Wheel was invented in Sindh: Shah

Education minister inaugurates Sindh science fest

KARACHI:

People of the Sindh invented the wheel, Sindh Education Minister Sardar Shah said challenging the popular belief of the wheel being invented in Southern Mesopotamia.

“It was the Sindhis who had first invented the wheel and thus taught the people to move from one place to another,” he said at the inauguration of the first-ever two-day Sindh Science Festival at NED University in Karachi on Thursday.

Several hundred students from different districts of the province along with their teachers from different schools of Karachi and other districts of Sindh turned up at the venue to participate in the festival where they displayed and exhibited the unique science models which were keenly watched and praised by the visitors, who thronged the venue on the first day.

Shah lauded the efforts of the organizers including Partab Shivani, the CEO of Thar Education Alliance, and his team, representative of different organizations, and the participating students and their teachers who had arrived at the venue with the sole purpose to present their science models.

"We cannot progress without imparting modern science education and inculcating inquisitive habits in our children," he said.

Children should also get scientific equipment besides education at their respective schools, he said.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education was key to success, he said and urged the students to get more interested in such subjects.

Sardar Shah said that it was the Sindhis who were pioneers of the first great invention of the universe and they had first invented the wheel and thus taught the people to move from one place to another.

Mosharraf Zaidi, an eminent writer, and educationalist during the panel discussion said education could be used to bring real change in society.

Thar Education Alliance CEO Partab Shivani said that he and his team members after getting a huge response by organizing such events in Tharparkar, Thatta, and other districts was advised by his friends and partners to plan in a city like Karachi.

He thanked the educationalists, the representatives of various organizations, officials of education departments, and others to attend the different events of the festival.

Malala Fund Programme Manager Maleha Khan said they were trying to improve the existing education system. She expressed hope that girls from the backward areas would get space during events and to shine themselves.

Ms Khan highly praised the organizers for the two-day event and said that models prepared and exhibited by both girls and boys were wonderful. " Such students should be given more space and opuntyiries to showcase their talent and interest in such subjects," she added.

Newports Institute of Communication and Economics Co-chairperson Huma Bukhari observed that it was the fundamental right of every student to get access to modern education.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2022.