The Samsung and SITA 2024 Solve For Tomorrow Competition is back
Solve for Tomorrow, unlike the present known initiatives that are at reach for learners in privileged schools, caters for learners who come from underserved communities.
Samsung in partnership with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) recently launched the second annual Solve for Tomorrow Competition.
It’s a competition aimed at unearthing hidden talent of learners from public schools in rural and township communities.
The competition has attracted a large number of entries from schools across the country, with the Top 20 schools being officially announced.
This is an opportunity for these schools to showcase their innovation and creativity in solving real-world problems.
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Lenhle Khoza, BBBEE and Transformation Manager at Samsung said, “This global Solve for Tomorrow initiative which uses STEM as a critical component of empowerment is helping us together with our valued partners continue our quest of equipping young people from local public schools with critical skills and knowledge that they will need to not only build a better local economy, but also the world at large.”
The programme is designed to proceed through a phased approach. Schools will have the opportunity to address an environmental challenge and come up with concrete innovations to assist in the betterment of society.
They will also be supported by assigned Samsung employee-mentors throughout the process.
“I think a lot of people have the potential that has not yet been discovered.
“My duty as their mentor is to first build confidence in the learners and support them in becoming the best versions of themselves,” said Caroline Mchunu who will be mentoring the University of Johannesburg.
Solve for Tomorrow, unlike the present known initiatives that are at reach for learners in privileged schools, caters for learners who come from underserved communities.
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“The reason why we give underserved communities this opportunity is because all they need is exposure that will uncover a lot of hidden talent. That innovative child will no longer be limited by their overlooked community,” said Khoza.
To support the teams from the Top 20 schools, they will attend design thinking workshops in their respective regions.
Khoza explains that, “These design thinking workshops will teach them how to take these ideas that are environmentally friendly and bring them to proper prototypes that can be future problem solvers.”
The Top Three schools with the winning prototypes will win cash prizes of up to R100,000 each, which will go towards STEM equipment based on the unique needs of each school.
Additionally, Samsung has decided to reward each learner in the top three teams from schools with a Samsung device. The ultimate goal is for the winning schools to be like Mbilwi High School from Limpopo, which was the winner in 2023.
