ISEO Day Five: Three participating schools undaunted by low turnout

Judge blames parents, schools for not encouraging students to take part.

KARACHI: Tuesday started off slow for the International Schools Education Olympiad (ISEO), with only three schools participating in the astronomy and robotics model display competition at the Karachi High School.

Even the people who came to see the projects were walking out too quickly for the organisers’ liking, who turned to the students participating in the singing competition for help. A couple of the young singers took the stage to entertain the dwindling crowd for a while. Nonetheless, the three schools participating, Aga Khan School, Beaconhouse and Bahria College, were quite proud of themselves.

The task was to make a humanoid robot or a rover which can move on a long board. The time it took each model to reach the end of the board was to be compared to see which one won.

Oblivious to the silence in the hall, the participants appreciated each other’s work, sharing tips and information.

“We made it overnight,” said a student of Beaconhouse. The team that was originally supposed to take part in the competition was unable to finish their project on time so their school administration turned to another group for help. They had made a birdlike model with a snoot from broken pieces of plastic and wires.

Meanwhile, Bahria College students had made a humanoid robot, which was programmed to change direction with sensory detection. The model was made to move through obstacles including sand and slopes.

Raj Kumar, the judge of the competition, said that it is unfortunate that science displays do not attract many people. Most parents do not encourage their children when they’re in school, which is the best age to learn. “It’s strange that the same parents later on send their children to engineering colleges and universities!” he exclaimed. Kumar lauded the students’ efforts. “I’m really impressed by the time and effort these children put in,” he said. He would judge on the basis of originality and innovation and these children had proved to be excellent on both levels.

Meanwhile, ISEO Chair-person Parveen Kassim was also saddened by the low turnout. She blamed schools for not encouraging students to take part in robotics and astronomy contests.

In another part of the school, The Lyceum and The City School students were battling it out over a chessboard. At least 12 students from different schools participated in the games. The singing competition drew the biggest crowd for the day and people started pouring in around noon.

The contestants sang everything from rap to slow love songs and were constantly asked to not sing songs with questionable language - a caution they kept ignoring.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2011.