Learners win big with app
FOUR learners from Sinenjongo High School in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, are celebrating their win in the goIT Challenge, in which more than 455 participants from the Western and Eastern Cape battled out their ideas for an app that could change the communities they come from for the better.
The challenge, which was hosted by Tata Consultancy Services in partnership with Steam education specialist Sakhikamva Foundation and brought together hundreds of learners from nine high schools across the Western and Eastern Cape, came to a tantalising end on Wednesday when learners from Sinenjongo High and Goodwood College took first, second and third place.
Said Sakhikamva Foundation founder Fatima Jakoet: “The challenge saw the learners tasked with coming up with app ideas to solve real-world problems in their communities and, in turn, change the world for the better.”
The first-placed team members each won a new tablet, and the second- and third-placed learners from Goodwood College each won a robotics kit.
Geographic information specialist at Astrofica and one of the judges, Athina Kenned said: “Purely on the presentations, the winning team was passionate and confident in their app idea.
“They were invested in it, and it showed.”
Sinenjongo High School learner Lilitha Masizana said: “We are so happy and excited to have won, and as a team we stand by what our app was designed to do: to promote gender equality and the acceptance of gender diversity, which includes a conversation platform to highlight the impacts of gender inequality.”