Pretoria to host international school-level robotics challenge

• The 2024 edition of Resolute Roboticon will take place on 19 October in Pretoria.
• The theme is “The City of the Future”.
   
• The competition will bring together 70 schools and over 600 students from South Africa and abroad.

Resolute Roboticon, an inter-school coding and robotics competition is back for its third consecutive year. 

This year's event takes place on 19 October in Pretoria and will bring together 70 schools and over 600 students from South Africa and abroad. Schools as far as the UAE will be participating, either in person or virtually.

The competition is an initiative of Resolute Education, a South Africa-based provider of educational products and services, specialising in robotics and coding. 

In partnership with Oxford University Press South Africa, the organisation helps integrate coding and robotics into primary and secondary school curricula.

“The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023 projections show that 65% of children entering primary school today will eventually work in jobs that don't currently exist. While the Department of Basic Education has mandated the integration of coding and robotics into the educational system, challenges such as resource limitations and a shortage of skilled teachers persist,” Resolute Education stated.

Rajesh Pasungili Ramakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of Resolute Education, says it’s important to equip teachers to confidently teach coding and robotics, as well as teach kids tech skills as early as possible.

Yolandi Farham, product director at Oxford University Press South Africa, says the partnership has made it possible for them to apply knowledge of localised content and teacher training.

The Resolute Roboticon 2024 competition categories are divided into age groups.

Children aged five to nine will participate in the Novice Emergency Responders Challenge, where they will design, build, and programme robots to "save the day" in the City of the Future.

For Grades 4 to 6, the Apprentice Disaster Response Challenge has students collaborate to rescue a robot in a quake-hit city. The Apprentice Innovators Challenge tasks them with creating robotic solutions for disaster management, while the Advanced Innovators Challenge involves developing more advanced solutions.

Winners walk away with impressive tech prizes to help them take the next step in their coding exploration.

Schoolchildren and their parents can register for the event here.