Way to go: (From left) Qa’id, Aryan Nair, Norhafizah, Durrah Izzah and Dayang Suha Marissa.
FOUR pupils from SK Putrajaya Presint 8 (1) are hoping to make a trip to the United Kingdom next month.
Having won the Tinkers Award at the British International Education Association (BIEA) 2023 International STEM Youth Innovation Competition, they are now setting their sights on joining other winners and participants at the competition’s global showcase, set to take place at the Museum of London Docklands on Oct 17.
Also included in the itinerary is the D4ISY Youth Forum on Climate Change at the Houses of Parliament in London on the following day.
Expressing their excitement, the team who dubbed themselves Living 4Green – comprising Year Five pupils Aryan Nair Prem Rakesh, Durrah Izzah Mohd Salleh, Dayang Suha Marissa Abang Yusuf and Qa’id Yushyieran – said they look forward to meeting their peers “from the rest of the world and listening to their opinions and sharing ideas on how to stop and overcome the impact of global warming”.
In fact, the team is so excited about it that they have already accepted the invitation to participate in both events, despite still waiting to secure a sponsorship for the trip.
Themed “Greening Cities, Sustaining Lives”, the BIEA 2023 competition required participants, aged six to 21, to submit a written report, together with a sketch or model of their proposed innovative idea on how to make a city of their choice more sustainable and resilient to climate change.
The team led by Aryan Nair went on to create a sustainable landscape for Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, drawing inspiration from the initiatives to transform Putrajaya into a Green City.
“We chose Bogota because of its high pollution and population density, which can affect its natural environment,” the team told StarEdu in an email interview.
According to guidance teacher Norhafizah Abdullah, her pupils were very interested to take part in the competition as they had read about the threat of global warming, which causes disruptions to climate cycles, habitats and ecosystems.
She added that the team was formed in early May after one of the pupils’ parents came across the competition and discussed with the other parents to encourage their kids to participate.
Even as they were keen on taking part in the competition, the process of submitting the entry by June 30 was not without any challenge.
“All the members were involved in various school activities, so planning a suitable schedule to ensure that everyone could meet proved to be a challenge,” Norhafizah, who is also the pupils’ English language teacher, shared.
“The team met two to three times a week, usually at night, either online or physically in the library for two months to discuss the project and distribute tasks among themselves,” she added.
On the announcement of the competition results in August, the team said, “It’s wonderful to see our hard work pay off and to be given a platform to share our views and ideas.”
When asked their future plans, the team said they would not miss out on any opportunity to share their ideas and suggestions on how to stop global warming.
“We strongly encourage students to engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) competitions as a way to improve their innovative thinking and build confidence in addressing real-world challenges across diverse fields like artificial Intelligence, architecture and transportation,” they added.
Citing the United States Department of Labor, the team said STEM jobs are projected to see an 11% growth from 2021 to 2031, exceeding the average growth rate across occupations.
Pointing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s call in May to promote students’ interest in STEM, Norhafizah urged the youth to join competitions as a way to foster a competitive spirit and help them develop their STEM skills.
“Competitions can provide a fun and challenging environment for children to showcase their talents and learn from others,” she said.
Charis, 20, a student in Kuala Lumpur, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team. To join Star-NiE’s online youth community, go to facebook.com/niebrats.
