Student leaders from the University of the Philippines-Diliman have launched “Project Tuklas: The Discovery of Outstanding Student Innovators.”
The project, which Aiesec-UP Diliman hopes to make an annual event, aims to help students excel and to boost the passion of young Filipinos for learning and innovation.
Aiesec-UP Diliman is conducting the contest with Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev).
For the first competition, entries will be accepted only from 24 participating public high schools in Metro Manila starting in October. The awarding will be in January.
Supported by the Department of Education, Project Tuklas, which is “cocreated and supported by the youth and by major players in society,” wants to discover and invest in the Philippines’ next generation of inventors, scientists, engineers and innovators.
Not enough
“Being a youth leader is no longer enough,” says Julia Alexandra D. Chu, Aiesec’s local committee president.
She says Aiesec believes that students, though young, have the capacity to take a more proactive role in nation-building. Aiesec describes itself as “a global, nonpolitical, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education,” which envisions “peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential.”
Making the youth more active in nation-building would be possible if they would take part in searching for and shaping future science and technology leaders of the country, Chu adds.
Through Project Tuklas, third-year students from the 24 preselected Metro Manila public high schools will be challenged to create and submit proposed scientific innovations based on the theme “The Future of Energy.”
The theme is meant to encourage participants to draw up solutions to the increasing demand for fuel as the world’s population continues to grow.
The competition is divided into three stages. The first stage is a local competition in each of the 24 public high schools. Students who show exemplary aptitude and interest in science and technology will be chosen as the school’s representatives. Every high school will be represented by two five-member teams.
The second stage is the preliminary competition, where 48 participating teams, composed of 480 students, will present their execution of their project proposals.
Preliminary competitions will be held in four area clusters: Makati and Parañaque; Mandaluyong, Pasig and Marikina; Manila, Caloocan and Pasay; and Quezon City. Three winners will be chosen in each cluster for a total of 12 teams or 60 students.
The final leg is the culminating contest for the remaining teams, whose members—all 60 of them—will receive scholarship grants. A college scholarship fund has been established by PhilDev for promising young students joining the project.
The top three winners in the finals will receive cash prizes and student excellence packages.
Expert mentors
From start to finish, Aiesec’s global interns, with backgrounds in engineering, information technology and life and natural sciences, will assist participants in developing their proposals and in improving the prototypes to become executable and sustainable projects.
Project Tuklas will be a one-of-a-kind experience for the participants as they will be mentored by local and foreign industry experts throughout the qualifying event. Students are expected to get hands-on training and learn confidence-building skills.
With the experts’ help, Aiesec hopes to stimulate participants to come up with fresh insights that will help solve global problems. The group also expects young Filipinos to maximize their experiences and open themselves up to global perspectives.
PhilDev trustee Arthur Tan said, “It is our hope to inspire and motivate young minds to be competitive in science and technology.”
All 12 finalist teams will get seed money of at least P15,000 each for their respective projects. Their 60 members will get scholarships to any university in the country where they gain admission. The sponsors will pay the entrance examination fees, like the UP College Admission Test, for not more than three colleges or universities. All students who qualify for scholarships will also get free entrance examination review.
The school of the winning team will get a teachers’ development fund equivalent to the grand prize.
While Project Tuklas initially is open only to high school students in Metro Manila, Aiesec plans to involve provincial schools in the next competition, which they hope to conduct annually.
For inquiries, e-mail julia.chu@aiesec.net.