Ramanujan Auditorium

Science Communication and Education -- whose Science, for whom?

R. Ramanujam

IMSc, Chennai

Imagine a rural dalit girl, 12 years old, the child of an agricultural labourer,
earning a daily wage. She goes to school and learns science. How does the
science education she receives in school relate to her life experiences, help
her to understand her physical, natural and social environment, and empower
her to critique them ? What attitude to technology does it develop in her ?

The talk is an attempt to discuss such questions and describe some (small)
work done in this regard by the voluntary group Tamil Nadu Science Forum
in the last couple of decades.