1. Hello Dr. Megha! Tell us something about your venture SciKnowTech.

SciKnowTech© – A platform of “Experiential Teaching” of Science. The main aim of SciKnowTech© is to develop to build scientific temperament and aptitude in school kids. To make children think out of the box in the subject of science, multiple languages of learning are being used like theory in the form of audio-visual, traditional teaching, model making, experiments, expert’s intervention, story-telling and field trips wherever possible. Depending on the subject, the major activity can be chosen. For example, for teaching fiber to fabric, teaching theory, making them weave warp n weft on loom n then taking children to an institution where from buying cotton to making of cloth, if they witness the same, they will never forget what they learnt. Other than these year-long program, workshop which is another module and is the most effective way of generating interest among children for subject of science. There are theme based workshops being done in Schools, clubs and other social organizations. We also run science clubs in various schools in order to propagate science in a meaningful way in the society.

For reaching at grass-root level have also started doing CSR activities where we go and conduct workshops in Gujarati in secondary government schools in district of Sanand. For a larger reach, have started doing Teacher’s training workshops in schools so that those teachers can surely spread and cater to larger chunk of audience. Review the link http://SciKnowTech.com/category/workshops/. Though Indian education system is rated superior than western world (at least in primary and secondary stage) in few aspects, there still predominantly exist institutes or educational bodies concentrating on theoretical or conventional or traditional learning. There is a huge gap or void of bodies coupling these theoretical concepts with practical ones to provide holistic Experiential Learning education. SciKnowTech© is an attempt to bridge the gap to provide society a holistic product combining the advantages of both ours and western world by amalgamating theoretical learning with experiential one.

We are blessed to have got noticed by media (all leading newspapers, articles, television features and news etc.) and SciKnowTech© has been awarded / recognized by very prestigious bodies / personalities like Mr. Chudasma (Education Minister), Mr. Suresh Prabhu (Union Minister), Ms. Shaili Chopra (ShethePeopleTV), Gujarat Innovation Society (GIS), Udgam Trust – just to name a few.

2. How did the idea of SciKnowTech© and experiential learning occur to you?

Well, it occurred from my own child. We were in USA for few years, where my son was going to Montessori school. When we came back from there, we realized that Indian education system at school level is surely at par with western world, but only thing missing is the practical / experiential / application part of it. So, I started teaching my son and his friends at home experiential way. 2 years after that, their siblings started demanding for the same and then we thought of taking the academy to a different level and introduced several grades.

As I write this, it is extremely heartening to have scenario where just in 2+ years, we are operating from Grade 2 to 9 with 125 kids coming to us from 20 different schools ! In last 2 years, we have done more than 225 workshops in 58 schools, clubs and other organization and have exposed more than 18000 kids and 212 teachers to experiential learning pedagogue.

3. Dr. Megha Bhatt – An Academician or a Teacher first? Which role do you enjoy more?

When I was in Mithibai College, Mumbai in past and even during my association with Gujarat University, PDPU, Nirma University etc., I have always taught  graduate and post graduate students. I always have been extremely passionate about teaching (I remember teaching B.Sc. Students when I was in M.Sc.) and knew that I had pretty good strength of connecting with students. This got extended to school kids when I started teaching my own child and now eventually, SciKnowTech© has come out to be my identity which I have nurtured from the stage of it being a baby.

So, possibly I love to be “teacher” or “Megha Ma’am” for kids as that boosts the spirit to a different level all together, but an academician for the society at a macro level when you get appreciated by Education Minister of the state, Union minister of the country and platform like ShethePeople.TV to give you award during “Digital Women Awards 2017” for disrupting the existing the education system in a positive way and Gujarat Innovation Society (GIS) identifying you as a trendsetter as one of the most promising start ups in the field of science.

4. Share with us some challenges you have faced in establishing SciKnowTech©.

Well, that is an interesting question because after convening SciKnowTech© for last couple of years, I and my husband have realized that challenges are at every stage. Only the nature of challenges change! When you are just starting up, there are common challenges like funds, infrastructure, uncertainty, not being known, not much know-how of management / business part of the endeavor etc. However, these are common challenges every business faces. However, incase of SciKnowTech©, the continuous challenge what we face is to reach out to right parents to believe in our philosophy.

As SciKnowTech© is not a typical tuition class, we knew we are up against the stream and have been witnessing that is a herculean task for us to make parents understand that “if your child undergoes science learning in experiential way, the basics will get solidified and the grades / marks will automatically follow”. So, the tough part even today is that parents are still not able to come out of the rat-race of marks, but the good part is that the parents who believe in us are always with us as they have started appreciating the importance of application-based learning (specially in a subject like Science), which only will make the children employable in world they are to face 10 years down the line where typical today’s jobs will cease to exist and will be replaced by jobs which are not there today.

For example, check-in staff at Singapore airport today has been replaced by robots. So, the clerks have lost jobs, but the coders of robots have gained the employment ! Having pursued Ph.D. from ISRO myself, I always wish kids of research aptitude also right from beginning…..I am trying my best and confident that with all the challenges too, the smiling faces of kids and parents will bring in tremendous return on investment of my passion, time, energy and knowledge.

5. As a teacher and a parent – what would be that ONE advice that you would like to today’s parents for raising the millennial generation and swiftly changing times?

Follow your passion by doing what you love to do and success will chase you….…..”Exposure Leads to Exploration, which in turn leads to Innovation” and so, do expose your children to the world of limitless opportunities which today’s era is offering them.

6. Who has been your “go-to” person when it comes to managing SciKnowTech©?

Oh….no other name but my husband Saleel Bhatt, who handles administrative part of SciKnowTech© in terms of marketing, branding, promotion, strategizing growth and scaling-up, managing digital platform and website, connecting with stakeholders, ensuring legal entity of business, liasioning with our partners in form of schools, educational institutes, social organizations etc. and ensuring overall management of SciKnowTech©. Though we are together when it comes to important decision making for any area of SciKnowTech© (including choosing our partners and team-members), we appreciate each other’s strength and have a tacit understanding that “I will not market and he will not teach” !!

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