Bengaluru: Surveyamong high school students has revealed that only 13% of the studentsarecurious toexplore technology behind gadgets used in daily life. The survey on ‘behaviour and attitude of high school students inKarnatakatowards technology and 21st century skills’ was conducted by nonprofit organization Quest Alliance among 1,572 high school students of Karnataka. Theresearchrevealedthat only 11% of the girls and 16% oftheboysarecuriousenough to explore technology behind day-to-day gadgets. The surveywas conductedinasmany as 27 schools in Mysuru and Tu m a k u r u d i s tri c ts o f Karnataka. Announcingthesurveyfindings at a press conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday, NehaParti,Director(Schools), Quest Alliance, said that the research clearly highlights the need for improving 21st century skills and scientific temper among our students in rural areas. In this context, Kantar, a leading global insights firm and IBM, a global technology firm, have come together to launch a programme to prom o te STE M (Sc i e n c e , Technology, Engineering and Math)educationamong40,000 high school students in nine districts of Karnataka. Quest Alliance, the knowledge partner,willrollouttheprogramme i n M y s u r u , Tu m a k u r u , BengaluruRural,Chitradurga, Yadgir, Raichur, Gadag, Hassan and Chikkaballapura districts. “This programme will provideexperiential learningtostudents through ‘learning by doing’ approach. This means that these 40,000 high school students will no longer need to memorize complex scientific concepts fromtextbooks.Through this programme, students will getanopportunity totinkerand build tech-based solutions to problems that they identify,” Neha added. This initiative will supplement the existing school curriculumbyprovidingdigitalfluency, coding and scientific temper through Hackathons and STEM Clubs to promote STEM education among high school students. The programme will also support the students in their career journey through scholarships, career counselling, and role model interactions with different professionals. Speaking about the partner ship, Preeti Reddy, Chairwoman-InsightsDivision, SouthAsiaatKantar said,“We believe that there is a need to enable greater exposure to STEM education for students and teachers in order to build the workforce of the 21st century. Equipping them with critical thinking, and problemsolving skills is not just desirable, but essential if we are to be future-ready. Kantar is delighted to support Quest Alliance’s EcosySTEM programme to help facilitate and drive this change.” Sharing his thoughts on the collaboration, Manoj Balachandran, Head of CSR, IBM India/South Asia, said, “We are at the forefront of helpingyoungstudentsunderstandtheimportanceofSTEM education, create excitement for this field and demonstrate its potential impact on their futurecareer.Byintegratingthe IBM STEM for Girls initiative as part of its outreach, the EcosySTEM platform will empower40,000studentswith classroom trainings and mentorships toprepareforacareer in STEM.” According to the Unified DistrictInformationSystemfor Education 2019-2020 data, the drop-out rate from school to pre-university college is a causeofconcern.While95.8% of girls transition from grade 8 to 9, only 74.7% move from grade 10 to 11. As many as 71% of boys said they were naturally better than girls in mathematics and science and 19% girls alsoagreedthatboyswerebetterthan girls in these subjects. Ms Neha said these findings reinforce some of the gender stereotypes and hence it is imperative that modules on gender awareness are given emphasis. The survey also found that only 66%of students had poor understanding of 21st century skills which include communication, critical thinking and decision making among others. Other findings of the survey: • 39% of the female students surveyed said they currently have a personal social media account (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook etc.,) as opposed to 65% of the male students. • 65% of the female students indicated that they were confident/very confident in using computers as opposed to 58% of male students. • Nearly 92% of male students and 87% of female students that they had used internet in the last 3 months to searchformoreinformationon the topics they were studying. • strengthen technical and digitalskillsintier2and3towns •NSDChaspartneredwith Hoping Minds, a placementorientedskilldevelopmentventure to offer programs like Full Stack Development (MERN), Data Science, Applied EV Design & Integration; and Hy d r o c a r b o n Fi e l d & Distribution Engineers. This partnership will benefit and support17,000+learners from tier-2,tier-3cities, smalltowns, andvillagesacrossIndiaingetting high-growth careers throughcounselling,direction, learning, and practical experiencerequiredforgettingaspirational jobs. • Throwing light on the recent collaboration,Sanjeeva Singh,ExecutiveVP,CSRand Skill Development Financing, NSDC, said, "Around 17000+ students shall be trained and placed in futuristic skills (In emerging sectors such as IT, EV,etc.)underthispartnership. Thisalliancewill speciallyhelp students from tier-2/3 cities, small towns, and villages to receive hands-on experience for aspirational roles that put them on high-growth career tracks.” • Mr. Ishan Kapoor, Cofounder, Hoping Minds, said, "We are happy to partner with NSDC as the program is aligned with Prime Minister Modi's call to make India the Skill Capital of the World and thevisionofNSDCtomeetthe burgeoningdemandfor skilled labour in India and close the skills gap that exists currently. NSDC will support revolutionaryoutcomesbyproviding greater access to students, facilitating low-interest skill loans, and assisting learners ingettingopportunitiesthrough various NSDC networks.” •HopingMinds runsplacement-focused development programsthathelpstudentsget into high-growth careers. For their ambition, Hoping Minds will be allowed access to the PAN India Network of NSDC accredited Partner Training Institutes, the opportunity of joint marketing and promotion of programs/batches/events through NSDC’s digital/electronic media ecosystem, and international market opportun i ti e s th r o u g h NSDC International Limited. •The biggest USPof these programs is that they focus on holistic development so that students are placed above a minimum threshold package, are corporate ready and positioned for faster growth; fees are applicable only after students start earning; programs are delivered live by a worldclass faculty; there is personalized focus on each student withindividualcounselling;and the curriculum is designed as per specific corporaterequirements in partnership with the industry