Teacher Motivation and Mentoring Dynamics in the National Children's Science Congress (NCSC)

Abstract

The National Children's Science Congress (NCSC), a flagship initiative of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, seeks to promote scientific temper among students aged 10-17 through decentralised, research-based participation. While the program's scale and student impact have been widely documented, limited research has examined the motivations and experiences of Guide Teachers (GTs), who play a central mentoring role in student projects. This study adopts a mixed-method design, combining quantitative survey data (n = 251) with qualitative insights from open-ended responses and interviews, to explore teacher motivations, mentoring practices, institutional support, and challenges. Findings indicate that intrinsic motivation-particularly professional satisfaction- drives teacher participation, despite limited formal research training and inadequate institutional support. The study identifies structural gaps in training, recognition, and resource allocation and proposes specific policy-level interventions to strengthen teacher capacity within the NCSC ecosystem.