The Federal Ministry of Education has indicated that, from next year, all the 104 Unity schools will participate in the First Lego League (FLL) National Robotics Championship Competition.
FLL was brought to Nigeria by Coderina Education and Technology Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation and supported by SAP.
Now in its sixth edition in the country, the 2020 competition, themed “City Shaper,” was organised by Coderina in collaboration with the Ministry and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), with support from SAP, National Information Technology Development Agency, Irish Aid and the Baze University, Abuja.
Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, represented by the permanent secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, said the decision to allow all Unity schools’ participation was meant to strengthen critical and computational thinking among students.
Children aged nine to 18 years, numbering about 1,000, and 50 teachers drawn from 60 schools participated at this year’s national championship, with Metra 101 Team, an all-girls team from FGGC, Ikot Obio Itong, Akwa Ibom State, emerging overall champions.
Other winners were Robot Design (2nd place) Award – Tech Gears X; Against All Odds Award – FGGC, Bauchi; Mentor/Coach Award – FGGC, Kabba; Core Values Award – Airol Unilag; Robot Performance Award – Bred Hub; Glistobots – Robot Design – Glisten School and Robot Performance (2nd) – FSTC Orozo; Project Award – Technobots – Vivian Fowler School.
Metra 101 Team scooped the top position by embodying the programmes core values of teamwork and mutual respect while achieving excellence and innovation in both robot game and innovative project.
Feeling excited by the students’ performance, the permanent secretary said: “This marks a significant first step in our work in ensuring the infusion of Coding in our school curricula to strengthen critical and computational thinking as a key skillset that students in Secondary Education must have. This will ensure that we broaden the base by making sure that the opportunities of this preparation are made possible today even though the manifestations of the series of efforts we are making now will come tomorrow.
“Our efforts are in line with Ministerial Strategic Plans, the SDGs 4; which is provision of quality education for all…The world of today and that of the foreseeable future is one where individuals move between digital domains and offline reality with the use of technology to enable and manage life”, he added.