Pakistan Innovation Quest has trained over 6,000 learners and 518 teachers, including deaf students in Karachi, as it targets 40pc female participation and a pathway to the World Robot Olympiad.
KARACHI: A free robotics programme backed by Saudi oil giant Aramco aims to bring hands-on engineering lessons to 10,000 Pakistani students and 300 teachers, targeting children usually shut out of such training by cost, distance, gender or disability.
The Pakistan Innovation Quest (PIQ) is run by the Pi Space Science Education Centre (PSSEC), a Karachi-based science education organisation, in partnership with the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Association. It has so far trained more than 6,000 learners and 518 teachers in Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, Gujranwala and Kasur, with about 60 institutions joining its network, the organisers said.
From first kit to national stage
The programme plans more than 60 one-off training sessions, which it calls RoboStarter Sprints, six regional competitions and a national showcase. The sprints combine practical robotics with the WRO’s Future Innovators project cycle, in which students design solutions to real-world problems and can earn WRO certification.
Regional winners will present their projects at the national showcase to school leaders, government officials and international partners, and the strongest will gain a route into future WRO Pakistan competitions, part of a global contest that draws students from dozens of countries.
Teachers receive professional training so schools can keep teaching robotics after the programme ends, and organisers plan to donate 100 robotics kits to underserved institutions.
Girls and deaf learners
PIQ is aiming for more than 40pc female participation, and training has been offered free in public and private schools, low-income communities, NGO-supported institutions and girls’ schools.
At Karachi’s Deaf Reach School, deaf students took part in hands-on robotics sessions with sign language interpreters and trainers. For many, it was the first time they had handled a robotics kit.
“Talent is universal. Access is not, and that is the divide Pakistan Innovation Quest was created to close,” said Zartaj Ahmed, chief executive and co-founder of PSSEC and national organiser of WRO Pakistan. “We are reaching the child who has never held a robotics kit, the girl who has never imagined herself as an engineer, and the deaf learner who deserves to innovate without barriers.”
The gap it is trying to fill
The scale of the challenge is large. An estimated 26.2 million Pakistani children are out of school, 13.4 million of them girls, according to an education report cited by The Express Tribune in March, and those in school often lack science labs, let alone robotics equipment.
Provincial governments are also trying to bring technology into classrooms. Punjab has announced AI and prompt engineering training for students in grades 8 to 10, while the Punjab Higher Education Commission has urged universities to look beyond AI and computer science to other fields of science and engineering.
Ten thousand students is a small fraction of Pakistan’s school population, but programmes like PIQ aim to show what is possible and train teachers who can carry the work forward.
Aramco’s role
The programme is funded through Aramco’s Global STEM Education Program. “Our collaboration with PSSEC and the World Robot Olympiad brings 10,000 robotics opportunities to students across Pakistan,” said Hussain N. Hanbazazah, Aramco’s vice president of communications operations and corporate citizenship. “By investing in both students and teachers, we are turning curiosity into capability.”
Saudi Arabia is one of Pakistan’s main suppliers of crude oil, and Aramco has expanded its corporate presence in the country, including in fuel retail.
Leave a Reply