Science Congress concludes

KOCHI: It was interesting to note that out of 119 participants selected across the state at the state-level Children’s Science Congress held at the Maharaja’s College last week, 83 were girls. Noting this, former Vice Chancellor of Calicut University, M K Prasad said at the inaugural ceremony of the science congress, “One sees lot of bias against women scientists all over the world but the gathering here seems to defy the global trend.”The two-day long residential science congress was tightly packed with a variety of entertaining sessions. The students were given a taste of scientific study in each of the labs of the college including Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany. This was followed by sessions with the leading scientists in the city, an evening exploring the night sky- the planets and the heavenly bodies with a stellarium, a boat ride from Ernakulam Boat Jetty to Vypeen Island and back exploring the man-made Wellington Island, the Vallarapadom ICTT terminal, the oil tanker berth and also to the Ernakulam Children’s Park.The students also submitted scientific reports in groups of 10 which were analysed by the professors of Maharaja’s college and research students from the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat). The students were also provided with certificates and books on science and technology. Speaking at the Science Congress, the participants suggested an extension to the number of days in the programme and also asked the authorities to extend it to  high school students.The event was organised by the Shasthra Sahitya Parishad along with the Maharaja’s College Ernakulam with the approval by the State Education Department. The programme concluded at the Maharaja’s college was the final round of the science congress whose grass root level begins from science congress at the school level.