Hackathon for schoolchildren held in Pune

PUNE: Persistent Systems said that a pilot edition of Smart School Hackathon (SSH) was held at its office on Saturday. The company said it was co-organised in association with Persistent Foundation & i4C.
"Over 160 technical prodigies from grades 7, 8 and 9 hailing from 23 schools in Pune, PCMC area and Nashik participated in SSH 2020… The five critical concerns addressed in SSH include topics like water conservation, waste management, cleanliness, noise pollution control & wonder out of waste," the company said in a statement.
The initiative drew praise from Niti Aayog's top official, who was the chief guest at the event.
"Witnessing the Smart School Hackathon unfold and watching these school students come up with innovative ideas has been a refreshing experience. Competitions like Smart School Hackathon encourage students to work together on issues outside their regular curriculum and broadens their horizons in terms of the latest technology and industry expectations," said Unnat Pandit, program director at Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.
The organisers said that they plan to take this competition to the remotest corners of the country and provide advanced learning and development opportunities to students with technical acumen.
"I went through all the ideas submitted by the students, I was impressed by the level of technical awareness and know-how these school students have at a young age. It has been exciting experience to see how students between the age group of 11-14 years put on their thinking hats and tackle these problem statements in an innovative and disruptive manner,"said Vivek Kulkarni, delivery head & chief architect, Persistent LABS, Persistent Systems and Secretary, executive council, i4C.