Students of Vivian Fowler Memorial College have featured in the First Technology Challenge-Asia Pacific Challenge, FTC APOC 2021, global robotics competition as the only Girl-child school and the only Nigerian and African school.
FIRST is a youth-serving non-profit group inspiring young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators.
It engages them in exciting mentor-based programmes that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Vivian Fowler Memorial College was part of the 40 FTC teams from around the globe that participated in a remote event, hosted by Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University in Sydney Australia.
The event had live robot rounds, alliances, judging, and getting to meet amazing people that are all excited about robots and STEM!
The Director of the College, Mrs. Olufunke Fowler-Amba stated that the future was technology and as a result, the curriculum had to be redirected.
The college according to her had been engaging in collaboration to provide qualitative educational delivery. According to her, “We need a curriculum that prepares students for the 21st century. The school included Robotics in her curriculum in 2017 and partnered with organizations to support the programme. The school also has a synergy within its community to coordinate the teachers. Teachers with background in technology are sourced more in view of the need to develop a more enriching curriculum.”
She added that the way of teaching the students had changed as education had to be more holistic.
She reiterated the need for the development of soft skills to prepare the students to meet future challenges.
She urged the government to include robotics a part of the curriculum and prepare students for the future.
The director of the college stated that it was not only private schools that were involved in robotics as the nation’s educational curriculum should be revamped.
The current curriculum is based on past glory and skills that are becoming extinct.
Some things, according to her, might not make the students to be cerebral in their thinking.
