The challenge of teaching science and communication to disadvantaged students in the Indian state of Karnataka got a big boost one year ago when the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society turned 20 of its schools into ham shacks. Some of the teachers became hams and, in turn, guided their young students in grades 6 through 12 along the way. Forty students became hams and were soon using the DMR hand-held radios, participating in the daily net and connecting to the world.

More broadly, with the installation of DMR base stations by the Indian Institute of Hams, the schools themselves became communication hubs that could be used when natural disasters knocked out conventional means of contact in their remote rural communities.

The past year has been one of challenge and innovation for Shirin, VU3DBO, one of the 20 teachers in the school system who received her ham radio certificate from the Ministry of Communication. The science teacher wove the radio curriculum into the classes where she also taught about energy, technology, the environment and space.

Shirin told Newsline in an email that the hands-on STEM learning, the expanded communication skills and the exposure to team work has sparked the students' curiosity and built confidence over the past year. She said amateur radio was [quote] "a wonderful hobby, fun in a hands-on way." [endquote]