| Izah Azahari |
BRUNEI Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP), through the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre (OGDC), launched its inaugural Pesta Sains 2018 at the Jerudong Park Playground yesterday.
Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman was the guest of honour.
Senior officers from government and non-government sectors, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), BSP as well as school principals, teachers and students were also present.
The festival, supported by the Ministry of Education; Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism and Jerudong Park Playground, combines Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in several scopes. The festival aims to present STEM in a fun and entertaining manner while showcasing the interactive approach to teaching and learning in line with OGDC’s mission to advance STEM in Brunei Darussalam especially among the younger generation.
Head of OGDC Nur Karnina binti Karim said STEM literates are needed to keep up with evolving innovations and technologies.
The event was enlivened with a science show by the National Science Museum (NSM) Thailand, one of the international participants along with the Science Centre Singapore.
The guest of honour launched the ceremony and toured the booths.
DST, UTB, Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE), UBD and DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) also participated.
OGDC’s booths offer several activities, competitions, mini contests, workshops, science shows and promotional offers. Activities include ‘Galaxy Goo’, ‘Kitchen Science’, and the Robota Robotix Competition.
The Siuknya Sains Modular exhibitions comprise three science topics on Light and Sound, Materials and Forces presented in 30 different hands-on exhibitions.
Pesta Sains 2018 Project Manager and Senior Science Communicator of OGDC Albert Chang said the festival is an event where everyone can have fun and learn new and exciting things with experiential shows and activities from local institutions such as Creativate, Tarbiyyah Global as well as from the two regional science centres.