Mayen Adetiba Technical Booth Camp for Girls Rewards Winners
Funmi Ogundare
Winners have emerged at the fifth edition of Mayen Adetiba Technical booth camp, an annual programme aimed at encouraging more girl child involvement in STEM education.
The three-day event themed ‘Structural Integrity: The Role of Building Materials’, saw education district II emerging first with 93.63 per cent. District one and IV took second and third positions, scoring 87.5 per cent and 87.0 per cent, respectively.
The participants who performed experiments on the theme were drawn from secondary schools in the six districts in Lagos State.
The winners receive trophies and cash gifts.
Some of their teachers also received plaques for their efforts.
Speaking at the closing ceremony held, weekend, the President of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN), Dr Elizabeth Eterigho, noted that it had in the last three decades set up several initiatives to encourage engineering studies and practices, especially among female students to achieve professional excellence as engineers and leaders.
She noted that the hands-on experiment performed by the students is designed to unleash the girls’ creative and innovative potential.
“This event is part of APWEN core objective which is to encourage and advocate for more girl child involvement in STEM education with the hope to pursue a career in engineering. It serves as a mechanism to assist the nation in attaining Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs),” she stated.
In her keynote, the General Manager, Renewable Energy Department, NDPHC, Mrs Valerie Agberagba, admonished the girls to have a good attitude, be observant of their environment and be inquisitive.
“You have to learn to be inquisitive and have a mindset for knowledge,” she said, adding that building collapse has reduced to an extent in the country because of government laws.
In her remarks, the initiator and Super Role Model, Mrs Mayen Adetiba, said the programme was designed to develop girls’ interest in STEM, adding that the engineering profession is no longer male-dominated and more female students should be allowed to be there.
She expressed excitement about the programme, saying that it is about building their minds and giving them the opportunity to impact the girls’ future.
Adetiba added that they also organised a train-the-trainers programme for teachers so they could help identify the talents and nurture the girls to go into the field of engineering.
