Quipped with a beaker, a burette and reagents, high schools students are ready to perform a titration for a Chemistry practical session. Equally relatable is dissecting a small mammal for Biology and lighting a bulb using a potato during a Physics practical.
The importance of such practicals cannot be emphasized enough in the nurturing of young scientists. They are crucial stepping stones where the students get to explore, experiment and innovate using the available materials.
In Kenya, high school students especially have excelled in providing solutions for challenges in their communities by going the extra mile to innovate.
There are many impressive innovations by students that have made it to the global stage and they include the following;
1. Kachapchap
[caption caption="Lipson Ochieng and Joshua Ouma showcasing their Kachapchap App"]
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When Lipson Ochieng and Joshua Ouma, two Form 3 students from Ken Obura Secondary School Kisumu County saw their disabled friends unable to use government-sponsored laptops because they didn’t have hands, they took it upon themselves to develop a device to enable them participate.
That is when they devised a special shoe and named it Kachapchap - that would make it possible to use feet to click through a computer. They emerged top in the country in the 2018 Diamond Challenge for high school entrepreneurs and got recognized by their MP who sponsored their trip to the US.
2. I-Cut
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is still a huge problem in many communities, that is why in 2017 five high school girls developed an app I-cut to curtail it.
Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Purity Achieng, Macrine Atieno and Ivy Akinyi developed the application that provides teenage girls who are in danger of FGM with a platform to access rescue centers as well as legal and medical attention to those who have been violated.
[caption caption="I-cut developers eeting President Uhuru at State House in July, 2017"]
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They got an invite to State House and even travelled to Google Headquarters in the United States to showcase their innovation.
3. M-Safiri App
M-Safiri App was developed by students from Precious Blood, Riruta to ease the process of booking and paying for public transport. It emerged first runners-up in the Technovation Challenge 2016 held in San Francisco, California in the US.
After developing the app, the girls hoped that it would be adopted by booking offices of providers of rental vehicles and limos and as a result raise the standards of public transport in Kenya.
4. Gold in garbage
In 2015, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Secondary School from Mombasa, made it to the semi-finals in the global competition held in Silicon Valley, San Francisco.
Their mobile application – Gold in Garbage – focussed on how to recycle garbage, make money from recycling and linking users to bodies interested in recycling.
[caption caption="Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed students celebrating the KCSE results in 2015"]
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5. eMasomo
Back in 2013, Two Alliance High School students (Martin Siele and Brian Kirotich) developed the country’s first interactive education-resource website eMasomo.
They enrolled their project into the Science Congress, where it topped at the school, zonal, district and county levels.
As evidenced by the hardworking scientists, high schools students can be innovative and resolve challenges in the society when provided the opportunity to.
Young people will have a chance to demonstrate their innovation and showcase their scientific talents in the inaugural Young Scientists Kenya (YSK) National Science and Technology Exhibition, which is set to take place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on 5th and 6th July 2018.
In partnership with the Ministry of Education, the Embassy of Ireland and BLAZE by Safaricom among others, the programme was launched in July 2017 and is currently in its pilot phase, which has seen it work with 80 schools in 10 counties in Kenya.
Over 160 secondary school students participated in the event, with 92 projects submitted in the country’s first Science and Technology exhibition in line with this year’s theme: 'Making STEM Education Accessible to All'.
[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta presided over the official opening of the Young Scientists Kenya National Science and Technology Exhibition at KICC on July 5, 2018"]
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Approximately 5,000 guests from the public and private sectors, academia and the international community attended the exhibition, whose opening ceremony was officiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The students participating in the programme showcased projects in four broad categories at the exhibition: Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences; Ecological and Biological Sciences; Technology, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
The award ceremony was held on 6th July, with the winners walking away with fully paid trips to Ireland to visit the Irish chapter of the Young Scientists initiative.
Everything is theoretically impossible - until done. These young scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in the quest for knowledge. Here’s to the young heroes transforming lives and elevating Kenya on the global map.
[caption caption="High school students during the official opening of the Young Scientists Kenya National Science and Technology Exhibition at KICC July 5, 2018"]
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