Meet ‘Robotics Ki Pathshala’: the UP program turning scrap into flying jets
A grassroots programme called Robotics Ki Pathshala helped government school students in Aligarh build a flying F-22 Raptor model from thermocol waste.
Robotics Ki Pathshala is a grassroots STEM initiative that brings hands-on science and engineering education to government school students across Uttar Pradesh, built on the idea that children learn science best by building things rather than only reading about them. Its most attention-grabbing result yet came out of Composite Vidyalaya Bhilawali, a government school in Aligarh’s Akrabad block.
There, students in Classes 4 to 8 built a flying model of the F-22 Raptor, a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet made by Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force. They used thermocol waste, toy motors, basic wires and simple electronics instead of expensive kits or imported materials, and the model reportedly flew up to 1.5 kilometres once complete. The total build cost came to approximately Rs 6,000.
The school has no dedicated laboratory, no 3D printers and no imported equipment. What it does have, under the guidance of a teacher who runs the robotics workshops, is a habit of turning scrap materials into tools for learning and experimentation. The F-22 Raptor model, completed in March 2026, is the clearest demonstration yet of what that approach can produce.
The F-22 Raptor itself is regarded as one of the most technologically advanced aircraft ever built, designed for stealth, air superiority and supersonic speed, with aerospace firms typically investing years and billions of dollars to develop aircraft in its class. A flying, scaled version of it built by primary and middle-school students for a few thousand rupees is what pushed the video into wide circulation, with millions of views recorded online.
The story has been cited as an example of what government school students can achieve when given even basic guidance and materials, without access to elite private institutions or dedicated STEM labs.
Wikimedia Commons/by Scott Wolfe, U.S. Air Force (representational image of a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor in flight; not the actual student-built model)
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