Grade Five pupils at the Sophia Primary School are having fun putting together workable and non-working models with their new Robotic Kit that was presented to the school’s Robotics Club at the start of this term by the Ministry of Public Telecommunications.
Minister Cathy Hughes visited the school yesterday to observe the progress the children are making with the numerous pieces in the standard Level I kit. The children explained how they put together a mini-drone and a farm animal, and present technicians attached to STEM Guyana explained how the models could be made to work when the ‘brain’ is included in the design.
Minister Hughes urged the eight and nine-year-olds to handle every piece in the kit with extreme care and to keep them clean.
Sophia Primary is the second school selected by the ministry to receive Robotic kits. The first was the Robotics Club at the St. Pius Primary School in West La Penitence.
This initiative is part of the national plan to ensure that children across the education spectrum, including schools in inland regions and the Hinterland, begin to learn and master basic Robotics and the necessary subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). It involves introducing children to Computer Coding, sensor technology, working with motor controls, and wireless communication systems.
Head of STEM Guyana, Ms Karen Abrams, said that the new Robotic Kits are already improving the children’s abilities to work through simple challenges.
Four additional Primary schools in Essequibo, Region 1 and elsewhere will receive their Robotic Kits shortly.
