Higher quality projects in 2016 VINLEC National Science Fair

This year’s VINLEC National Science and Technology Fair saw a marked improvement over previous years in the quality of the projects produced by participants.

So said science officer in the Ministry of Education Amaala Muhammed last Friday at the Methodist Church Hall, on the final day of activities.{{more}}

“What I must say is we have had an improvement in the quality of the projects. We really had some excellent projects this year and the diversity of the projects,” Muhammed said.

She noted that she has seen that students and teachers have spent more time not just on putting the projects together, but on thinking about them.

Muhammed noted that for the first time in years, a student from the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College had entered the Science Fair.

“This year we had an increased participation in the number of persons in the Open Category,” she added.

She noted, however, that most of the projects were submitted from the top schools in the island.

“We had some schools that did not participate last year participate this year, but we are still seeing most of the projects coming from the top schools,” Muhammed indicated.

She said also that she knows first-hand that the students enjoyed the Science Fair.

President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Science Teachers Association (SVGSTA) Juanita Hunte-King, who last year had called for an improvement in the quality of submitted projects, said that she, like Muhammed, saw an improvement in the quality of projects submitted.

“There is also an improvement in the quality of the projects and I could see from some of the projects some participants did spend some time on their projects. There were quite a few that were…now for now, but especially at the primary level, we saw that the students really took time to learn about their project and to present it showing that they understood what they were doing.

“And we also saw an improvement in the quality of the secondary school projects in terms of their presentation as well and we are very pleased with what we have seen,” she added.

King noted that the SVGSTA would be calling for greater participation among schools, especially the tertiary bodies for next year’s competition.

This year saw over 300 projects being submitted from 11 primary schools and 13 secondary schools.

The VINLEC National Science and Technology Fair was held under the theme “Science and Technological Literacy – Empowering the Vincentian Society in the 21st Century”. (CM)