The Future Forward Schools’ Innovation Challenge was launched today, with Chief Education Officer, Dr. Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, encouraging secondary school students to take up the challenge and use it as an opportunity to showcase homegrown solutions to everyday problems.
The launch ceremony was held at Bagnall’s Point Art Gallery, Pelican Craft Centre.
Urging students to participate in the initiative, which forms part of the activities to mark Education Month, Dr. Archer-Bradshaw said: “We don’t have to look outside; we know that many of you have ideas with regard to how you can solve problems within your schools and within this country.”
Noting that the challenge would be utilising the project-based approach, she stressed it would enable them to have a voice. “So, we expect you to throw your ideas out there; discuss among your colleagues, coaches and teachers… We want your ideas and then you can refine from there,” she stated.
Students heard that out of their cooperative grouping, positive interdependence would occur, allowing them as individuals within teams to share their ideas to reach the goals of the group.
“Even though you are an individual, you are not going to behave in an individualistic way; you are going to make sure that whatever you put forward advances the group. Within cooperative grouping you also have individual accountability.
“So, one person will not be responsible for the entire project but one person may be responsible for some aspect of the project. It means therefore that you will have to go away and do your homework…. Your group members are depending on you to produce… You will be listening to one another and thinking about how you can refine each other thoughts…. No one person has all of the ideas,” said the Chief.
Coordinator of the challenge competition and Education Officer, Dr. Denise Charles, sharing how the initiative would proceed, noted it would focus on some of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These were outlined as: Renewable Energy, Climate Resilience, Green Economy Growth; Blue Economy Growth; Public Health and Safety; Heritage, Culture and Social Protection and Economic Transformation.
Pointing out that the Ministry aimed to help students develop and groom 21st Century skills, such as cooperation, collaboration, and innovation, she said: “We want to empower you with the competencies to unravel and articulate real world problems. So, we are not giving you the problem; we are giving you the area but you will look for a problem; you will do your research and you will find a problem that resides within that area that you are going to randomly select today.”
She added it was about stimulating them to consider the types of challenges faced by Barbados and viable solutions to real world problems they may discover.
Today’s launch of the Innovation Challenge saw the handover of design innovative briefs to the team leaders of participating schools. It will be followed by Stage 2 – the Research Phase – from October 16 to November 10; Stage 3 – the Conceptual Phase – from November 13 to 28; Stage 4 – Main Idea Phase – December 2023 to January 2024, and Stage 5 – Prototype Pitch Phase – February 9, 2024, where students will present their projects to an audience comprising teachers, parents and judges, among others.