Children travel in ‘Innovation Bus’ – The Hindu

Innovation Carnival, a four-day event featuring models made by children in an ‘Innovation Bus’ to address problems in their surroundings, got under way on Wednesday.

The carnival is the culmination of a three-month educational programme initiated by Bengaluru-based non-governmental organisation Agastya International Foundation. The NGO created the ‘Banao Buses’ to put innovative ideas on wheels and take students from school to school.

“The idea of ‘Banao Buses’ has first been implemented in Maharashtra. After being launched in Worli, the bus was in Navi Mumbai and will return to Worli for the Innovation Carnival,” said Nitin Desai, General Manager of Agastya Foundation. The bus will subsequently head to Pune.

The NGO has been leading a programme with government schools in Maharashtra for the past three months, with the aim of uplifting underprivileged students to create solutions from issues around them. The prototypes of these solutions are on display at the Innovation Carnival. “Our main aim is to provide children with a new perspective and give them the means to make a difference to students and society. In this regard, we are writing to government schools so that we can take the buses to them,” said Mr. Desai.

The four-day event kicked off with an inauguration function at Nehru Centre in Worli.

“It is important to ask questions as it builds curiosity. Today, students in schools mostly learn how to write answers but they do not know how to ask questions,” said Ramji Raghavan, Chairperson of Agastya International Foundation.

‘Learn to ask questions’

To innovate or create something students must ask questions, he said. “If you ask questions, you will learn something new… The more you ask questions, the more you learn.” He also urged students to share their experiences and experiments with their colleagues and maintain togetherness.

Examination results, Mr. Raghavan said, were just pieces of paper which did not decide students’ future. “Always work with enthusiasm and work hard, no matter what the result is.”

Students from schools in Vashi, Belapur, Airoli, Nerul, among others, are participating in the carnival. About 800 students from different schools are expected to visit on each of the four days. Apart from the student exhibits, the carnival will also host 14 steam-based exhibits to help visiting students create a new and far more sustainable earth along with workshops on themes such as design thinking and art.