NEW DELHI (TIP): NITI Aayog is organizing an Expert Consultative Group Meeting on Creating a Framework for Operationalizing 500 Atal Tinkering Labs, ATL at Faculty Development Centre, Shankar Vihar in New Delhi tomorrow on July 19, 2016. The consultations during 9:30 am till 12:30 pm will provide a platform for exchange of ideas and knowledge among the experts to help create and put in place a framework for the 500 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) that will be established in schools all across the country. The technical support for the consultations is being provided by the Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd. This meeting will be followed by NITI Aayog signing a Statement of Interest (SoI) with Intel to further innovation among school children during 3.30-5 pm at Niti Aayog . Atal Tinkering Labs’ initiative is a part of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), which is an umbrella platform to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in India. ATLs are workspaces where young minds can work with equipment and kits to understand the concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The objective of setting up these labs is to foster curiosity, creativity in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mind set, computational thinking and adaptive learning.

Makers, practitioners, schools and civil society are invited to discuss, deliberate and help create a Tinkering Lab Framework (TLF) which would act as the guideline for all the selected schools to establish Atal Tinkering lab. The discussion topics would range from what needs to be there in a lab; do-it-yourself activities; content; engagement with the community; a hands-on workshop to series of educational lectures. Through the open forum, NITI Aayog will look forward to attempt to understand how the maker’s community can assist the ATL to accomplish the mission of fostering an innovation ecosystem at the school level.