SWAT: The local students have demanded of the government to introduce in the schools robotics and practical science education, catering to the needs of 21st century.

They made the demand during a training workshop on smart robotics organised by Skool21 here on Sunday. The workshop was designed to teach students the concept of robotics and involve them in building robots. Students from different schools participated in the workshop.

They said that conventional education system enforced in their schools was not only boring but also out of date. “We used to watch robots on internet and TV but today we built them and gave them instructions through computer programming,” said Musa Khan, a sixth grader, who was preparing a simple robot.

The students said that practical and active learning method was more effective and interesting than the boring stand and deliver teaching method.

“When the instructor handed over different parts to us and told us to assemble them into a robot, we were hesitant but once we started it, we managed to make it. We were highly excited when we successfully built and code them,” said Adan Khan, another student. He added that practical education was interesting.

The students said that it was wonderful when they built the robot and then it followed their instructions.

“Whatever we instructed our robot through coding on the computer, it followed it. It went straight, turned around, stopped and ran, following our instructions,” said Faryal Hadi, a student, who was enjoying the training workshop with her friends.

Fazal Hadi, the instructor, said that it was high time to introduce science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in schools to meet the needs of 21st century.

“The smart robot programme has been designed to teach learners the structure building of a robot, helping it to interact with the environment and ultimately function through computer programming,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2020