The success of our current education system lies in the achievements of eminent scientists, proficient engineers and noble thinkers. These are people who, despite the vast social inequities in access to education, have attained their own milestones. 

Not everyone, however, can overcome such barriers and script their own legacies. It takes innovative teaching practices, out-of-the-box thinking and vision to help students look beyond their books and put their knowledge and skills to practical use.

In his years in teaching, H C Verma, a veteran physicist, realised that a student’s holistic development depends more on lessons outside books and laboratories. Through experiments with small groups of teachers and pupils, he emphasised the significance of life skills and conceptual learning in academic improvement.

In this lecture, Verma will draw upon his role in Shiksha Sopan, an initiative he launched to support students from marginalised communities. Under Shiksha Sopan, Verma and a network of volunteers run evening learning centres and informal education centres in IIT Kanpur and a nearby village. These centres of learning are about more than just imparting lessons. These are crucibles for positive changes that can go a long way in transforming India’s education system.

शिक्षा क्षेत्र में मेरे प्रयोग (प्रोफेसर हरीश चंद्र वर्मा)

About the Speaker

Harish Chandra Verma (Padma Shri — 2020) was a Professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Before joining IIT Kanpur, he served Science College, Patna University (1979−1994) as a Lecturer and Reader. 

His research interests are nanofabrication using focussed ion beam, magnetism in graphite on irradiation by ion beam, nanosize (4 nm-20 nm) magnetic materials, Fe-based alloys, earth science, etc.

He has published over 130 research papers in journals. He has also written several books on physics for school and college students. He has developed over 300 physics experiments that teachers can use for demonstration in their classrooms. 

Prof. Verma is an Executive Committee member of the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT), which works for physics education in schools and colleges. He has been associated with social causes and has been instrumental in making a group of IIT Kanpur faculty members, students, and local youths run an NGO called Shiksha Sopan.

Through various centres in the villages around IIT Kanpur, Shiksha Sopan is in direct daily contact with about 250 families. Under the leadership of Prof. Verma, these centres inculcate Indian values and culture and provide them with educational help.