Nyandarua: It was jubilation over the weekend after Mary Hill Girls High School from Kiambu County emerged the overall winner at the 61st Central Region Kenya Science Engineering Fair (KSEF) held at Nyandarua High School in Nyandarua County.
According to Kenya News Agency, in the competition, Salient Secondary School from Nyandarua County was the best in the mixed school category, while Njumbi Boys from Murang'a County emerged the best in the boys' school category. Among the five counties from the central region, Kiambu County took the lead, followed by Murang'a County, while Nyandarua, Kirinyaga, and Nyeri counties trailed behind, respectively.
The two-day Science and Engineering Fair attracted over 100 students from different schools drawn from the five counties of the Central region. The Chief Judge, Dr. James Nderitu, noted that the students' ideas were novel but identified pitfalls in the projects that should be addressed before they proceed to the national level competition. Dr. Nderitu called on teachers to assist the qualifiers in fine-tuning their projects, emphasizing the importance of teamwork as they advance to the national level competition.
While closing the fair, Central Regional KSEF Chairlady, Dr. Angles Ngure, appreciated the organizers and the students for making the event successful, acknowledging the level of discipline displayed by participants. Dr. Ngure commended the students for their creativity and innovation but advised them to refine their projects as guided by the chief judge to compete competitively with other regions at the national level.
She further encouraged those who did not qualify to proceed to the national level not to be discouraged, highlighting the event as an opportunity to learn, grow, and interact with peers from other schools. Dr. Ngure urged the participants to improve their projects, suggesting they could become future sources of livelihood, citing the M-Pesa idea as an example of innovation impacting the country and beyond.
The KSEF had entries covering various categories, including robotics, computer science, applied technology, and engineering. In each category, those proceeding to the national level KSEF, which will be held at Kangaru Boys in Embu County in two weeks' time, are qualifiers in positions one to four.