By Beverly Bizeki
Victoria Primary School in Masvingo’s junior robotics team earned a ticket to the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) international stage in Singapore in November this year after securing fourth position at the just ended WRO nationals held in Bulawayo.
Victoria Primary School Sports Director Charles Chengeta expressed joy in the team’s achievement considering that it was the school’s first time to participate in the robotics Olympiad with the learners competing against secondary school pupils.
“We are in cloud nine, Victoria Primary is known for many things but the fact that our pupils are flying outside the country to represent the school and their country is amazing. This is our first time participating in robotics competitions and we are already making waves. Everyone is happy about this achievement, the school staff, parents and the children as well,” said Chengeta.
Chengeta said the school started the programme this year to keep up with global trends and expose their children to global stages and the children were already gaining new skills through participation in the competitions.
“Times are changing and we want our children to keep up with the changing times and expose them to technology.
“The learners have already gained new skills with the likes of problem solving, ability to work under pressure and self-start,” said Chengeta.
He thanked the school authorities for rallying behind the success of the learners to the nationals and said stakeholders interested in supporting the initiative can do so through the relevant school channels.
One of the team members, 12-year-old Ayanda Mukakati said their parking assistant system project was driven by the prevalence of accidents caused by a lack of warning systems for drivers when parking
“We discovered that in our community many accidents are happening due to insufficient warning systems so we came up with a solution of making a smart parking assistant system. When we were in Bulawayo we were the only primary competing against high schools so I was not really expecting to win the competition but we managed to come fourth hence I am excited as we will be flying to Singapore too,” said Mukakati.
Another team member Darrell Kasinamunhu said he was not expecting to win the competition and was happy to get a chance to showcase his intelligence on an international stage.
“After winning the nationals I felt happy and surprised because I was not expecting it, I am happy about flying to Singapore to represent my school and showing my intelligence,” said Kasinamunhu.
