Starting next year, the school curriculum in Seychelles will include a digital skills component, said a top government official on Tuesday after handing over the kits and tools to the team participating in the First Global Robotics Challenge this year.
The principal secretary for Education Sector Development, John Lesperance, told reporters that this competition fits the government's plan to promote the digital economy, especially digital skills.
"The Ministry of Education is currently developing frameworks and tools that will be used to include this subject in the curriculum in schools at primary and secondary levels next year in 2025. It will be based on digital skills and robotics will be one of the elements taught. There has been a lot of interest already. We've been approached by quite several students who wish to join such a programme," he explained.
Team Seychelles will be participating in the First Global Robotics Challenge held in Athens, Greece, from September 26 to 29.
The competition brings together school students of 14-17 years from around the world to participate in a STEM - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - challenge. It aims to inspire youth to pursue careers in STEM fields, promote cultural exchange, and foster a global community of young innovators who can address global challenges through technology and collaboration. Each year, the competition focuses on a specific theme related to real-world issues, such as energy efficiency, water quality, or pollution.
The selection process for the First Global Robotics Challenge 2024 was done on June 11 and 12, and 31 students from state and private schools were part of the selection process.
Members of the core team will represent Seychelles at the Challenge, whereas members of the Supporting Team will have the valuable opportunity to assist the team locally in mounting and working on the robot, but will not be travelling for the competition.
This structure ensures that a broader group of students can engage with and benefit from the project, gaining practical experience and contributing to the success of the core team. The team will be accompanied by a representative from the Ministry of Education and a representative from the Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).
As the team captain for the core team that will be going to Athens in September, Gabriel Suzette emphasised the advantage of having several students on the team as repeat participants, this being the second time he is also participating.
"We have noticed that this is not the case for most other teams, they will be there for the first time. I feel that this is a good advantage for us. I am expecting to perform better than last year where we ranked 37 out of 171 countries. Hopefully this year we will succeed," he said.
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Suzette outlined their strategy for the competition this year, stating that they will be optimising their robot to efficiently rack up enough points to make it to the top 10.
"One of the tasks the robot needs to complete is picking up different coloured balls. This year we will be focusing on this because you can get quite a bit of points just by collecting the balls. Hopefully, through this, we will be able to get into the top 10," he added.
Team Seychelles received their kit to build their robot on Tuesday and apart from this kit of parts that they have to build into a functioning robot, they were also given several tools that they will need to make this happen.
These tools were donated to them by Space 95 and in her address, the company's sales and marketing manager, Ana-Maria Suzette said, "Today we are not just handing over a set of tools, we are handing over a key to unlocking your potential and facilitating the transformation of your ideas into reality. In addition to the tools needed to construct the robot, we are also providing the protective gear needed to ensure the safety of the team while working with these tools. Space 95 will also offer training to show how to use the tools effectively."
