Robotics camps set for August holidays

DPI, Guyana, Thursday, July 5, 2018

With schools closing for the August holidays, the Department of Youth has collaborated with STEM Guyana to launch the department’s Youth Camp 2018.

This year, the focus is placed on developing technology across the country. Director of the Department of Youth, Melissa Carmichael stated that “the Department of Youth is mandated to provide young people with activities and opportunities that will foster their all rounded development.”

Carmichael added that in addition to the life skills training and craft workshops, the purpose of these camps is to introduce youths across Guyana to robotics and technology under the theme “Youth Innovate to Accelerate”.

“We believe it is necessary to get our young people involved in the use of technology to create and develop. We also believe that is important that our young people understand the importance of innovation.” Carmichael stated that this gives youths across the opportunity to “move from simply utilizing a smartphone to chat, simply utilizing the computer to do research, to moving into creating and developing apps.”

Co-Founder of STEM Guyana, Ima Christian, who expressed her excitement to be collaborating with the Department of Youth, said that from the programme, the students will not only “learn the hard skills of robotics and programming” but also skills such as “collaboration, computational thinking, problem-solving and critical thinking.”

Christian hopes that from this the students “will be trained enough with the information that they may go on and join our robotics league.”

Some twenty-five people from various parts of the country were trained to become leaders/mentors. The camps will run during the period July 23 to August 17 and will be held in all regions of Guyana. During this time, the youths will be exposed to robotics, recycling, the green economy and animation.

By: Anara Khan.

Photo: Leroy Lyttle.