First Lady expects bigger win for STEM team at Global Championships

First Lady, Sandra Granger has expressed her optimism that the Guyana STEM team will perform better than it did last year at the Global Robotics Championship.

In 2017, Guyana’s Annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) placed 10th after battling against 164 other countries from around the globe.

The 2018 leg of the competition is slated for next month.

Attending the Second Annual STEM Robotics Exhibition hosted by STEM Guyana in collaboration with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company on Saturday, Mrs. Granger said, “I think we are in for great things…Our team had ten months of experience in robotics and place tenth out of 165 countries …So I expect much greater results.”

The event was held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue.

It included an actual demonstration with a robot by Team Guyana’s members, Lego brick play stations for children under 10 years old, the STEM app booth, a booth by Starr Computers Incorporated as well as exhibits from STEM Robotics Teams and Schools.

She told the young people that “if you want to be relevant in the 21st Century…you must become involved in STEM. You must embrace technology…because our lives are attuned to technology.”

Mrs. Granger, last week, received a cheque on behalf of the STEM Guyana team to the value of $500,000 from the Ministry of Public Telecommunications while the Education Ministry has pledged $6,000,000 to support Team Guyana’s preparations for the Global Robotics Championship.

Co-Founder STEM Guyana, Ms. Karen Abrams said the exhibition’s main objective is to motivate youths and help them to prepare for the future with the technological skills necessary to succeed.

“…We are trying to expose our young people in Guyana to technology and we want them to be able to get the jobs in time to come and to be ready for those jobs,” she said while noting that STEM Guyana intends to increase the number of robotics teams from 18 to 100 throughout the country, over the next year.”

Chief Executive Officer, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company, Mr. Justin Nedd pledged his Company’s unwavering support to the development of STEM in Guyana. (Extracted and Modified from the Ministry of the Presidency)