Destination Imagination Botswana, an NGO dedicated to inspire and equip learners with 21st century skills, has started conducting boot camps in schools.

The NGO that has a centre in Village, Gaborone, acknowledges that it is important to help children develop interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) particularly as the Fourth Industrial Revolution takes precedence.

It has also rolled out a programme in both private and Government schools in order to introduce learners to the plethora of opportunities in the STEAM sector, with the aim of shaping the students’ lives by teaching them in ways that produce well-rounded individuals who are well-suited for any career.

Operations manager at Destination Imagination Botswana, Shyline Muthoni said that at the core of their teaching, they value collaboration. “This is one project that we wanted to have schools be a part of and that would hopefully create a snowball effect where other schools join in or better yet start their own STEAM clubs,” she said. Muthoni

said that they are motivated by the desire to see more students engage with STEAM subjects and pursue careers in these fields. They also offer a variety of courses at the centre at Village that cater to different interests such as 3D printing, coding, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, space exploration and robotics. “STEAM prepares children for successful futures by exposing them to different activities to help them develop their critical thinking, and it also creates a basic framework to think critically, and contributes to problem-solving and creativity skills,” she said. She noted that there so much happening in the field of STEAM and innovation and there is always a new story about some amazing breakthrough made possible by digital technology. “We’re now seeing self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and a host of other innovations that are changing the way we live and work. “We’re on the cusp of a new world, and we have a choice: we can either embrace the change and reap the benefits, or we can resist it and be left behind,” she said. Muthoni reiterated that one way to do this is to provide opportunities for children to participate in scientific inquiry.