ISWK students, teacher visit India’s premier science centre

Shashwat Singh of Class IX-C and Parth Devaprasad Nayak of Class VII- D from the Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir (ISWK) were taken on an educational tour to the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), located in Nainital, in the northern Indian state Uttarakhand.

In January, both the students had enrolled for the National Astronomy Challenge, organised by STEM and SPACE. And both the students secured Global Rank 1 in the exam. For this achievement, both of them were felicitated at the Indian Habitat Centre in India's capital New Delhi.

Apart from the felicitation, they also got the chance to interact with various scientists and professors of Delhi University, a release from the school said.

The next day, the students were taken on a long road trip to the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital - the city of lakes. The students got the opportunity to meet various astronomers and also to observe the Asia’s largest Optical Telescope located at Devasthal, 60km from Nainital.

'This was the first time when students were given the opportunity to visit the Devasthal campus of ARIES. Though the weather was slightly unfavourable, which hampered the observation process; it was a hands-on experience of using a telescope. Overall, it was a truly exciting and memorable journey for the students,' the school stated.

“We feel honoured to get this rare opportunity to visit the ARIES observatory which allowed us to gain a lot of knowledge and experience related to observational astronomy,” said Shashwat, Parth and the teacherin-charge Shruti Mukundan.