Royal Society of Chemistry celebrate 40,000th Indian teacher trained as part of Yusuf Hamied Inspirational Science Programme
UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean recently met Shilpa Sunil, of North Hill International School in Bengaluru – the 40,000th teacher trained through workshops run as part of Royal Society of Chemistry’s Yusuf Hamied Inspirational Science Programme.
Dame Angela was in India for the G20 Chief Scientific Advisers Roundtable and took the opportunity to visit Hyderabad and Bengaluru to meet with AI, quantum, telecoms and semiconductor companies to focus on UK-India collaboration for critical technologies.
Professor Dame Angela McLean said: "The training of 40,000 teachers since 2015 by the Royal Society of Chemistry is no mean feat and is a credit to the programme trainers such as Jaya P Swaminathan who brought me up to speed on how the training works. It was a pleasure to celebrate with Shilpa Sunil who is an excellent representative of the talent and expertise that students in India will benefit from thanks to the Yusuf Hamied Inspirational Science Programme.”
Ajit Sharma, Royal Society of Chemistry Managing Director, India and South Asia, added: “This is an exciting moment for us to celebrate the milestone of our 40,000th teacher trainee, especially in the presence of Dame Angela, during her important visit to India. We have put a significant effort into training teachers in India through this programme, making chemistry more accessible and giving teachers the tools to inspire future generations. It’s a clear commitment to empower our wonderful chemistry community in India and we are very proud to reach this landmark.”
Sarah Fallon, Regional Director (India, Middle East) of Science, Innovation and Tech at the British High Commission, New Delhi, said: “The challenges we face today are increasingly numerous and complex. To solve them, we need greater diversity of thought and access to knowledge. The Royal Society of Chemistry’s work has enabled 40,000 teachers to make science and technology more exciting and rewarding. This will inspire the brightest minds across generations to come together to solve the toughest of challenges.”
Paul Lewis, Royal Society of Chemistry Chief Operating Officer said: “It has never been more important to work as an inclusive chemical sciences community to address the global challenges that affect us all, from health inequalities to climate change. This aligns very clearly with the G20’s focus in India and we are proud that Dame Angela has been able to see the impact of our important work in person.”
Chemistry education outreach across India
The Royal Society of Chemistry recently celebrated their 50th Yusuf Hamied Chemistry Camp in India since the programme’s launch in 2015, with the first camp to be held in Ladakh. Those events have taken place across 20 states in India in, 11 regional languages, to over 3,000 students at 1000+ schools, many from underprivileged backgrounds.
The most recent round of teacher training workshops took place in Mizoram state, meaning the Royal Society of Chemistry’s programme has now reached across all Indian states to carry out teacher training workshops.