The Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has launched the second Africa Code week challenge competition.
The competition has been launched under the DSTI’s STEM programme which is to empower pupils with digital skills under the theme of ‘Protecting Life Together’.
The aim of the competition is to continue to promote digital skills for pupils, encourage pupils to co-create impact projects in a creative and innovative manner and to provide pupils with a platform to showcase their talents on the African continent.
The director general for DSTI, Xavier Estico, stated that “the Africa Code week is a collaboration of Unesco and system analyst programme development which was started on the African continent since 2015”.
He noted that Seychelles first participated last year, competing with the 54 countries in Africa.
Last year Seychelles had 15 participants, 5 qualified and Seychelles came out 9th on the African continent. This year Mauritius is the continental winner for the Africa Code Week and DG Estico stated that this is a good example for Seychelles and that he expects the pupils to meet their expectations with their full support. “Why not we surpass Mauritius in this competition even though they have more experience in it?” he stated.
The competition is open for pupils aged 8 to 16 years and participants can participate in a group (maximum 5 pupils), in pairs (must be male and female) and individually. Pupils are allowed to form part of only one team and the criteria is to create a game using the ‘Scratch’ programme which is a two-person game. If a pupil decides to participate individually they will still need to create a game that is for two people.
The Ambassador for Africa Code week, Jessica D’Unienville, the principal research officer, research and development in DSTI, stated that “pupils can interpret the theme freely in terms of human life, plant life, animal or others”.
The pupils have to submit a three-minute YouTube video of the game as well as explain how the game works. The deadline for submission for the competition is September 13, 2022 after which DSTI will judge the games (videos) and the top three winners will participate on the continental level.
The Ambassador for Africa Code week noted that ‘Scratch’ is a programme that is relatively easy and that pupils normally have been introduced to the programme since primary. Pupils can also view YouTube videos which give details on how to use the programme.
Mr Estico stressed that in 2019 they realised how important coding is and thus to lead to digital transformation of Seychelles, and the skills of the pupils that will enter the work place will help to develop and diversify the country.
“Programming and coding is fundamentally important,” he said.
Ms D’Unienville stated that DSTI expects more participation this year since for their first participation last year the organisers noted that the level of submissions from Seychelles were on par with the rest of the competitors.
“We wish that pupils from Praslin and La Digue also participate and we continue to develop the talents of the youth,” she said.
The DG noted that for parents who are hesitating that their eight-year-old does not know coding to not let this deter them from participating as he reiterated that ‘Scratch’ is a relatively easy programme to learn.
Participation is not limited to age as pupils can pair such as an eight-year-old with a sixteen-year-old and the top three winners will win cash prizes as well as get the chance to participate continentally.
To participate in the competition pupils can find the link to google forms on DSTI’s website and the link will also be circulated via whatsapp and through schools. Unlike the previous year the pupils do not have to pitch their projects to DSTI, they simply have to send in their three-minute YouTube video.
Source: Seychelles Nation
