Namibia’s energy industry has seen tremendous growth, with the discovery of oil on the country’s coastal line and the development of green hydrogen, and with these comes the need for youth participation.
Four students from Delta Secondary School Windhoek will represent Namibia at the Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa in November.
The students were selected from 100 participants of the ExxonMobil Foundation STEM Africa constituency quizzes.
The event, which took place at Windhoek Country Club and Resort recently, featured various activities designed to foster collaboration, and problem-solving, and showcase the participants’ proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
At the Africa Energy Week, the students will compete against teams from Mozambique, Angola, and Nigeria for the grand prize in the STEM Education Competition.
One of the four chosen students, Barros Domingos, said the competition was not easy but was exciting.
“The competition encourages me to challenge myself to explore my problem-solving capabilities as well as to apply my creative ideas into real-world situations,” he noted.
Domingos said he is looking forward to the trip, citing it is an opportunity for him to learn and network.
Ashley Lebereki, another chosen student, explained that the STEM competition had different stages such as the science quiz and an innovation camp, which pushed her team to their limits.
In both stages, critical thinking and time management skills were tested, she divulged.
“At the innovation camp, we were given an hour to think of an out-of-the-box solution to a problem Namibia is currently facing. Nonetheless, Team Delta still prevailed,” she said.
She further said the competition helped them foster their presentation, teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
“Each team only had an hour to come up with a feasible and original idea, so it really got Team Delta thinking,” she said.
In preparation for the upcoming competition, Lebereki said she and her team are busy researching and studying topics related to energy, and finance in Namibia and Africa at large.
“I would like to encourage Namibian youth to engage in activities which allow them to do better and understand their cognitive abilities.
Such initiatives are present, which allows them to develop their skills and interests. Most importantly, the youth should be willing to reach out and find people who share interests and are able to help and support the youth,” she said.