National STEAM fair makes grand return after five-year hiatus

THE National Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) Fair made its grand return after a fiveyear hiatus and saw a total of 177 schools countrywide displaying their innovative projects.

Themed, “Transforming Education through Innovation and STEAM,” the threeday exhibition was declared open by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand at the Cyril Potter College of Education, Turkeyen, on Monday.

The first day of the 2023 fair saw the attendance of scores of students, parents and teachers who were elated to learn about the many innovative ideas through which the country can be further developed.

Teacher of St. Mary’s Nursery School, Region Six, Jodiah Wright, told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that her school chose the Science category and their project is centred on plants and benefits along with the process of germination.

“The whole idea behind our project was to shed some light about the importance of plants in our environment… so we created some dioramas and to help them with their learning process…we went from the different stages of germination to how we can care for those plants; then we moved on to how caring for those plants can give us various things like food medicine, shelter, and clothing,” Miss Wright noted.

Latoya McKenzie from the Virginia Primary School in Region Four, stated that her school took up the mantle to build a Mathematical ‘Green City’ using shapes.

“Today we entered the Mathematics category and the theme for our project is a geometrical green city…we created our own geometrical green city where we’ve been incorporating all the concepts like angles, shapes, the lengths of the shape, the degrees and for them to recognise the importance of these concepts,” said McKenzie.

Meanwhile, Abram Zuil Secondary along the Essequibo Coast came out with their carbon dioxide project.

One of the students, Gishna Ramkellawan explained, “Our project is based on removing carbon dioxide from the air and converting it into dry ice…when we remove it from the air it doesn’t add to pollution and we’re also creating something that could give us a profit.”

The teen, who was excited to participate in the fair noted that she has learned a lot from her other secondary colleagues. “I had no idea that we could’ve captured this carbon dioxide and turned it into something useful,” noted Ramkellawan.

Addressing the gathering, Minister Manickchand underscored the journey the government endured to ensure that the national event returns.

“Guyana experienced one of our harshest periods…in 2020 moving forward…we have the pandemic that is affecting the world…we had prolonged election period which had the entire country in disarray and uncertainty… and we had for the first time, the closure of schools and the request and the necessity to deliver education in a way that we have never done before.

“This was the biggest test for the education system… and it is not an exaggeration to say that I believe that we responded comparatively well as a developing country. The STEAM fair was not something that was possible in any year prior to this, because of the harsh consequences of COVID,” The education minister pointed out.

Minister Manickchand stressed that the education system in the country will continue to be one of zeal, as the ministry continues to fight against all odds.

The ministry has also managed to obtain universal primary education according to the United Nations standards and aims to ensure that the same quality of learning occurs at nursery and secondary levels.

“We focused on making sure that every student has access across the nursery, primary and secondary, so we are looking to achieve universal access to education…wherever you are we are going to be able to access education because we are bent and we insist that we are going to grip that out,” Minister Manickchand said. (DPI)

More constables assigned to Mayor

Narine than Stabroek Market

–– constabulary officers tell Minister Dharamlall

THE Mayor of Georgetown, Ubraj Narine has once again come under fire for his performance, this time, for not providing sufficient security for the vendors and consumers of Stabroek Market and having higher security attached to him and his personal properties.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamall, in a post on Facebook, said despite the Stabroek Market being a dangerous hub where vendors and patrons frequently complain of inadequate security, it was discovered that Mayor Narine has not addressed those concerns.

Moreover, according to the minister, City Police revealed that while six of them are lodged at the Mayor’s office, the market only has five officers.

“When questioned, constabulary officers reported that there are more city constabulary officers attached to the person and personal properties of Mayor Ubraj Narine than to the 1,500 stallholders and thousands of shoppers at Stabroek Market,” Dharamlall said.

The Guyana Chronicle had visited Kitty Market, where vendors and shoppers also related that their concerns are not being addressed by the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown.

One vendor, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said over the years the market has been deteriorating and business has been on the decline.

“I’ve been running around, going to councilors. I used to go to the statutory meeting that City Hall has. I tried talking to councillors and still we are here and nothing happened.”

When contacted for a response, Mayor Narine said that the City Council does not have the sufficient funds to complete the market.