30-YO teacher in rural Karnataka builds Jugaad robot to make learning fun for students

Dressed in a blue shirt and tunic, hair neatly styled in two plaits, the humanoid robot named ‘Shiksha’ bears a striking resemblance to the rest of the students in Sirsa village. As she begins to deliver the day’s lesson – from rhymes to the days of the week, the names of different shapes, and more – there is a sense of wonder in each student’s eyes as they take in this remarkable learning experience.

Shiksha is the brainchild of 30-year-old Akshay Mashelkar, and aims to make learning fun and interactive “Growing up in a village, I was very aware of the limitations of schools in rural areas. We still use printed charts and blocks as learning aids. There are no scientific methods available. I want to change that, ”said Akshay The Better India.

a new way of learning

Born and brought up in Sirsi village in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, Akshay grew up in a teaching family. “My mother was a teacher and from a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a teacher too. While studying, I realized that I wanted to work towards improving the education system,” he says.

Following in his mother’s footsteps, Akshay became a professor in a college in Sirsi after completing his degree in Physics. “When I enjoyed my job as a professor, I had many ideas to implement in the education system. However with work, I did not have time to start working on it,” he says.

When the COVID pandemic hit and the education sector went online, Akshay found himself relatively free.

“I got the right opportunity to work on my ideas. One of the most important things that I have observed in the education sector, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and rural areas, is the lack of modern and scientific methods of teaching In one of my many visits to village schools, I saw that teachers were still using charts and blocks to teach,” he says.

“Those techniques were used when I was in school. It is sad that the world has gone so far with smart boards and what not, but schools in rural areas are still stuck with handmade charts. This inspired me to focus all my attention to come up with an easier and cheaper solution.”

It took Akshay a year and a half to do the research. In 2022, ‘Shikha’ – a humanoid robot capable of teaching in regional languages ​​up to class 4 – was ready.

In India, the education sector has been incorporating technology for teaching purposes for many years. Nevertheless, its implementation is seen mainly in urban areas and in expensive schools. In contrast, rural schools continue to rely on traditional tools such as charts and diagrams to facilitate learning.

Not only this, the teachers of government schools are overburdened with students. recently quintet The report said, “The number of teachers in Karnataka government schools has decreased from 2.08 lakh to 1.99 lakh, leaving only one teacher in 6,529 schools in the state. The student-teacher ratio is now 23:1 as compared to 21:1 in 2020-21. The inclusion of such a tool can help fix this problem.

A mix of technology and good ol’ Makeshifter

It took around Rs 2 lakh to make the robot, which he pulled out from his savings. “There was a lot of money involved in research and development. On an average, it costs around Rs 50,000 to make just one robotic arm. ‘Shiksha’ is a complete robot with multiple features. The reason I was able to cut costs was that i was used Makeshifter. For example, I didn’t use a mold for the body of the robot, instead I used plastic cricket stumps that you get in toy stores,” he says.

Shiksha can teach various subjects including Kannada and English rhymes; Days of week; names of shapes; English alphabets, and math topics like multiplication, addition and tables.

Explaining how the robot works, Akshay says, “The robot has two main cards – the master card that unlocks it, and the normal card to start the desired program. I have to give master card and then they can use the program card to start different programs. She waves her hands to take the card and returns it once it’s scanned. She asks questions , recites poems and even has trivia options.’

The robot has visited more than 25 schools in Uttara Kannada district including KHB School and Urdu School in Sirsi. As of now, education can teach up to class 4 and all boards have curriculum accommodation.

Sunaina Hegde, who teaches science and maths at the Model Higher Primary School in Sirsi, says, “Akshay came to our school in April with education. The children were very happy to see him and took more interest in the class. For him, education was not a robot, but like a friend because it was also prepared like him.

“While this is great for students to learn, it is also a great tool for teachers to get involved in schools. It eases our burden, as government schools have fewer teachers. Something so interactive helps kids learn about science. And helps gain more interest in the technology,” she adds.

Akshay notes, “The importance of involving rural children in technology is because they are also the future of the country. An average child living in an urban setting, knows how to operate a laptop and computer from a very young age. Sadly this is not true for children in rural areas. When the children saw education for the first time, they saw a sparkle in their eyes. They were amazed, amazed and excited.

He says, “My motive behind creating Education was not only to introduce technology to the classroom, but also to encourage kids to build their own robots.” Taking this thought forward, Akshay also opened a research center where young people who are fond of robotics can come and learn for free.

“To keep the cost of operating the center low, we keep our center mobile. Whenever we get a cheap place to rent in Sirsi, we move to that place. Over 200 children have visited the center and many are now regulars. They have space to learn from me and use the equipment available at the research center,” he says.

Although the first education cost him lakhs of rupees, Akshay says he can reduce the cost even more. “There were a lot of errors and a lot of investment in R&D initially, but that won’t happen now. With the help of grants and support from the government and NGOs, I can possibly reduce the cost to Rs 35,000. This way rural It will be cheap to afford the schools. My only wish is to take education to every rural school in Karnataka and make learning fun,” he added.

If you want to know more about his research center and want to be a part of his initiative, you can contact him on 74832 76508.

(Edited by Divya Sethu)