An award ceremony to reward the winners of the InnovED (Innovation for the Education Sector) 2017 competition was held yesterday at the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD) House in Phoenix. Several eminent personalities were present on the occasion.
The competition is a joint initiative of the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) and the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research. It aims at promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and innovation among students. On the same occasion, InnovED 2018 which will focus on the theme of multiple intelligences and new innovative concepts was launched.
The winner in the Lower secondary category is Hindu Girls College, Soondur Manrakhan College in the Upper secondary category and Prof. B.S Upadhyaya Training Centre in the MITD category. The winning project of the Hindu Girls College was a foldable bin and a clean water and sanitation for Soondur Manrakhan College. Prof. B.S Upadhyaya Training Centre was picked up for its mini portable cooler box project. The winners were rewarded with certificate of participation, tokens and vouchers from sponsors.
In his address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research , Mr Ravi Meettook, highlighted that the biggest asset of a country is its pool of educated human resources. Hence, he added, through the current educational reform, Government is providing the necessary environment ,facilities and resources to groom young minds into confident critical thinkers.
Mr Meettook emphasised that creativity and innovation are key factors for economic growth and prosperity and constitute important elements of competitiveness in the globalised, knowledge-based and technology-driven world. On that score, he underlined that the next wave of transformation will be innovation-led and youths instilled with the values of creativity and innovation will turn new ideas and technologies into assets that will transform the economy.
According to the Permanent Secretary, InnovED is in line with the objective of ongoing educational reforms as it promotes critical thinking, creativity, innovation, adaptability and self-discipline. It has certainly ushered a culture of innovation and creativity among young students and set an innovative track, to prompt them to become innovative and creative, he said.
As for the Executive Director of the NPCC, Mr Deepak Balgobin, he highlighted that the participants have showcased their creative and critical skills in the ingenious and innovative products and systems they have come up with. He emphasised that InnovED has enabled students to embark on a new journey of learning, to engage themselves beyond academic achievements and develop a passion for creativity and innovation. The competition seeks to provide opportunities to students to expand knowledge ,concretise their ideas and acquire life skills, he added.
InnovED 2017
Eleven teams, from lower secondary, upper secondary and the MITD, from both Mauritius and Rodrigues, participated in InnoVed 2017. The theme was ‘Sustainable Development’ and the projects were evaluated on the following criteria: originality, innovativeness and creativity, and presentation, amongst others.
Source: Government of Mauritius