#GoodNews: Underprivileged Indian Girls Receive STEM Lessons

With Indian Girls Code, a Chennai woman is empowering more women to enter STEM fields.

Aditi Prasad, founder of Indian Girls Code, teaching girls.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@IndianGirlsCode)

In hopes to bridge the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, a Chennai woman has been teaching underprivileged girls through her project – Indian Girls Code.

According to a report by The Hindu, Aditi Prasad from Chennai has launched seven such programmes to teach girls in Tamil Nadu.

Prasad will be in Mumbai on Friday, 29 March, to talk about her work at a TedxGateway Salon in NCPA.

Empowering Girls

Prasad, who holds a master’s degree in public policy, along with her sister Deepti Rao Suchindran, a neuroscientist, co-founded Robotix Learning Solutions in 2009, reported The Better India.

True to its Twitter bio that reads: ‘Empowering Kids to Invent their Future,’ Robotix creates learning experiences and programmes in the fields of technology like coding, robotics, and app development.

According to a report by The Hindu, Robotix works across 12 schools, with its members teaching students who are between three and 12. Prasad and her team teach the students skills that are valuable in an increasingly technology-driven job market. They combine STEM skills with computational, creative and critical thinking.

Where Are the Girls in STEM?

While Robotix works with both boys and girls, Prasad noticed that fewer girl students participated in the activities.

Prasad founded Indian Girls Code to encourage girls and focus on honing their skills in technology.

Prasad and Rao launched the first Indian Girls Code project in an orphanage in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. Currently, 74 girls are receiving free learning.

Speaking to The Better India, Prasad said, “While interacting with girls, we realised that if girls can solve real-world problems that they face at home, in their community, in their country by developing technology that is valuable to the world and personally meaningful to them, this will empower them in many ways.”

(With inputs from The Hindu and The Better India)