In an age overrun with AIs where people occasionally are fearful that AI may overtake humans, every summer iRobokid attempts at dispelling such myths and making children technology friendly during their formative years. The brand iRobokid introduces summer camps for children to learn the cutting edge technologies of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Matehmatics) and Robotics.
The camps are carefully designed with concept driven learning to ignite the interest and inquisitiveness in children towards innovations and problem solving skills, at the same time giving them a much needed early exposure to the world of STEM.
Speaking to this correspondent, Suhas Acharya, Partner, iRobokid speaks about the vision behind the brand and its ultimate goal.
What is iRobokid?
iRobokid has been a pioneer in introducing STEM education through robotics in India. We are one of the oldest private players in this segment to offer customised practical and new age programs like Robotics, Engineering, Electronics, Coding, 3D printing and much more to children aged 6 to 14 in schools and centres across various cities.
The core strength of iRobokid is our integrated, customized curriculum. All our programs follow ‘hands on, mind on’ practical problem solving approach and are designed in a way to inspire young minds towards STEM education. The children get the opportunity to work in teams and are encouraged to find creative solutions while learning new technologies
How did iRobokid start?
We wanted to give children of our country an opportunity to thrive in an ever changing world of education, technology and automation. By 2020, 5 out of 8 jobs will require STEM (Science / Technology / Engineering / Maths) background.
Besides school education, which is more theoretical then practical, the children need an environment to stimulate their curiosity and increase skills which can prepare them for the future.
With this thought, we started iRobokid in 2010. Seven years down the line, we can proudly say that we have significantly managed to change the way children, educators and parents perceive practical education.
What has the response been like?
Over the past years, we have had glowing response from the schools as well as parents who have appreciated and lauded our efforts for introducing and mentoring children in the world of STEM Education.
In this journey so far, we have connected with over 75 schools, over 15,000 children have participated in various programs / workshops and workshops offered by us and we have spread our wings in 4 cities.
We have also been selected on the indicative list of ATL vendors by the Government along with being a registered and recognised start up by the Government of India.
Are children nowadays that interested in technology?
Children are naturally curious. To further develop their knowledge about the world, one way to keep them interested is to learn the wonders of Science and Technology.
We have trained over 25 teams of children to participate in the Indian Chapter of the World Robot Olympiad and one of our teams has also won and represented India at the World Robot Olympiad in Indonesia.
We have also successfully held coding competitions on the theme of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan across 8 schools in Mumbai, where children successfully learnt and designed their own game based on the above theme.
Would you not say that in a world riddled with gizmos, children need more time with nature, rather than tech?
There’s no denying that kids need more time with nature. But we can also not ignore the fact that we live in a world full of technology. At robotics, we do not teach children how to operate gizmos, we rather teach the science behind them. In fact, in one of our programs, children get hands on experience of building models inspired by Da Vinci, that give them a glimpse into the world of simple machines.
What is the future plan with iRobokid?
With our strong domain knowledge and expertise, we feel iRobokid is perfectly suited to participate in the Government of India’s endeavour Atal Innovation Mission and spread our footprint to reach more children and schools in the country.
