial to me in future.”
The trainers for STEM for Girls initiated e-learning by conducting classes every day for an hour via WhatsApp and conference calls (for those not having smartphones). Regular feedback and monitoring is helping with innovative ideas to teach students in online mode. It will also help in reaching out to students irrespective of lockdown, curfew or natural calamity. This outreach will not only serve as a learning platform but also as essential information sharing and awareness programme for this generation.