Punjab to honour students with 'INSPIRE Awards'

Updated on: Monday, January 04, 2010

Chandigarh: The Punjab Education Department would select at least five creative children for the ''Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research'' (INSPIRE) Award with a view to seed and experience the joy of innovation among students.

Disclosing this, a department spokesman said that the objective of INSPIRE programme, initiated by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, was to communicate to the youth the excitements of creative pursuit of science, attract talent to the excitement to the study of science at an early stage.

Besides, it would also help the country in building the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science and Technology system, he added.

He said that the education department plans to offer the 'innovation awards' every year to five brilliant children who think outside the boundaries set by the school syllabus.

The award envisions an investment of Rs 5000 per child. The two students from each school in the age group of 10 to 17 years 6th to 8th class and 9th to 10th standard each would be identified for the INSPIRE Award in order to encourage scientific thinking, he said.

''The scheme plans to reach approximately ten thousands students of about 5,000 Upper Primary schools in the state and the selected students would participate along with their scientific innovations at a state level science exhibition to be held during the 2nd week of April 2010'', he added.

The spokesman said all the heads of government and affiliated schools from 6th to 10th standard, had been asked to submit the nominations of two best creative students till January 10 to their concerned DEOs.

He emphasised that knowledge and innovation have emerged out as the vital keys for competitiveness and wealth creation in the fast evolving global economy and INSPIRE would open up the prospects of careers in research.

Besides, it would also strengthen the roots of the knowledge infrastructure of Indian economy, he added.

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