By: Phyllis Nasuuna
There was a mad rush for information from the ‘e2 Young Engineers’ exhibition stall over the weekend during the first ever Kampala Baby Expo 2017.
The e2 Young Engineers Programme, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum is run in Uganda by the African School of Innovations, Science & Technology Ltd as a franchise from the worldwide e2 Young Engineers from Israel.
The exhibition, which took place in the Exhibition Hall of the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) attracted hundreds of exhibitors in different products targeting children.
The reason for the e2 Young Engineers’ participation was to target parents, their children and maximize awareness especially of the Holiday programme that is currently under way in the city.
“Judging from the traffic at the e2 Young Engineers stall, our exhibition stood out from the crowd, with parents making inquiries, others registering and hundreds of children, planning with our models. It was amazing,” said Young Engineers Uganda Deputy Managing Director, Maureen Rugyendo.
She revealed that from the time the exhibition started on Saturday May 6th till the next day, parents and school owners who registered plus those who took flyers and brochures were over 700.
‘We printed 1000 flyers and another 1000 brochures. I can see we are left with around 300 each,” she said.
The e2 Young Engineers Uganda hopes to use this experience to follow up potential parents in order to expand the ‘e2 Young Engineers’ Caravan in the country.
The expo was also the weekend attraction for the mothers, fathers, marrieds, newly married and those intending to start families.
Exhibitors interest kids into engineering.
Background:
The e2 Young Engineers programs are run on an Israel-designed Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) curriculum that includes after-school enrichment classes, pre-school classes, summer camps, birthday parties and special events where children are given an opportunity to LEARN while having FUN building with the world’s favorite building block – LEGO!
The programs utilize an EDUTAINMENT (education + entertainment) approach, transforming the learning process into a game while introducing children to theoretical and practical knowledge in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
The e2 Young Engineers Uganda started in July 2016 and is currently operating its first Center in Kampala.
It aims to nurture Uganda’s next generation of Scientists, Innovators, Creators and Entrepreneurs through teaching basic scientific principles to children aged between 4 and 15 using LEGO bricks.
“Together we can create a technologically stronger nation by enabling early childhood learners appreciate Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths principles at an early age,” said Mr. Arinaitwe Rugyendo, the founder of the programme.
The Programmes
At e2 Young Engineers Uganda, a 4 year old goes through five key stages before emerging with a project at the age of 15.
The programmes are: Big Builders (4-6yrs), Bricks Challenge (6-8yrs), GaliLego Technic (8-10yrs), Robo Bricks (10-12 yrs) and Robotics & Software Engineering (12-15yrs)
Benefits
The programme helps the children to nurture innovation, creative thinking, problem solving skills, high order thinking skills, arigorithmic thinking, analyze engineering processes, acquire self-confidence and self-efficacy skills, develop computer orientation skills and finally, children are enabled to become more knowledgeable in Maths and science, thus improving their school performance.