Students move towards fifth industrial revolution
Destination Imagination wants learners to own patents for their innovations Organization wants STREAM education included in the school curriculum
Destination Imagination envisions a Botswana which exists in the fifth industrial revolution.
The organisation whose aim is to upscale learners through science, technology, robotics, engineering, art, and mathematics ( STREAM) is hosting its first- ever DREAM STREAM interscholastic exposition this Saturday at Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School. Six hundred and fifty- seven ( 657) students from Mogoditshane Junior, Mogoditshane Senior, Gaborone Senior Secondary School, Marang Junior, and Ledumang Senior Secondary will be showcasing their gizmos under the theme ‘ My Imagination my Creation.’
The exposition will showcase the scientific and robotic solutions students from local schools apply to everyday problems.
The spokesperson of Destination Imagination Tshegofatso Malepa notes that learners from Botswana have a history of performing well internationally when they showcase their gizmos and the solutions they can provide to problems plaguing the world.
“We are in talks with CIPA so that we can protect the patents of our students,” Malepa explained that they want learners to own these ideas and have the patents to them.
That way once they are done with school they can develop their ideas into something more tangible. Malepa explains that from the five competing schools there will be five teams that will emerge winners.
These teams will stand a chance to compete at the international GO GO GIZMO challenge against the finest and brightest students globally. Malepa is confident that the local teams can emerge victorious considering that Saint Joseph’s senior and Mogoditshane Junior have won the global Lumen challenge in two consecutive years.
Mogoditshane Junior School emerged number one globally in the category they were in and the school emerged third in the overall global standing. Destination Imagination has set up a go fund me account so that the teams that will compete globally will have the funds to purchase proper materials for their gizmos and projects. Destination Imagination wants to spread its wings in local schools yet they sometimes have challenges in branching out into other schools as the current school schedule – a product of efforts to thwart Covid- 19 in schools - makes it quite hard for learners to meet and work on their projects at the same time.
Malepa notes that Destination Imagination is vying for STREAM education to be included in the curriculum as this will ensure the nation doubles up on efforts to transform Botswana into a knowledge- based economy.