Kokrajhar: Children have always looked at the night sky with wonder. Stars become diamonds, and the moon, a friendly guardian. For them, space isn’t just a distant, unreachable void; it’s a playground where imagination and science collide.
This natural curiosity often starts with simple questions: Why does the moon change shape? Why do stars twinkle? Can we live on Mars? These questions reflect a young mind’s instinct to explore the unknown, where rockets can be built from cardboard and astronauts can ride bicycles to the moon.
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Now, the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is turning that curiosity into a classroom reality. The BTR has launched the Bodoland Space Education Programme, a project that has already established 15 “School Space Labs” in government schools across the region.
Bringing Space to the Classroom
The initiative is the brainchild of Pramod Boro, Chief of the BTR. It pairs modern lab equipment and telescopes with mentorship from ISRO-recognised “Space Tutor” agencies. The goal is to transform a child’s fascination with space into practical STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning for thousands of students.
The program’s rapid expansion is a testament to its success. The first lab opened in mid-2024, and by National Space Day 2025 on August 23, the BTR had reached its 15-lab milestone. This expansion honours the theme of this year’s National Space Day: Aryabhatta to Gaganyaan: Ancient Wisdom to Infinite Possibilities, by connecting ancient Indian astronomy with modern space achievements.
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The foundation of the program is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the BTR government and Vyomika Space Academy, an ISRO Space Tutor partner. Vyomika provides everything from curriculum and teacher training to hardware like model rockets, telescopes, and CanSat kits.
Nurturing Future Scientists
The response from students and parents has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The thought of black holes swallowing light, galaxies stretching endlessly, or humans living on other planets sparks both wonder and determination,” said Prabhat Basumatary, whose 16-year-old son, Chittaranjan, is inspired by astronomer Carl Sagan. Chittaranjan’s dream is to work for organisations like ISRO or NASA. His friends, like many children, imagine themselves as astronauts, scientists, or inventors, filling their notebooks with drawings of futuristic spaceships and friendly aliens.
The Space Labs are designed for hands-on, tactile learning. Instead of just looking at diagrams, students use optical telescopes to observe planets, build scaled models of launch vehicles, and work with microcontroller-based kits to learn about sensors and propulsion. The curriculum connects directly to India’s space missions, allowing students to plan mock lunar observation campaigns after learning about Chandrayaan or replicate payload integration steps with small kits.
Teacher training is a key part of the program. Expert trainers conduct workshops to teach educators how to run rocket-building workshops safely and align experiments with the state syllabus. This approach shifts the focus from a once-a-year “science fair” to weekly lab work and night-sky observations.
A Community-Focused Approach
The first lab was inaugurated on July 19, 2024, at the Sidli-Kashikotra Higher Secondary School in Chirang. This was a significant moment, as it was the first such lab in any government school in Northeast India. The event signaled that this wasn’t a one-off project but the beginning of a larger network.
The BTR government has also attached memorial names to each lab, honouring local educators and community leaders to foster a sense of ownership. This choice, local leaders say, helps weave the labs into the region’s cultural fabric, ensuring they are seen as community assets.
The full list of the 15 labs includes: Chino Basumatary Memorial Space Lab, Sidli-Kashikotra HS School (Chirang); Mathias Tudu Memorial Space Lab, Grahampur HS School (Kokrajhar); Sumilal Narzary Memorial Space Lab, Tipkai HS School (Kokrajhar); Brajendra Kumar Brahma Space Lab, Kokrajhar HS School (Kokrajhar); Marjit Brahma memorial Space Lab, Kachugaon High School (Kokrajhar); Jogen Basumatary Memorial Space Lab, Basugaon HS School (Chirang); Sanjarang Lakeswar Brahma Memorial Space Lab, Bijni Bandhab HS School (Chirang); Mohendra Narzary Memorial Space Lab, Amguri HS School (Chirang); Bijendra Wary Memorial Space Lab, Runikata HS School (Chirang); Nilesh M Desai memorial Space Lab, Barama Girls High School (Baksa); Dharanidhar Wary Memorial Space Lab, Salbari High School (Baksa); Haladhar Ujir Memorial Space Lab, Talumpur HS School (Tamulpur); Doleswar Boro memorial Space Lab, Udalguri HS School (Udalguri); Amrit Chandra Kachari Memorial Space Lab, Khoirabari HS School (Udalguri); and Baliram Boro Memorial Space Lab, Harisinga HS School (Udalguri).
The BTR’s investment in space education is part of a broader effort to improve academic outcomes and reduce historical disparities in the region. The program’s success shows that the labs are not just sitting idle. Vyomika Space Academy reports that over 3,000 tribal students have already participated in the program, building water-propelled rockets and explaining orbital concepts to visiting officials in Assamese, Bodo, and English.
This initiative is a powerful statement. For a region often defined by its challenges, the image of teenagers in Bijni or Sidli aligning telescopes and debugging microcontrollers is more than just a feel-good story. It’s a practical bet that the path to a brighter future for Bodoland’s students runs through labs like these.