The Supreme Education Council (SEC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maersk Oil Qatar (MOQ), the College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) and Qatar Petroleum (QP) to renew the school robotics programme GO ROBOT for another two years.
Established in 2012, the innovative education programme supports student engagement and skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects, teacher training and development and promotes the application of technology to enhance the learning environment for students.
The signing of the GO ROBOT agreement extension means the programme can continue to build on its many successes since 2012. Over 8,000 students from 250 schools have participated in the GO ROBOT programme.
Among the other achievements are: robotics has been included in IT curriculums for most grades at all independent schools in Qatar, with students in grades three through ten now required to participate in one hour of robotics programming instruction per week; more than $1mn worth of robotics equipment has been distributed to teachers and schools across Qatar; more than 1,000 ICT, maths and physics teachers have completed up to 30 hours of robotics training on programming, construction and optimisation.
The extension of the GO ROBOT programme also comes ahead of the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) - one of the world’s largest robotics competitions for young people - which is coming to Doha for the first time from November 6 to 8. Students representing more than 150 schools from 55 countries around the world will compete head-to-head during the three-day event, which will take place at Al Shaqab Equestrian Stadium.
This year’s World Robot Olympiad follows the Qatar National Robot Olympiad finals which will take place at the same venue and will be held on October 30 and 31. This event is the largest of its kind in Qatar and features over 1,200 students in 450 teams from elementary, middle and senior schools tasked with building and programming LEGO MINDSTORMS robots under strict time limits to test their problem solving, engineering and programming skills as well as teamwork and initiative.
More than 30 of the strongest teams participating in the Qatar National Robot Olympiad will be given the chance to represent Qatar at the World Robot Olympiad.
Fawziya al-Khater, Director of the Education Institute at the Supreme Education Council, said: “We have been very impressed with the results from the GO ROBOT programme to date. The enthusiasm for the programme among students and teachers is strong and growing. Given how vitally important technical and science skills are to our country’s development, such programmes are crucial in nurturing and developing the potential of the very people who will help shape Qatar’s future. We look forward to GO ROBOT’s continued success and further progress in the coming year.”