- Samsung is hosting a design competition for underserved schools across South Africa, where students vie for a top prize of R100 000 for their institutions.
- Students from 10 schools across the country have until September to present prototypes built using design skills to a panel of judges.
- Additionally, students in the teams for the top three schools will be awarded Samsung devices.
Local education initiatives have been a staple for Samsung South Africa. The company has joined the likes of government in efforts to bring future-minded technologies to school.
It launched the Samsung Innovation Campus programme in 2022 and has worked with universities across South Africa and Lesotho to help students to access specialised equipment.
It also looks to celebrate achievements in local education through competitions. Samsung announced on Friday that it had completed the second phase of its “Solve for Tomorrow Competition.”
This second phase encompassed workshops specifically geared towards design. At these workshops students and teachers would learn how to think and work like real designers in companies such as Samsung.
After the workshops, students from 10 schools, as well as mentors are tasked to research and develop prototypes using this design knowledge, which they will showcase in a final presentation.
Samsung highlights that the workshops, “were also aimed to help [the students] foster creative and critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills through project-based learning, as well as learn and practice key activities of the Design Thinking process including preparing for interviews, identifying a point of view, brainstorming and making a paper prototype.”
The prototypes will then be judged, with the winning school set to receive a grand prize of R100 000 worth of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) equipment from Samsung. A key aspect of the judging is the prototypes benefit for the local community.
Second and third positions will receive R50 000 and R30 000 respectively. In addition to the main prizes, each of the learners in the top three teams will be rewarded with a “Samsung device,” the company says.
“This unique competition is our contribution to youth empowerment and skills creation in the information communication technology sector to help country play a meaningful role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR),” explained Hlubi Shivanda, Director: Business Operations and Innovation and Corporate Affairs at Samsung.
“It was designed to increase interest and proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), gives grade 10 and 11 learners from underserved communities an opportunity to gain invaluable skills while solving some of their communities’ challenges.”
The finalists have until September 2023 to complete their prototypes before a panel of judges gets to work on assessing them in October, after which Samsung will award the top school with the prize.
A total of 10 schools are in the finalist position, with three from KwaZulu-Natal, two in Limpopo, two in Gauteng, two in the Free State and one in Mpumalanga.
[Image – Samsung]
