Students take a look at science from the stage

An event that uses art as a medium to explain scientific ideas— National Science Drama Festival— was inaugurated here on Friday.

Governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj inaugurated the festival at Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum. National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) is organising the drama festival to encourage young minds to express their scientific side through the medium of theatre.

In his inaugural address, Bhardwaj said holding science dramas can be an effective way to help improve  science-related awareness in our society. He stressed that India needed to be competitive in terms of science to make progress in technology.

The drama festival will be held over two days and will see participation of eight teams. The teams are from Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala. These teams are representing the four zones of the country. Each team will get 30 minutes to enact the drama. The students of these teams will be a part of other activities too, which will help them sharpen their theatrical, scientific and communication skills.

Twenty-six centres of NCSM organise the drama festival at regional level across the country with the support of the respective state’s education department. Altogether, 60 teams from all the regions qualify for zonal level. Two teams from each zone are selected to take part in National Science Drama Festival.