With determination and resilience inside as well as outside the classroom, a local robotics team of six learners from Kimberley Technical High School has shown that they not only have the academic skills to make it to the National Robotics Competition, but also that financial challenges will not stop them.
WITH determination and resilience inside as well as outside the classroom, a local robotics team of six learners from Kimberley Technical High School has shown that they not only have the academic skills to make it to the National Robotics Competition but also that financial challenges will not stop them.
The KTHS team is one of five teams that made it through to represent the Northern Cape at the national competition, to be held at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg, after they were victorious at the recent For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition that took place in Carnarvon.
According to the principal of KTHS, Michael Ludick, the learners not only took robotics in their stride as a school subject but also as a foundation for their possible career paths.
“We are very proud of the learners for making it to nationals. We regard robotics and coding as very important as it is part of the 4th Industrial Revolution and we need to prepare our learners for the real world. We see robotics and engineering as subjects that will kick-start the careers of the learners after they have completed their schooling. There are currently not many job opportunities for people, especially the youth and we view robotics and engineering, including artisan subjects, as the future career choices,” said Ludick.
He added that despite the financial challenges they face, the learners and the school came up with creative ways to get the team to Johannesburg.
“We have been struggling to get support for our learners. There is a lot of cost containment within the department. The thing that makes it very challenging is that learners have to pay for the trip from their own pocket. From the school’s side, we tried to support them by hosting civvies days about three weeks in a row. The learners had a lot of fund-raisers to get the money to pay for their trip. They will also be using the school bus as a means of transport.
“We had to support our learners as we wanted to see them succeed and not get discouraged. This will also serve to entice other schools and to show them new ways of procuring money for certain projects.”
Ludick called on the Northern Cape Department of Education to play a more active role in supporting school programmes and competitions.
“The department supports a lot of programmes. We had a team of learners who went to the National Moot Court competition and the Department of Education footed the bill for the accommodation as well as transport costs of the learners. The learners who went to that national competition had no financial burden. We request the department to come on board of the robotics programme as well and assist these learners as well.
“The majority of our learners reside in Galeshewe and Floors and are from single-parent households. Some of the parents cannot even pay the school fees. This is an extra burden on the learners as well as the parents. We do not want our learners to become discouraged and we also see this as an opportunity to get more schools involved in robotics.”
Ludick added that with the support of Sol Plaatje University, the team has ensured that they are adequately equipped to stand against their opponents.
“We are fortunate as we have the resources to help our learners prepare for such competitions. We also have the assistance of Sol Plaatje University, which plays the role of a mentor to the learners. The department also assisted the learners by donating a table that was required by the learners. With regards to resources, we do not have any challenge in that regard.”
Ludick encouraged his team to give it their best.
“They know who they are and where they come from, as well as who they are representing … We are extremely proud of this milestone and will be with them in spirit,” Ludick said with a broad smile.
