God is a mathematician. There is mathematics embedded all
over his creation. We all use maths every single day. Isn’t
that reason enough to make mathematics simple, more interesting
and even an eye-opener?” asks Dr Dinesh Singh, professor
of mathematics at Delhi University, adjunct professor at the
University of Houston and the director of the Mathematical Sciences
Foundation (MSF).
The brainchild of Singh, MSF is a non-profit educational society
with a office at St. Stephen's College. "MSF came about
because I felt there was something missing in the way maths
was taught, especially in India. It had come to be seen as a
mundane, theoretical subject with little relevance to the world
around us. This despite the fact that it is an integral part
of our daily lives. So we decided to teach maths in original
ways. Though we aimed towards better quality of higher education,
we know the problem had to addressed at the school level,"
says Singh.
What started nine years ago from a small room at St. Stephens's
with 14 staff members and 22 computers, is gradually striking
roots in schools. MSF has conducted a number of maths workshops.
Their teaching methods are imaginative. "For example, we
all use google as a search tool on the internet but do we know
the mathematics involved in it? These are the kind of problems
we look at to get students interested in mathematics, "says
Singh.
Besides a programme called Sahyog for school students, MSF offers
a 'nurture' programme for anyone who is interested. There are
two undergraduate courses in programming in mathematical engineering
with IT besides specialist postgraduate courses in maths. ICICI
bank, Tata interactive Services and Stephen's are institutional
members of MSF. "We don't give certificates to students
but that hasn't stopped them from bagging great jobs or enrolling
in universities abroad. Maths here is maths as applied in real
world situations. Some of our students recently developed a
new method to find and correct errors involved in the phone
dialling process," says Vipul Uma, co-ordinator of the
MSF programme at Stephen's.
There are more plans. "We hope to start our maths helpline
for students this year, establish labs in schools and open a
research centre for MSF. We want high-end theoretical knowledge
to merge with a hands on approach, just as Gandhiji had envisaged,"
says Singh.
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