Three African youths from Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya were recognized at the British International Education Association’s ( BIEA) 2021 International STEM Competition.

The task was to examine the plastic pollution crisis and produce sustainable food packaging on regional and international levels, in accordance with the 2021 competition subject, which included the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the COP26 mission.

Representatives from the Royal Institution, the British Council, and embassy representatives announced the prizes for 2021 virtually.

These teams are among the 43 that will compete in the BIEA 2021 International Youth STEM Innovation Competition which will be held in 16 countries.

According to the press release, the Nigerian team Cyberspire from Greensprings School won the Ambassador Award after drawing inspiration from natural materials like coconut and banana leaves.

Team Kocokanya of Brookhouse School in Nairobi, Kenya, built a unique plant calabash container for keeping dry foods and a bee’s wax cloth bag for wrapping sandwiches and received the rising star award.

The third team also with a rising star award is Ghana’s Team Khalmax Robotics, comprised of 12-14-year-olds who created many paper mâché designs for food storage.

The BIEA head of STEM in his congratulatory speech to the winners commented  “It’s fantastic that these kids, some as young as 10, have come up with these concepts and are able to describe the development process effectively to professional scientists”.

The Lead Judge of the Royal Institution, Peter Gallivan, stated his delight and privilege in spending time and speaking with young scholars from all across the world about their ideas to help rescue the planet.

“The climate problem is one of humanity’s greatest scientific challenges, so seeing the passion, energy, and originality displayed by all of the teams competing in this year’s BIEA STEM Competition is encouraging”.

With some of the youth in leadership, he believes the future will be a greener place.

David Hanson, the Chairman of BIEA’s STEM Committee, added that the young students’ efforts demonstrated a high level of competence and care for the globe’s present ecological issues.