Niti Aayog to fund tinkering labs in schools to boost scientific temper

Niti Aayog has invited applications from eligible schools, organisations and individuals to apply for the three major schemes under Atal Innovation Mission including establishing tinkering laboratories in schools, establishing new incubation centres and scaling-up established incubation centres.

“We need culture of innovation at schools. We’re doing that through Tinkering Labs," said Kant. “India needs to innovate in every sector to make a quantum jump in our growth," he added.

AIM will provide a one-time establishment grant-in-aid of ₹ 10 lakh for establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) in schools for VI to XII across India and another ₹ 10 lakh for each lab over a period of five years for operational expenses. This way each school will receive ₹ 20 lakh for the tinkering lab.

“Young children will get a chance to work with tools and equipment to understand the concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math," according to Niti Aayog statement. “Competitions at regional and national scale will also be organised to showcase the innovations developed by the children," it added.

The tinkering labs will be equipped with ‘do it yourself’ kits and instruments related to science, electronics, robotics, open source microcontroller boards, sensors, 3D printers and computers, along with infrastructure such as meeting rooms and video conferencing facility.