2nd Phase of the “Vigyan Jyoti Programme”

What is the News?
The second phase of Vigyan Jyoti programme commenced on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, 2021.

Vigyan Jyoti Programme:

• It was launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) in December 2019.
• Aim: It aims to create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls in high school. It will encourage them to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics(STEM) in their higher education and make them self-reliant.
• Classes Covered: This programme started at school level for meritorious girls of Class IX to Class XII.
• Coverage: The programme had been running successfully in 50 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas(JNV) since 2019. It is now expanded to 50 more JNVs for the year 2021-22.
• Activities under the programme: The activities under the programme include student-parent counselling, visit to labs and knowledge centres, partners role model interactions, science camps, academic support classes, resource material distribution and tinkering activities.
  • It also provides online academic support to students. It includes streaming of video classes, study materials, daily practice problems and doubt clearing sessions.
• Second Phase: The second phase of the Vigyan Jyoti aims to spread the program to 50 more districts. It will be in addition to the existing 50 districts across the country.

Other Initiatives by DST to Promote Gender Parity in STEM:

• Women Scientists Scheme: This initiative primarily aims at providing opportunities to women scientists and technologists who had a break in their career but desired to return to the mainstream. It covers women between the age group of 27-57 years.
• Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities(CURIE) programme: It aims for improving R&D infrastructure and establishing state-of-the-art research facilities in order to create excellence in S&T in women universities.
• Artificial Intelligence(AI) Labs: Government has established AI labs in women’s universities with the goal to foster AI innovations. It will prepare skilled manpower for AI-based jobs in the future.
• Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions(GATI): It aims to develop a comprehensive charter and a framework for assessing gender inequality in STEM.
• Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing(KIRAN): It aims to bring gender parity in the Science & Technology sector by inducting more women talent in the research & development domain through various programmes.

Source: PIB