Regional Children Science Congress

The Children's Science Congress (CSC) is a three tier competition. The congress is organized annually by NCSTC-Network, a registered society comprising a network of governmental and non-governmental organizations working for development of scientific temper and science popularization. NCSTC network works in tandem with Rashtriya Vigyan Evam Pradiyogiki Sanchar Parishad of Department of Science and Technology.
The primary objectives of the Children's Science Congress is to make a forum available to children of the age-group of 10-17 years to exhibit their creativity, innovativeness and  ability to solve a societal problem experienced locally using the method of science. Selection of subjects for activity and registration of teams is done around mid July every year. A team consists of a maximum of five students and a guide. The students then work on the projects for next 2-3 months. District Level Congress is conducted around mid October.  In Jammu & Kashmir, CSC is organized as a four tier event. After district level competition, regional level competitions are held in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh divisions of the state.  State-level competition is organized for the finalists of the three regions to select 16 teams for the national event. The teams are accompanied by five teachers/guide and a state coordinator. The state coordinator is selected alternatively from Jammu and Kashmir divisions.  The national level event which is held from 27-31 December is however represented by only one member of the team due to logistic constraints. In Kashmir division the district and regional level Children Science Congress is jointly organized by Anantnag based NGOs District Welfare Society and Society for Promotion of Environmental Awareness in Kashmir. The theme of 17^th National Children Science Congress 2009 is ‘Planet Earth: Our home, care and share’. The various subthemes are related to atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, noosphere and energy.
The regional level Children Science Congress of Kashmir division was held on November 10 and 11, 2009 in Burn Hall School of Srinagar. A total of 33 teams from various schools and science clubs presented their projects. The teams were from Srinagar, Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Bandipora districts of the division. It was heartening to note that many teams were from far flung areas of the division and child scientists were quite fluent and confident in presenting their project work in lingua franca in presence of an august gathering .  The author was also among one of the judges. The other judges of the panel were Mr. Iftikhar Wani, teacher scientist from Bandipore whose paper was among top 30 papers of the National Teachers Science Congress 2009 and Mr. M. A. Javaid, Scientific advisor, SPEAK an NGO. The child scientists presented their works on a wide variety of local problems and challenges. Notable among which include antimicrobial resistivity, integrated use of solar energy, evaluation of wetlands, human influence on water bodies, retreat of Thajwas glacier, causes of extinction of some important plant species such as Betula Utilis or bhojpatra, decline in saffron production, managing quantity and quality of water, depletion of cropland and soil degradation. The confidence and enthusiasm of small children was remarkable. The team who worked on ‘Human Influence on Water bodies with special reference to Sherbagh’ was represented by 6^th and 7^th graders. To sensitize the local populace regarding the issue the group actually organized and celebrated Sherbagh day. While judging the projects, I also became aware of some new facts and issues. I became seriously concerned over the fact that due to under-dose,  self medication and other factors a large population is becoming anti biotic resistant. Something as innocuous as consumption of broiler poultry or eggs is leading to drug resistivity was news to me.  The projects on retreat of Thajwas glacier, management of hospital waste and integrated use of solar energy touched  very serious issues of concern. Some very good questions were posed by child scientists to the competitors. Majority of the teams have maintained their logbooks and project reports properly. They have consulted scientists and academicians from higher institutes of learning like NIT, GMC, SKIMS, SKUAST and Kashmir University. Many of them conducted survey in their vicinity to assess a local problem. They improved their project at successive levels. The selected teams for state level competition got expert advice from judges for further improvement of their work. The CSC prompts children to think of some significant local problem, ponder over its causes and subsequently try and solve the same using the scientific process. This involves close and keen observation, raising pertinent questions, building models, predicting solutions on the basis of a model, trying out various possible alternatives and arriving at an optimum solution using experimentation, filed work, research and innovative ideas. CSC offers child scientists great opportunities for learning and peer group interaction. It is also a learning experience for science teachers who guide child scientists. The teachers/guides receive special orientation on the theme of the CSC every year. In short, CSC not only helps in initiating students towards scientific methodology but also helps in professional growth of science teachers who may guide their student’s projects.