Corporate Jamaica Urged to Sponsor Robotics and STEAM Programmes

State Minister in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, is urging Corporate Jamaica to sponsor more robotics and science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) initiatives to benefit the youth.

He made the call while addressing members of the Jamaica College (JC) Robotics team on Friday (April 28), on the occasion of their outstanding performance in the FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Competition in Houston, Texas, recently.

JC became the first Jamaican and Caribbean team to take home the MOTIVATE award at the international competition, which challenges teams from around the world to design, build, and programme robots.

One of several judged awards presented at the challenge, the MOTIVATE award reflects the commitment of the JC team to inspiring others and boosting the awareness of robotics within their communities.

“This says to Corporate Jamaica, wake up, come on board, sponsor robotics programmes, because of what you’ve been able to achieve,” he said.

“Imagine if you [the students] had more corporate sponsors, you’d have all the building materials to improve your designs, your skills training, so you could be winning championships across the world,” he noted further.

Mr. Terrelonge said that the future will be built on STEAM fields, and the Government is equipping students with the necessary critical thinking and problem-solving skills to be globally competitive.

He contended that a shift from traditional careers is already occurring, “as people are realising that you can have a successful life not being a part of the [traditional] sector. The skills training, robotics, construction [and] creative fields give you a better idea of how creative our young people are. So, we’re definitely seeing a surge”.

Meanwhile, Team Manager of the JC Robotics Team, Jason Brown, told JIS News that “we’ve seen the potential that Jamaica has but we cannot do this by ourselves”.

He said that students who take an interest in robotics have the potential to become the future engineers, programmers and technical staff of Jamaica.

“Whatever it is that you can do to support, engage and build capacity here at JC and in general, please give consideration to coming on board to make this happen,” he urged.