{"id":983,"date":"2025-06-08T18:18:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T18:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/?p=983"},"modified":"2025-07-09T17:07:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:07:38","slug":"mobile-stem-labs-for-rural-primary-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/concluded-projects\/mobile-stem-labs-for-rural-primary-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile STEM Labs for Rural Primary Schools – 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Date:<\/strong> January 2025
Location:<\/strong> Eastern & Northern Provinces, Sri Lanka<\/p>\n

Overview<\/strong>
To build 21st-century skills in underserved communities, MPF has converted three vans into fully equipped, itinerant STEM labs. Each “Mobile Makerspace” brings hands-on robotics, coding kits, 3D printers, and science experiment stations directly to rural primary schools on a rotating schedule.<\/p>\n

The Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    Lack of facilities:<\/strong> Many village schools have no dedicated computer lab or science room.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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    Teacher readiness:<\/strong> Educators had limited exposure to project-based STEM pedagogy.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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    Logistics barrier:<\/strong> Students in remote areas rarely travel to regional training centers.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Our Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      Vehicle Retrofit & Equipment Selection<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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        Outfitted vans with modular workstations, battery-powered laptops, Arduino and Raspberry Pi kits, and small-format 3D printers.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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        Rotational Deployment Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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          Developed a semester-long calendar so each of 12 partner schools receives two full-day visits per term.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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          Teacher Co-Facilitation Workshops<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t

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            Before launch, we ran four 2-day “Train the Trainer” sessions, empowering 36 teachers to lead hands-on activities alongside our facilitators.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Implementation Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n

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              3 Mobile Labs<\/strong> fully operational since March 2025.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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              36 teachers<\/strong> certified as co-facilitators in STEM pedagogy.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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              Integrated solar chargers<\/strong> on each van to guarantee power even in off-grid locations.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Progress to Date<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                800+ students<\/strong> have completed introductory robotics and circuitry modules.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                Average student engagement score of 4.7\/5<\/strong> in post-session feedback.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                Local education officers report a 35%<\/strong> uptick in school attendance on lab days.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Expected Outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n

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                  Reach 3,000+ students<\/strong> by December 2025.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                  Establish two permanent STEM corners in each school by year-end.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n\t

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                  Spur student-led science fairs in participating districts.<\/p>\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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                  “Our students light up when the lab arrives—they’re inventing solutions I never imagined.”
                  — Headmaster, Kinniya Central College<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Date: January 2025Location: Eastern & Northern Provinces, Sri Lanka Overview To build 21st-century skills in underserved communities, MPF has converted three vans into fully equipped, itinerant STEM labs. Each “Mobile Makerspace” brings hands-on robotics, coding kits, 3D printers, and science experiment stations directly to rural primary schools on a rotating schedule. The Challenge Lack of facilities: Many village schools have no dedicated computer lab or science room. Teacher readiness: Educators had limited exposure to project-based STEM pedagogy. Logistics barrier: Students in remote areas rarely travel to regional training centers. Our Approach Vehicle Retrofit & Equipment Selection Outfitted vans with modular workstations, battery-powered laptops, Arduino and Raspberry Pi kits, and small-format 3D printers. Rotational Deployment Plan Developed a semester-long calendar so each of 12 partner schools receives two full-day visits per term. Teacher Co-Facilitation Workshops Before launch, we ran four 2-day “Train the Trainer” sessions, empowering 36 teachers to lead hands-on activities alongside our facilitators. Implementation Highlights 3 Mobile Labs fully operational since March 2025. 36 teachers certified as co-facilitators in STEM pedagogy. Integrated solar chargers on each van to guarantee power even in off-grid locations. Progress to Date 800+ students have completed introductory robotics and circuitry modules. Average student engagement score of 4.7\/5 in post-session feedback. Local education officers report a 35% uptick in school attendance on lab days. Expected Outcomes Reach 3,000+ students by December 2025. Establish two permanent STEM corners in each school by year-end. Spur student-led science fairs in participating districts. “Our students light up when the lab arrives—they’re inventing solutions I never imagined.” — Headmaster, Kinniya Central College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concluded-projects","tag-24"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions\/1449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitesp.com\/millionpathsfoundation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}