MUMBAI, Aug. 24 -- The city's civic schools could soon send some of their brightest students to Isro and abroad, with city BJP chief Ameet Satam has proposed educational study trips to give meritorious students greater exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Satam has urged BMC chief Ashwini Bhide and mayor Ritu Tawde to select 50 meritorious students each from classes 8 and 9 and arrange study trips to Isro and either Singapore or Japan, respectively. The proposal is aimed at exposing students to advances in STEM and helping them develop skills beyond the classroom. The proposal comes amid the 'School Thik Karo', a three-step audit initiative to identify and address shortcomings in government schools across villages in India, taken up by Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, as well as Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's outreach to Gen Z. Satam made the proposal as deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde held a four-hour meeting at his official residence, Nandanvan, in Mumbai, with School Education minister Dada Bhuse and senior officials of the state education department to review Maharashtra's education sector. Shinde directed the department to prepare a clear, comprehensive and time-bound action plan to modernise schools and bring about visible and qualitative improvements in the state's education system. In his letter to Tawde and Bhide, Satam said the proposed study trips would give BMC's meritorious students greater exposure and help enhance their STEM skills. He also referred to the civic body's plan to inaugurate its first school equipped with an artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics laboratory in Juhu. "I would like to propose that BMC select 50 meritorious students each from Classes 8 and 9 and make arrangements for them to undertake study trips to ISRO and Singapore or Japan, respectively. Adequate arrangements should be made to enhance their skills in STEM so that we give the best possible exposure to our talented students," Satam said. Shinde also emphasised that education must go beyond the curriculum and examinations. "If our schools change, the future of our students will change. And if the future of our students changes, the future of Maharashtra will change. It is our collective responsibility to take every good initiative in education forward in mission mode and ensure that its benefits reach our students," said Shinde....