A free robotics programme called the Pakistan Innovation Quest has so far put over 6,000 students and 518 teachers through free sessions in five Pakistani cities. The next goal is 10,000 students and 300 teachers. Pi Space Science Education Centre (PSSEC) delivers it alongside the World Robot Olympiad Association, with Saudi oil company Aramco as the sponsor.
The training has so far happened in Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, Gujranwala and Kasur, and about 60 institutions have joined. Sessions cost nothing and go to government and private schools, poorer neighbourhoods, NGO-backed schools and girls’ schools alike. The organisers say they want more than 40% of participants to be girls.
The plan has three stages. Students begin with more than 60 short training events called RoboStarter Sprints, where they learn on robotics kits and work on a project for the World Robot Olympiad’s Future Innovators category. Regional winners then go to one of six regional competitions, and the best teams are invited to a national showcase, where they present to school heads, government representatives and sponsors. Strong performers get a route into later World Robot Olympiad Pakistan competitions.
Teachers are part of the design. PSSEC says they receive professional training so a school can keep teaching robotics after the programme leaves. It also plans to donate 100 robotics kits to schools with few resources.
One group the programme singles out is deaf students. At Deaf Reach School, trainers who know sign language and interpreters ran hands-on sessions, and PSSEC says it was the first time many of the students had used a robotics kit.
“Talent is universal. Access is not,” said Zartaj Ahmed, PSSEC’s chief executive and co-founder, who is also the national organiser of World Robot Olympiad Pakistan. Hussain N. Hanbazazah, Aramco’s vice president of communications operations and corporate citizenship, said the company’s global STEM education programme is behind the 10,000 robotics opportunities.
The release does not say when the regional competitions or the national showcase will take place, or how schools can apply to join.
This story is based on a press release from Pi Space Science Education Centre.
