– Ronita Torcato

The Maharashtra government has launched a scheme to send the brightest students from state-aided schools across the state on dream trips to NASA, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and regional science centres.

The initiative is directly aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to promote thinking, AI readiness, and scientific inquiry.

Launched by the School Education and Sports Department under the newly minted “Vigyan Vari Scheme” (Chief Minister Students’ Science Tour Initiative) the fully funded trips are aimed to boost scientific temper and experiential learning among students in classes 6 to 12.

The tiered rewards scheme rewards top-performing science project models and exhibitions at multiple levels:

Tehsil Level: Top 21 projects win educational visits to regional science centres.

District Level: Top 51 projects earn a fully sponsored trip to the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.

State Level: 51 state-level finalists win an all-expenses-paid, eight-day educational exposure trip to the NASA headquarters in the United States.

The state government has allocated over ₹3 crore specifically to fund the NASA trip and also increased prize money for meritorious students.

During a recent Legislative Council session, sparked by a discussion raised by member Sanjay Khodke, minister of state Dr. Pankaj Bhoyar said, “We are making sure our students don’t just watch the rest of the world move forward,we are giving them the tools to lead it.”

Details on guidelines, submission deadlines, and participation criteria, can be accessed at the Maharashtra School Education and Sports Department portal https://education.maharashtra.gov.in/school/users/login.

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