Offaly VEX IQ Robotics Championship starts tomorrow

Offaly County Council is hosting the “Offaly VEX IQ Robotics Championship” tomorrow, Thursday May 16 from 4:45om -  7.45pm in Áras an Chontae, Tullamore.

A total of 16 rural primary schools, 40 teachers, and close to 250 students are involved in the competition.

Minister Sean Canney and officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development & Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment will be in attendance.

Engineering companies from Offaly, schools, universities and broadband/digital officers from other local authorities will also be in attendance.

The background to this is that Offaly County Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development provided funding to roll out this exciting new digital initiative to 16 primary schools in Offaly.

The programme is delivered in collaboration with Cork Institute of Technology - CIT, Local Enterprise Office Offaly, Offaly Libraries and our Information Technology department.

Primary school is the most formative time in a young student's life. The best way to instil a lifelong interest in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is to provide a fun, engaging, and hands-on opportunity to explore and experience it for themselves.

VEX Robotics is an exciting and fun program where primary school children from 5-12 years learn about STEM while having fun! They will design, build, program and compete with their robots.

Offaly County Council believes that this initiative is needed to ensure today’s students are qualified for the jobs of tomorrow. This program is necessary to drive Offaly’s economic ambitions, support innovation and provide the foundations for future prosperity in the county.