KSCSTE schemes for underprivileged women

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has announced two pioneering schemes on the occasion of International Women’s Day - one to help transform the lives of underprivileged women through science and technology interventions, and the other to create a talent pool to secure the future of science in the state.Developed by KSCSTE’s Women Scientists Cell (WSC), the Vocational Skill-Oriented Reinstate Training (VSORT) is a special training and career advancement programme for science qualified women in the state who are socially and geographically isolated. It targets women in remote tribal areas and in prisons, helping them to enter mainstream workforce through science and technology based training.Through VSORT, women would be offered career-oriented short-term certificate courses in subjects as wide-ranging as information technology, documentation, ayurveda, pharmacy sciences, laboratory technology, mushroom culture and food processing.“VSORT is essentially a livelihood programme to help marginalised women get back on their feet through science and technology inputs,” said K R Lekha, the head of KSCSTE Women Scientists Cell. “We hope to roll out VSORT initially in three prisons across the state offering three courses, each of three months duration.”   A second scheme in the pipeline is the ambitious STARS programme for students. STARS stands for Students with Aptitude for Research in Science and it aims to identify talented youngsters and encourage them to pursue a career in science.Two different programmes have been designed for the purpose. The first is called Student Programme for Excellence in Experimental Design or SPEED. It offers hands-on training for Upper Primary and Higher Secondary Students who have secured an A grade at the Kerala State School Shastrolsavam science fair.  “A graders in any of the four competitive categories - working models, still models, research type of projects and improvised experiments - can apply for the programme,” Lekha said.