Students told to turn ideas into solutions at Kenya Science Fair

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Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has urged students in both Junior and senior schools to dream and invent solutions to the world through Science and technology innovations. 

Duale, who spoke during the opening of the 62nd Kenya Science and Engineering Fair (KSEF) nationals at the Garissa High School today, called on the young participants not to despise their ideas even when they seem small, noting that all notable companies were all started as ideas. 

“We are celebrating the power of our young people to imagine solutions to real-world problems. Science is not confined to textbooks; science is about curiosity, it is about asking how and why and having the courage to try,” Duale said. 

“To our students here, you are not just participants; you are the innovators of today and the leaders of tomorrow. The ideas you are working on today, however small they may seem, are the seeds of the future. The world we live in today has been shaped by young thinkers just like you,” he added.

At the same time, Duale said that the government was committed to creating a conducive environment for Kenyans to create outstanding innovations and inventions that create employment opportunities and help in expanding the economy as a regional hub. 

The CS said that the introduction of CBE was part of the government's efforts to nurture young Kenyans at an early stage into their areas of passion, where they can think, innovate, create, and bring solutions for real-world problems in different fields. 

“All the tech companies, their ideas started just like the ones you have here, experimenting, sometimes failing, learning and trying again, and please never give up. Kenya stands at a very important point in its development through Vision 2030. We have committed ourselves to becoming a knowledge-driven, innovative-led economy, and we inspire our country as the Silicon Valley of the region,” he said. 

“Science, technology, and innovation are no longer optional; they are central to our progress. The Competence- based Education system is already shifting us in that direction, with more students now pursuing STEM pathways, but beyond numbers, what matters is the mindset, the willingness to solve problems, to create and to innovate,” he added.

The Director General for the Ministry of Education, Elyas Abdi, on his part, said that the government has made key interventions, including the construction of science laboratories to improve the teaching and learning of sciences, so that students may have enough knowledge to be inventive.

However, Abdi regretted low performance in sciences and mathematics in comparison with other subjects and hoped that by allowing the learners to choose their pathways of interest, the performance would improve in the coming years.

“This Fair aims to inculcate the learners’ scientific knowledge by improving their critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity,” Abdi said.

“The CBE curriculum being implemented now puts a lot of emphasis on STEM education. In Fact, 53 per cent of the learners transiting to grade 10 this year opted for the STEM pathway. We believe that opening this activity to junior school will create interest in the STEM pathway early in the education ladder,” he added. 

For the first time, KSEF is integrating junior school learners alongside senior schools, focusing on STEM innovations, including robotics.

The learners will present projects in Agriculture, Biological and Environmental science, Energy and Transportation, Mathematical science and Physical science, Social behavioural science, Technology and engineering, among others.