Lae Secondary School in the Morobe province represented Papua New Guinea and participated in the 2023 First Global competition in Singapore known as the National Robotic Competition.
The team performed extremely well and ranked top in the Pacific Island countries and returned to PNG this morning.
Upon arrival at the Jackson’s International Airport, the team members were welcomed by family and friends.
Lae Secondary School team leader Cynthia Beibi explained the competition.
“The competition is first global, an International Olympic competition known as Robotic competition. First global is a non-government organization that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. It focuses on STEM education by bring youths from different countries together to socialize by leaning each other’s culture.” Ms Beibi said.
She further highlighted PNG’s ranking in the competition.
“We ranked 43 out of 50 and became the top Pacific Island country out of the 191 countries. This is an amazing rank for us.”
“We will go back to Lae, and prepare for the next team to perform better next year. If other countries can be ranked first, we can become first too.”
Cynthia who hails from East Sepik province, expressed her experience as a female team leader.
“This competition made me to be more confident and have experience to encourage other females out there that you can do so many things, be creative and change your country as a female.”
Another team member of Lae secondary school, Jonathan Pinga expressed his feelings as a first-time participant.
“The competition is very challenging with alot of pressure. It’s like dealing with so many countries around the world, the team leader keeps us hyped to continue and focus as a team. Be proud and be you,” Mr Pinga said.
This is the 4th time Lae Secondary school represented Papua New Guinea in this competition. The team expressed that more efforts are needed to improve on their next performance especially seeking financial support.
They said PNG can do better if and when there is proper support and guidance.
