The Pan African University of Life and Earth Sciences Institute, University of Ibadan, on Saturday, brought a total of 110 primary and secondary school pupils to the Distance Learning Centre of UI, Ajibode, Ibadan, Oyo State to acquaint them with some basic technological skills in order to sharpen their creative abilities.
The event was organised by PAULESI’s Incubation centre of excellence which is powered by the African Development Bank and run by Co-creation Hub Limited. The centre was recently set up to facilitate innovative thinking, collaborative problem solving, and the development of ground breaking innovations.
Participants at the event were taken through activities such as 3-D remodeling designs, robotics, digital laboratory, scratch programming, physical computing and embedded system.
The one-day training workshop, tagged, ‘STEM showcase Ibadan,’ organised for learners between age 10 and 16, was described by the pupils as exciting and highly rewarding.
For most of the students who participated, it was the first time of having such an exposure to a practical STEM-based showcase.
According to Prof. Titilayo Akinlabi, the Director of PAULESI, the programme was among the activities held in commemoration of the 2021 African Union Day.
The professor of Mechanical Engineering, who harped on the need for learners to get exposed to the rudiments and basics of STEM, said that doing so would help in preparing them towards becoming problem solvers rather than being mere product consumers.
The university don said, “And for the young girl-child here today, it is also for you to know that it is possible to be a woman and excel in STEM fields and even be at the top of your career.”
The Programme Manager, Co-Creation Hub, Abraham Akpan, said that the company was positioned to organise projects for stakeholders in various communities with the aim of using technology to address communal and national problems.
Akpan said, “As technology is taking over our world, students need to have hands-on knowledge and this is our way of contributing and impacting our world.
“Co-Creation Hub is Africa’s leading technology innovation ecosystem builder on a mission to accelerate the application of science, technology and social capital for economic prosperity across Africa.” Explaining that the goal of CCHUB was to assist students to become creators and users of technologies, the Programme Manager, Education, CCHUB, Chinyelu Ude, said that exposure to STEM would help the students to engage in problem solving in their environment.
Explaining that the goal of CCHUB was to assist students to become creators and users of technologies, the Programme Manager, Education, CCHUB, Chinyelu Ude, said that exposure to STEM would help the students to engage in problem solving in their environment.
Whereas some kids have gadgets that could be used for self advancement in STEM, Udeh noted that most of them could, however, not take the advantage because of limited knowledge of their productive use.
Among other things, participants at the event were taken through how to convert wind into mechanical energy, biomass which is turning waste into mechanical energy, cooking gas, and solar energy.
Meanwhile, some of the pupils said that the programme had helped them to realize the need for policy makers to introduce STEM into the primary education curriculum in a bid to stimulate their interest in the field at a young age.
In an interview with Oyo Reporters, Anuoluwapo Okunneye, a JSS III student of UCH Staff School, Ibadan, said that it was interesting to learn about Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, 3-D design etc. and their application to solve real-life problems.
Okunneye said, “I learnt about crafts and other robotics that can be made with scraps at home, thereby recycling what was initially considered as waste. I learnt, in practical ways, how wind energy turns to mechanical and the solar energy that can be used to power appliances.
“This is an edge for me to start thinking of how to deploy all I had learnt to solving problems in my environment, especially the problem of waste management.”
Michael Oladunjoye, a Primary Six pupil of Rolis International School, Ibadan said that he would like to become a physicist and the event had further stimulated his interest in STEM.
Oladunjoye said, “I would like to develop more in this field and also build machines that will ease work when I grow up.”
Inioluwa Ireniyi, a JSS II student said, “The event has opened my mind to the fact that I can be an engineer, that STEM is not only for males, but that I can excel there too.
“That I can be an inventor also and I would like to solve the problem of light for Nigeria by inventing a machine from renewable sources that switches itself on whenever there is a power outage.”
Isabella Akinyede, a Primary Four pupil of Richmab International School, said she was fascinated about how robotics and artificial intelligence were used to make things work.
“I would like to become a medical doctor in the future and use the knowledge I am gaining in STEM to make things better,” Akinyede said.
