Petrosains programme reaches out to native pupils

MIRI: A total of 24 Penan, Kayan, Kenyah, Bidayuh and Iban pupils from eight primary schools took part in a three-day Petrosains Tech4All programme held at SK Long Bedian

The interactive workshops were held in collaboration with IIUM Roboteam, supported by the Ministry of Education, and the State Education Department recently.

The programme concluded with a robotics competition, where the team from SK Long Sait, Baram won, earning the opportunity to represent Sarawak in the upcoming Karnival Pendidikan Orang Asli dan Peribumi Kebangsaan and Petrosains RBTX Challenge 2024 in the ‘Indigenous Culture and Technology’ category.

The Petrosains Tech4All programme aims to democratise access to digital learning through a fun and engaging approach while instilling the vital 21st -century skills such as Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity (4Cs).

Computer literacy session during the programme.

Somisellnia Zachary, a spirited 12-year-old from SK Long Sait, took part in her first robotics and coding programme, an experience that left a lasting impression on her.

Hailing from the Penan community, she is the eldest of four children to her father, a labourer and her mother, a homemaker in Kampung Long Kerong.

“I am interested in robotics, and I hope there will be more programmes like this as it helps us to understand the topic better,” she said.

Her teacher, Joshua Arry, who also joined the programme for the first time, stated that this would help to ignite students’ passion towards STEM due to its hands-on and interactive learning approach.

“I hope this new experience will encourage our native students to continue to pursue studies and careers related to STEM, as there is high demand for these skills in the workforce of the future,” he said.

Through a series of educational sessions, participants had the opportunity to get hands-on experience with robotics kits, which helped them to test essential skills such as teamwork, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and coding, as well as explore their curiosity about robotics technologies.

The programme was designed to provide an easy approach for native students to grasp these concepts without syntax complexity, which could help them understand how coding and programming work to give robots the capabilities to perform the desired tasks.