Vigyan Viplav Labs
In rural Gujarat, 16-year-old Ayan Patel’s Vigyan Viplav Labs is transforming education—bringing hands-on STEM to 1,500+ students through mobile science vans, teacher training, and community hackathons that inspire innovation and boost girls’ interest in science.
Vigyan-Viplav Labs –
STEM Education, Design & Innovation in Rural Schools
Launched a design in STEM program with a pilot at Tribhuvan Vidhyalaya, Lanva (400 students), and scaled to 5 rural schools across 5 villages, engaging 1,500+ students (Grades 7–10) in hands-on STEM projects.
Shifted education from rote theory to design-led innovation: students built circuits, devices, and robotics prototypes addressing real-world problems.
Curated 3 major science hackathons with 300+ student projects, including an Arduino-powered lake-cleaning device that won regional recognition.
1st Experiential Stem Lab in Lanva Village
The journey began at Tribhuvan Vidhyalaya in Lanva, Ayan’s ancestral village school. Working with 400 students from Grades 7–10, he carried in boxes of wires, LEDs, and batteries to run hands-on workshops. Instead of abstract lectures, students built simple circuits, motors, and small devices — experiencing engineering in action for the first time.
Ayan organised a community hackathon, where students proudly presented their prototypes — clap-operated lights, water-level alarms, smart trash can, and more. Parents, teachers, and village leaders were amazed at how quickly students could innovate with the right guidance.
The event drew Mr Mukesh Patel, MLA of Mehsana district, who witnessed the excitement first-hand. Struck by the program’s potential to transform rural education, he and the school principal began discussing how it could reach beyond a single school.
Scaling Across Villages with a Mobile STEM Van
Recognizing that most schools in the district lacked labs altogether, the MLA donated a Mobile STEM Van equipped with toolkits, Arduino kits, and teaching aids. This allowed Vigyan Viplav Labs to travel directly to remote villages, where setting up permanent labs would be difficult or too costly.
With this support, the initiative expanded to five rural schools across five villages (Lanva, Dhinoj, Chanasma, Palasar, Deloli), reaching 1,500+ students. To sustain growth, Ayan onboarded nine local teachers through a train-the-trainer program, ensuring workshops could continue long after his visits.
Community Recognition & Policy Support
The Principal of Tribhuvan Vidhyalaya reflects:
“The most significant change has been in aspirations—the percentage of girls aiming to study science after Grade 10 has risen from 20% to nearly 50%.”
The initiative is now in talks with 10+ schools and NGOs, with municipal partnerships under consideration to embed the model across all public schools in Mehsana district.
Impact Snapshot (as of Feb 2025)
Metric | Description |
|---|---|
Teacher Training | 9 local trainers onboarded |
School Partnerships | 10+ schools/NGOs in outreach pipeline |
Mobile STEM club | Donated by MLA, enabling outreach in villages without labs |
Hackathons Held | 3 major science Hackathons |
Girls in STEM | Aspirations rose from 20% → 50% |
Students Reached | 1,500+ across 5 rural schools |
Projects Built | 300+ working STEM prototypes |
Future Expansion Plan
Building on these foundations, Vigyan Viplav Labs is now preparing its next phase of growth:
-
District-Wide Integration: Partnering with the Mehsana Municipal Corporation to integrate STEM modules into all government schools.
-
Mobile Lab Fleet: Expanding from 1 to 3 mobile STEM vans, each serving 20–25 schools on rotation.
-
Teacher Accelerator Program: Training 50+ rural educators over the next three years to run labs independently.
-
Replication Model: Documenting the curriculum and model so it can be adopted by NGOs and schools across other districts of Gujarat.
-
STEM Innovation Challenges: Annual district-level competitions to showcase rural student projects and connect them with universities and industries.
A Rural Movement with Global Lessons
What started with a handful of LEDs and wires in one classroom has become a rural education movement. By blending curiosity, creativity, and community, Vigyan Viplav Labs shows how grassroots innovation can reshape education systems — empowering young minds to think, build, and lead.
