A madrasa in a village in Murshidabad recently conducted a two-day science fair to “encourage students, especially girls, to take up science”.
Many girls in the area are forced into early marriage and those who continue studies take up humanities. They are seldom encouraged by their families to pursue science.
The students, too, have developed an “aversion to science”, which stems from a fear of the subjects, said teachers.
A 16-year-old girl said she felt that if she studied science and failed she might have to give up education altogether but with humanities she would be able to continue.
An “engagement with science through activities” would help “entice” girls and boys to study science, said a science teacher based in Kolkata. It would help to break the gender barriers when girls and boys work together on a project, he said.
The two-day fair was organised by Debkunda Sk Abdur Razzak Memorial Girls High Madarsah at Murshidabad’s Beldanga block in August. Of the 3,500-odd students who participated or attended the fair, over 3,000 were girls.
“We want more girls to take up science. They have a fear that they won’t be able to do it and most girls are made to believe that it is beyond their abilities to study science,” said Murshida Khatun, the headmistress of Debkunda Sk Abdur Razzak Memorial Girls High Madarsah.
Class X student Masuma Sultana said that she always found science “tough”.
“My parents have not gone to college and I do not receive any guidance at home. So, I have always thought that I would not be able to study science. But somehow the fair made me realise that not everything about science is tough,” the 16-year-old told The Telegraph over the phone.
Studying science also requires more financial resources. “In a family, parents usually give that opportunity to the boy. Girls are taught to compromise,” said Khatun.
The two-day science fair had activities that engaged all students from Classes V upwards. Students participated in workshops organised by science teachers. Students of different schools put up various models.
Experiments were performed live to show how science is linked to everyday life.
“It is important that opportunities are created for children to participate in science fairs or do science experiments that build interest and develop an inclination towards science,” said Emdadul Islam, consultant curator, Creative Museum Designers, and a former director of Birla Industrial and Technological Museum.
Islam said no matter at what scale such fairs are conducted, it always motivates children, especially girls, to work with science.
“It gives girls equal opportunities to participate and breaks the gender barriers,” said Islam.
But for equality, there have to be equal opportunities.
Headmistress Khatun, who has been fighting early marriage in Beldanga for years, feels such fairs are also a way to create a “scientific atmosphere”. “A scientific bend of mind will help these students counter superstitions,” she said.