Private educators host coding, robotic competition for primary, secondary schools

The Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN) has hosted and announced the winners of its 2025 APEN Artificial Intelligence (AI), Coding, and Robotics competition.

Themed ‘Smart agriculture and sustainable cities hackathon’, the competition brought together thirty teams of young students from across private primary and secondary schools in Nigeria, divided into three categories, to showcase innovation and creativity.

Spanning over six weeks, the competition began with an onboarding session on May 23rd, culminating in a grand finale on July 3rd at Role Model School, Lagos.

Sponsored by Role Model School and supported by technical partners, including STEMi Makers of Africa and Imperial EdTech, the competition was structured into three categories: Primary, Secondary, and Sixth-Form, with a total of 30 teams across APEN member schools.

Mrs Olufunke Fowler-Amba, administrator at Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls and chairperson of the advocacy committee of APEN, said the competition is not just about winning awards or building the fastest robot, but also about the journey it took the teams to get where they were.

“I think about the late nights spent brainstorming, the moments of frustration when things did not work, and the thrill when they finally cracked the code. Those moments are where growth happens, where resilience, teamwork, and the power of perseverance are birthed. I must say, I am incredibly proud of each team’s effort,” Mrs Fowler-Amba said.

Grace Akinyemi, the acting administrator of APEN, stated that the projects showcased were a clear reflection of what can happen when students are given the right tools and mentorship.

“The feedback system deployed at the initial stage of the competition was a deliberate effort to ensure learning never stopped. It is about building the next generation of problem solvers, beyond today’s awards,” Akinyemi added.

The competition underscored APEN’s commitment to advancing education through innovation, sustainability, and purposeful learning.

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Esha Ogbazi, Partnerships Lead for STEMi Makers of Africa, said STEMi was glad to have contributed to the competition, emphasising that science, technology, innovation, and the empowerment of educational institutions have been their primary focus of investment.

Ogbazi further said that the objective of their partnership with APEN was to encourage educators and students to explore the sustainable development goals (SDGs)-aligned solutions for challenges in precision farming, sustainable urban food systems, resource-efficient agriculture, waste management, and energy consumption in urban environments.

For the project, Ogbazi stated that STEMi provided the rubric for the evaluation of the project and also provided judges who evaluated the performances of the students throughout the three stages of the competition.

“We are proud of these achievements, and we remain committed to creating an enabling environment where students can develop technologies that are driving innovation and building their communities with sustainable practices,” Ogbazi added.

For the competition, the primary school category was tasked with designing a smart home watering system. The secondary school category worked on an Internet of Things (IoT) smart waste bin challenge. And the sixth-form category was tasked with designing a smart traffic light system. All tasks for the three categories aligned with the competition’s theme of sustainability and innovation.

The challenge progressed in three stages, with the first two held virtually.

In stage 1, teams submitted concept previews outlining how they planned to execute their projects. These submissions were carefully reviewed by judges from STEMi and Imperial EdTech, who not only scored the entries but also provided individualised feedback to each school, guiding them on how to improve their solutions.

This learning-driven approach continued into stage 2, where teams developed and submitted their working prototypes. After the second round of evaluation, 15 teams advanced to the finals.

At the grand finale, each team presented their completed projects live before the judges and an audience. The judges assessed the credibility, creativity, and effectiveness of each solution.

Ultimately, a total of seven winning teams were announced across the three categories, emerging as champions of innovation and technical excellence.

For the primary category, the first position went to Bowine International School, the second position to MD School, and the third position to Princeton Schools.

For the secondary category, the first position went to Halifield School, the second position to Grace High School, and the third position to Atlantic Hall.

The sixth-form category winner was Oxbridge Tutorial College.