The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) Festival was held on February 19, 2024, for girls students of Rampal Upazila, Bagerhat. This festival was organized under the two-year project titled "STEM & ICT Skills for Girls of Coastal Areas [SISGCA]". The project is being implemented by the Bangladesh Freedom Foundation in collaboration with the Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN) and funded by The Malala Fund.
The festival was attended by Rahima Sultana Bushra, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Rampal Upazila, and SM Tareq Sultan, UNO of Morelganj Upazila. Around 200 students from 7 schools in Rampal Upazila participated in the festival, which was held at the Perikhali Model High School premises. The schools are Perikhali Model High School, Barkatali Bahumukhi High School, Jhanjhania Secondary High School, Srifaltala Pilot High School, Rampal Pilot Girls High School, Dakra Bahumukhi Model High School, and Uddipan Badar- Shamsu Bidyaniketan of Mongla Upazila.
The festival was organized with the aim of encouraging girls students in coastal areas to take up ICT-based skills. The SISGCA project has been providing training to students, especially girls, of Perikhali Model High School and Barkatali Bahumukhi High School since last year. The festival was organized as a continuation of this effort to encourage students to work in science and technology.
The guests visited around 31 science projects and 10 poster presentations prepared by the students. The students also participated in programming contests, quiz competitions, and robotics competitions throughout the day. Earlier, the project organized School-based Science Olympiad and School-based Mathematics Olympiad under the Bangladesh Junior Science Olympiad and Bangladesh Mathematics Olympiad respectively.
UNO Rahima Sultana Bushra said, " I feel that encouraging females from rural locations like Rampal to seek education and develop their inventive skills would increase students technical and scientific awareness."
SM Tareq Sultan, UNO of Morelganj Upazila, said, "I am happy to see the active participation of the students today, thinking that our girls from the coast are also ready to participate equally in building a smart Bangladesh."
The students presented scientific projects and models on a variety of topics, including sustainable cities, drones, flood alarm systems, earthquake detectors, and fire detectors. They also participated in robotics, including line following robots and Scratch programming.
In the afternoon, Munir Hasan, General Secretary of the Mathematics Olympiad and General Secretary of the Bangladesh Open Source Network, distributed prizes among the winners in different categories. Dr. BM Mainul Hossain, Associate Professor, Institute of Information Technology (IIT), University of Dhaka, Dr. Md. Helal Uddin, Head of the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, and Sajjadur Rahman Chowdhury, Executive Director, Bangladesh Freedom Foundation, were also present. The principals, school management committee members and other teachers of the concerned schools were also present at the STEM Festival. They enjoyed the enthusiastic participation of the students in various competitions.
Bangladesh Freedom Foundation is implementing various activities including skill development training on science, mathematics, programming and robotics for girls students of class VI to VIII of 6 secondary schools in three coastal upazilas of Khulna Rupsa, Bagerhat Rampal and Satkhira Tala with the support of international organization Malala Fund to ensure the participation of girls, especially the backward and less privileged girls of the coast, in science and technology based activities. Bangladesh Open Source Network is providing cooperation.