Kazakh school kids are due to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) in the US after they won the qualifier at the national competition, according to the Ministry of Education and Science.
The young hopefuls already hold the title of FIRST alumni, which makes them eligible to receive grants and scholarships to study at the world’s 200 most prestigious universities.
FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an international youth organization that holds various competitions for children and teenagers. The FIRST Robotics Competition is one of three international robotics competition programs organized by FIRST.
Each competition differs in its theme and level of complexity. The tasks are designed to solve address current world problems and find solutions for them.
This year, the theme of the competition was freight transportation, which prompts kids to design and build robots that can transport small loads, sort goods, and maneuver around barriers.
“Among 700 participants across the country, four teams won trips to the US and four kids from Almaty, Semey and Turkistan region won educational grants to Almaty-based Suleyman Demirel University,”
He noted that the participants, whether they came from small towns, rural villages, or big cities, didn't show any differences in performance levels.
Among those who took part in the nationals, ten teams are due to participate in the FIRST competition in Moscow, while six other teams will go to Russia’s Krasnoyarsk.
