For the first time, Uruguay hosted the FIRST LEGO League OPEN 2019 at the Antel Arena stadium in Montevideo.
In this robotics contest, 700 students from 25 countries participated: Germany, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Korea, Costa Rica, Spain, United States, Estonia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Italy , Mexico, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and Uruguay participated in the event.
FIRST LEGO is an international technology program for young people (students) from 12 to 16 years where they investigate a real world challenge, develop a solution and compete with their LEGO robots. (Photo by Mauricio Zina/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
South Africa is at an advanced stage to start teaching robotics starting at grade R to nine, said the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga on Monday.
Motshekga said this virtually while addressing the 2020 World Teachers’ Day.
“Plans are also afoot to introduce a robotics curriculum from Grade R-9. The curricula will ensure that our schooling system produces learners with the foundations for future work, and equip them with skills for the changing world,” she said.
She stated that they are in the process of revamping the curricula to ensure that it includes digital learning. Meanwhile, they are training the teachers in computer skills to prepare them for the fourth industrial revolution.
“In this 2019 alone, we offered computer skills training to over 43,774 teachers. In the same year, we enrolled some 72,000 teachers in Coding pedagogy with one of the prestigious and largest universities on this continent, the University of South Africa (UNISA),” said Motshekga.
She said they are piloting coding as a subject in several schools in partnership with Google, Teen Geeks, and other businesses.
Motshekga emphasized that South Africa wanted more people to have tech-related skills and not be passive consumers of technology.
