Application for SRC Science Fair Extended to March 17

The deadline for schools to register and apply for the Scientific Research Council’s (SRC) 2017 Science Fair has been extended to March 17.

The application deadline was previously March 10.

The competition, which serves to display the scientific and technological skills of young people, is open to students at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, including technical and vocational institutions.

It will be held at the Chinese Benevolent Association of Jamaica on Old Hope Road, St. Andrew on April 7, under the theme ‘Youth-centred Science, Technology and Innovation for sustainable development’.

Coordinator for Science and Technology Education at the SRC, Amanda McKenzie, told JIS News that the objective of the fair “is to get students to put into action what (they) learn in the classroom and also to emphasise the importance of invention and innovation to national development”.

She said it will also serve to help to build the capacity of the teachers, assisting them with ideas that allow for the incorporation of scientific methodologies.

Categories under which schools can participate in the fair include education; agriculture; food and agro-processing; energy; information and communications technology (ICT) and electronics, with a focus on cybersecurity; health and safety; and sports.

Among the many exciting activities at the fair will be drone demonstrations, career counselling; quiz competitions and a variety of expos. Schools will be able to win prizes, including cash.

Ms. Mckenzie informed that the team from Titchfield High, which placed third in the secondary school category at the 2016 Science Fair, went on to participate in the Caribbean Youth Science

Forum in Trinidad, where they beat 28 Caribbean teams to cop the top prize.