SAKURA SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMME 2018
The
Sakura Science High School Programme is a noble initiative of the
Japan Science and Technology Agency to encourage the cooperation between
different countries so as to advance in the various fields of science.
Six
students of classes XI-XII were privileged to be among the 36 students representing
India, namely Shruthi Rao, Khushi Srivastava, Bhanu Tevatia, Manaswani Joshi,
Samriddhi Jain and Pratham Kapoor. They were accompanied by Mrs. Leeja Srijil,
their teacher supervisor.
It was a
week long programme from 27 May to 2 June. In the course of the week, they
visited various top-notch universities (Hiroshima University and Toyo
University), the Hiroshima University High School, several museums depicting
Japan’s scientific innovations and culture and the Chugoku Nuclear Power Plant
among others.
A
delegation from Brazil and Taiwan also accompanied them throughout.
At Toyo
University, they were pleasantly surprised to see that post-doctoral Indian
students were assigned to give them a tour of their facility. At Miraikan, or
the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, it was an honour to
interact with Dr. Mamoru Mohri, the first Japanese astronaut to go into space.
ASIMO, a humanoid robot, was also a delight to watch.
One of
the most fun parts of the programme was the day when the students shared
classrooms with Japanese high school students. At the end of the event they all
shook a leg to Bollywood beats which generated fun and excitement among all the
participants from different parts of the globe.
The week
was full of a plethora of hands-on educational activities which has left our
students more knowledgeable than before.
It was an
honour for one of our students, Shruthi Rao, to give a presentation on behalf
of India at the closing ceremony.
Throughout
the week, the participants
were blown away by the Japanese virtues of kindness, hospitality, value for
time and politeness and were inspired to imbibe those virtues in their lives as well.
Shruthi
Rao, XII-A