School in the township of Zwelethemba near Worcester in Boland sends their 16 learners to compete in an international robotics competition in the United States.
According to SABC News, this happens after a math teacher Kudakwashe Takawira established a ‘Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Club at the school ”Galactic Einsteins” with 30 members afterschool and during the holidays, these learners would come and learn about coding, programming and building robots from Legos which resulted them in winning accolades across South Africa and trophies which include the ‘First Lego League Robotics Nationals in Johannesburg.
“We don’t just teach robotics; but also teach them to be innovative as we want them to be future innovators for their community, we teach them values and norms to work for themselves, to think outside the box and giving them rare skills which this school or the general education is not giving them. We have also discovered that starting engineering at university level it’s too late, which is why one needs to start it at grassroots level, so we are cultivating at this infant age so that by the time they get to university they are well advanced, and they are well off,” Takawira elaborates.
This ‘STEM Club’ exposed these children to many possibilities of what technology holds as many of them come from informal settlements and had no idea what they could be capable of, as one expressed how excited he was to have gained skills and knowledge on how to build a robot, ”“It is very exciting. I never thought that I would do something like a robot that’s moving, I didn’t even know how to make a robot move, I didn’t even know how to build a robot but now when I came here, I learnt some programmed skills, building skills and designing skills. It feels so exciting.”
they will spend 3 weeks in Massachusetts competing in the Internationals Robotics WPI Open Tournament. Also participate in workshops & training camps at some of the world’s prestigious technological institutions with their Coach Kuda by their side to ”shine and win”
by Mamsi Nkosi