By Mc Donald Chapalapata, a Contributor
Ethanol producer Ethanol Company Limited (EthCo) has supported the National Schools Science Fair with a donation of K2 million.
Speaking during the cheque presentation ceremony in Dwangwa on Monday, EthCo Chief Executive Officer Lusubilo Chakaniza said the company decided to support the event as it is in line with EthCo’s Education focus area under its Creating Shared Value initiatives.
“Additionally, we will also support Kaseye Girls Secondary School from Chitipa with ethanol as well as branding for their pavilion because their sanitizer innovation project resonates well with our product diversification strategy and the Company’s value improvement and innovation program,” said Chakaniza.
Kamuzu Academy in conjunction with National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) will host the tenth National Schools’ Science Fair from 17-20 October 2021 with the theme ‘scientific and technological innovations: the catalyst to understanding nature’.
Coordinator of the science fair Chawezi Chisi said 59 schools drawn from all six education divisions in Malawi are expected to participate in the 2021 National Schools’ Science Fair.
“Participating schools will compete in five categories namely: Environment and climate change, Energy sources, Health, Value addition and preservation and Scientific and technological innovations. It is hoped that through the fairs students will develop interest in science and technology and in the end pursue STEM careers and in future bring solutions to some of the challenges in their communities and Malawi as a country,” said Chisi.
He said the overall objective of the 2021 science fair is to identify innovations for spurring industrialization in Malawi.
“The main expected outcome of this event is the commercialization of the identified innovations to contribute to national economic growth. In addition, it is expected that the programme will allow students, teachers and administrators to demonstrate increased knowledge of scientific inquiry,” said Chisi.
