NAIROBI, Feb 7 — Jeremiah Kithinji had never touched a computer before he finished high school. A decade later, he is teaching robotics, and even took a team of rural Kenyans to...
A student practices how to assemble a Lego mindstorms EV3 robot, at the Muramati Primary School in Nanyuki, Laikipia county on January 28, 2026. — AFP picand enjoy FREE RM10 & when you sign up using code VERSAMM10 with min.
cash of RM100 today! T&Cs apply.NAIROBI, Feb 7 — Jeremiah Kithinji had never touched a computer before he finished high school. A decade later, he is teaching robotics, and even took a team of rural Kenyans to the World Robotics Olympiad in Singapore. In a classroom in Laikipia county — a sparsely populated grasslands region of northern Kenya known for its rhinos and cheetahs — pupils are busy snapping together wheels, motors and sensors to assemble a robot. Guiding them is Kithinji, 27, who runs a string of robotics clubs in the area that have taken some of his pupils far beyond the rural landscapes outside. In November, he took a team of three to Singapore for the Olympiad, where he also served as the competition’s first Kenyan judge. They presented a simulated space mission with a robot that could launch a model satellite and collect space debris. Singapore was an eye-opening experience for Kithinji, who was educated in a modest rural school without access to computers. “I felt this country is so advanced. Interacting with the people showed me how much they care about their nation, and it made me think about how I can instil the same mindset in my students,” he told AFP. Kenya has pushed science and engineering in its latest curriculum, but lacks the resources for robotics training. Programmes cordinator of the Science in a Suitcase project, Jeremiah Kithinji instructs his students at the science club on how to assemble the Lego mindstorms EV3 robot, at the Muramati Primary School in Nanyuki, Laikipia county on January 28, 2026. — AFP pic The clubs in Laikipia, which reach around 200 pupils, are funded by a US nonprofit, Science in a Suitcase, which helped train Kithinji and funded the trip to Singapore.“In the future, when I become a neurosurgeon, I won’t have to perform every surgery myself. I can build a robot that acts as a doctor. I’ll just need to code it, and it will do the surgery itself,” she told AFP.Kithinji hopes robotics can provide solutions to some of Kenya’s specific challenges. In a classroom in Laikipia county — a sparsely populated grasslands region of northern Kenya known for its rhinos and cheetahs — pupils are busy snapping together wheels, motors and sensors to assemble a robot. — AFP pic He previously coached a team at the African Olympiad in South Africa in 2024, where they designed agricultural robots that can operate farming tools and irrigate fields, and sees particular benefits for rural hospitals — assisting in surgeries and delivering medication.For now, his pupils are focused on winning a place at the next Olympiad, in Puerto Rico, and they are brainstorming ideas for this year’s theme: robots meet culture.“The skills these kids are developing — critical thinking, problem-solving and technical skills... are the future skills our country needs,” he said.
World Robotics Olympiad Laikipia Kenya Robotics Clubs Science In A Suitcase Robots Meet Culture
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