Kids get DU help to brush up on Math

Varsity plans summer camp for them

To make mathematics fun for children from the economically backward class, Delhi University teachers and students have drafted modules for a month-long summer vacation camp here.

Over 200 students from the city’s government schools will be helped by faculty members of the varsity’s Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC). A few students from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kanpur, will also be a part of this summer camp.

The programme, however, will span over two years.

The project is likely to start in the last week of May or beginning of June.

“Children who have passed class 5 will be a part of this course. Out of a sample size of over 11,000 students, these students were chosen. Faculty members of the centre and students of the Master of Mathematics Education course will be tutoring the children,” said Jyoti Sharma, faculty member at CIC and principal investigator of this project.

“We will also invite faculty members from different departments of Delhi University as and when required. This is going to be an unconventional and hands-on training in mathematics,” she added.

Children identified

The Centre followed a three-layered systematic process to identify children with special potential in science and mathematics. Research scholars and schoolteachers were also involved in the identifying process.

“We are eager to nurture their gift in the subject,” said Sharma.

The project, which has been commissioned by the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and financed by Department of Science and Technology, has been given a grant of Rs 1 crore.

The camp is likely to be held on the CIC campus. “Since most of the children are from the economically backward class, it will not be possible for their parents to bring them to the CIC campus every day. So we are trying to arrange for their transportation to the day-long sessions,” said Sharma.

“The children will be exposed to the infrastructure if we get them to the campus. We can give them a first-hand knowledge of the subject through the maths lab and robotics lab that the centre offers.”

Earlier, the centre had run a similar course for two years. “The response was quite satisfactory,” said Sharma.