ISM ORGANISES STAI – A GALORE OF SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISES

Indian School Muscat, under the aegis of the Board of Directors of Indian Schools in Oman, recently organised a mega Interschool event STAI 2018-‘19 (Science, Technology and Innovation).

STAI – 2018-’19, held on Thursday, January 24, 2019, is a first of its kind pioneering initiative, and the biggest Tech event ever for the Indian Schools in the Sultanate. Across 15 venues, more than 25 diverse programs, activities and contests were heldunder 3 categories of age groups – Ignitors, Innovators & Inventorsin this collaborative, interschool event. The innovative programs included Planetarium, Youth Conclave, Augmented Reality Room, Concept Rooms, Game Rooms and Contests like Paper presentations, Debates, Street Plays, Website Designing, Mobile Application Development. A total of 650 students from 16 Indian Schools in the Sultanate whetted their technical acumen.

Dr Baby Sam Saamuel, Chairman Board of Directors of Indian Schools in the Sultanate presided over the inaugural function. The Chief Guest, Dr Suadbint Mubarak Al Fori Director of Technical Office for Studies and Development declared the event STAI 2018-19 open and also inaugurated a new mobile application intended to keep the parents updated with the latest tidings at school.Sheikh Talal Said Marhoon Al Mamari, Chief Executive Officer, Oman Telecommunications Co. SAOG, Sultanate of Oman, Mrs. Siddiqa Abdul Majeed Al Lawatia Director- International School Office and a conglomeration of other honourable officials from the Ministry of Education graced the inaugural function. As Keynote speaker Mr. Gaurav Nahar CEO Akeed App, shared his views on the need to pursue one’s own dreams.

“With STAI, our aim, as the Board of Directors of the Indian Schools in Oman/ Indian School Board, is threefold: to ignite the spark of interest, identify & appreciate the talents of our children; and provide them with an arena to showcase these skills to the world”, explained Dr Baby Sam Saamuel, Chairman Board of Directors.

During the inaugural ceremony, Dr. Sivakumar, Member SMC presented a report on the STAI Aptitude Test held in November 2018 for students of classes 6 to 10 to evaluate the scientific flair of the participants. Around 7000 students from 18 Indian Schools underwent the STAI Aptitude Test.Dr. Sivakumar highlighted on the scientific and statistical approach used for the evaluation. The result analysis indicated the performance of each student, comparative performance at school level and national level and also highlights the areas of weakness and strengths of the student.

This mega event on Science, Technology and Innovation, featuring the tagline “Dream-Create-Inspire”, upholds the objective of providing a stage and showcasing the talents of young minds adept in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation spurring them to investigate into their passion and assess their ingenious ideas.

A major highlight was the breath-taking UV-show ‘Evolution’ which presented glimpses of the history of scientific advancements and the milestone achievements in technology and innovation. Another huge draw was the in-house portable Planetarium and Augmented Reality Room; close to 6500 students visited the Planetarium.Events like Myriads and Sci-fi Hero attracted younger scientists to bring out their ideas of imagination with science based facts. Eureka is another area where students from 15 schools displayed their 73 innovative models.

It was the first time opportunity for students and teachers to bring out their ideas with scientific approach and solutions in the form of Paper Presentation. Mega Bytes, Great Scientist- Web Design, Developing a Mobile App were an attraction for young scientists. In Reflections – Street Play, students reflected the issues and benefits of Modern Technology in Day to Day Life. On Sciduel – the debate, students poured out their ideas on topics “A World without plastic – Fact or Fantasy” and “Human Beings are the most destructive creatures in the world”.

“The events of STAI 2018-19 were conducted to promote collaboration and scientific temperament amongst students rather than competition”, explained Principal, Dr Rajeev Chauhan.

The well attended a-day-long event concluded with the formal valedictory function where His Excellency Shri. MunuMahawar, Ambassador of India to the Sultanate of Oman was the Chief Guest.The top performers/performances from the various categories of the STAI eventswere felicitated by the Chief Guest.The top 2 percent of the successful candidates of the online STAI Aptitude Test were felicitated during the concluding ceremony.A video presentation of the flashes of the day’s events brought home to the gathering the enormous possibilities of innovative initiatives.