Ankita Rajasekharan Humans have been a nomadic species for centuries before cultivation and settlement came in. We followed the course of nature, moving places as seasons and sources of food changed. Each time, the movement being guided by the need for protection, comfort, and ultimately survival. It was never an aimless wandering; each journey brought with it learning and skills that ensured and hold credit to this day for the human species having survived and progressed to the standards that we hold today. In interaction with nature, we learnt to make fire, build tools, follow the elephants to water, construct homes as birds build their nests, predicate a storm. The core being that learning accompanied movement. Travel, was a way of life. Travel has come to mean different things in today’s time – one travels for work, one travels for leisure, one travels in search of better jobs/homes, one travels to get away, one travels to experience life and culture. And then there is ‘educational travelling’, an aspect of school curriculum that is progressively becoming more and more popular. Most schools have for a long time had an annual school/class trip. This is usually a 2-3 day trip that a class takes together, mostly for leisure but sprinkled with some focused learning elements (visits to places of historic or cultural importance, dams or factories, etc.). Then there are day trips to museums, exhibitions, parks, local historic sites, etc. Most often these trips are justified to the school administration or budget department as having curricular significance and as being part of the ‘syllabus’ requirement. One finds it difficult to convince the school authority or even oneself as a facilitator as to the significance of travelling as part of the child’s schooling experience beyond the framework of syllabus and curriculum. What does it mean to take a trip? What does it mean to visit a place? What does it mean to travel? What does it mean to wander? Can these questions and discussions that follow find a space within the walls of a school? Could travelling be about just travelling and not necessarily about focused learning outcomes? Could a visit to a historic monument be just about visiting the monument…being in the presence of an ancient architectural marvel…could it be about just admiration…could it be about a visit that inspires one to want to know about the monument, it’s construction, the period it was constructed in and whatever else that it makes one think of…could this inspiration

Mehak Siddiqui Be it training underwater like an astronaut or debating with the élan of a UN diplomat, learning the German language in Switzerland, or operating a rover on simulated Mars terrain, there is arguably no professional experience that is out of reach for school students today. Gone are the days of the humble school picnic as specialized tours become an integral part of the academic calendar, and schools compete to provide unique learning experiences that both educate and inspire students to cultivate their passions. “Our tours offer an opportunity for students and schools to actually see the practical use of the concepts they study in their classrooms,” says Vishal Verma, Managing Director of Frontiers Edutainment, an innovative education tours company with offices in Gurgaon and Chennai. As the name suggests, Frontiers strives to bring in an element of enjoyment to enhance student engagement on trips. They offer a plethora of travel programmes catering to specific interests and skills-development of students. For instance, those interested in journalism can attend the prestigious Newsroom by the Bay programme at Stanford University, while science enthusiasts can visit centres of excellence such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States and the Space Academy of Singapore. Students can also participate in a range of festivals and competitions such as the London International Youth Science Forum, the Hugh O’Brian World Leadership Congress and Model United Nations conferences around the world. “We focus on making Students realize the immense possibilities available to them and this helps them gain a much broader perspective,” adds Verma. Frontiers Edutainment organizes an average of 10 to 12 tours every year, with between 400 and 500 students participating from schools in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Dehradun, and Bangalore. The company takes care of every little detail, right from organizing visas to air tickets, hotels, meals, and local transportation. The aim is to provide students with a seamless experience where they can bond with fellow students and cultivate team skills, develop confidence in their own abilities, and explore their talents. According to Verma, most schools choose to attend educational programmes at NASA Space Centres or academic tournaments like the World Scholar’s Cup and Model United Nations Conferences. At times, it is the parents who approach Frontiers with interest in sending their children on specific tours. The company then contacts the child’s school and the tour becomes possible if a sizeable number of students register. All arrangements and itineraries are finalized several months in advance, and