Keetmanshoop
Aspiring young scientists from schools in the //Karas Region will once again compete for top honours in the annual regional science fair that kicks off at Keetmanshoop on Wednesday next week.
This year’s science fair will be the biggest yet, with 194 learners from 27 participating schools competing in various categories.
The science fair’s coordinator, Zony Swartz, says this year’s event is bigger than in the past, both in terms of the number of participants and cash injection. He said the main sponsor, Skorpion Zinc, will inject about N$60 000 into this year’s event to cater for food, prize monies and other necessities.
He said preparations have run smoothly this year, with no major hiccups experienced. The final touches are being applied where necessary to ensure that the event is a huge success. He further said he is hopeful the region will once again get the best out of their learners and that brilliant learners with the best projects can represent the region at the national competition.
He points out that he expects the region’s young scientists to emulate last year’s team performance and to become the top overall performers in the country. “Our performance was very good last year. We were ranked the top performing region and I hope our learners can keep up that standard of performance,” she said.
Swartz narrated that the exercise is important for the learners, as it gives them an opportunity to be creative and think out of the box, as well as think critically. He further said the fair is also a stepping stone to greater things in future, as learners can be exposed to many different opportunities.
In terms of the importance of the fair, he said: “It’s a platform for the learners to be exposed [to scientific ideas] and this can bring them different opportunities, like access to bursaries from companies.”