Competitions

United Siyafunda Coding and Robotics Tournament for Township Community Schools 

Coding and robotics have little historical presence in South African schools. With the Department of Basic Education now rolling out a bold new coding and robotics curriculum, a major challenge has emerged: many teachers have neither seen the subject in action nor received any training in how to teach it.

Teach the Teacher, in partnership with our South African collaborator United Siyafunda, is developing an innovative strategy to address this gap. Our goal is twofold: to demonstrate best practices in teaching coding and robotics and to give learners in under-resourced township schools access to opportunities typically available only in well-funded private institutions.

While school computing competitions are popular across South Africa, the high cost of imported robotics kits and resulting steep entry fees put them out of reach for township schools. The Teach the Teacher and United Siyafunda competitions will change that. Using affordable, locally built robot buggies designed around the micro:bit, we aim to create a sustainable, inclusive alternative. These South African made kits will open doors to a field currently dominated by costly products like Lego Mindstorms, leveling the playing field for learners across the country.

Each competition event will host 40 teams of three learners. Trained volunteer coaches will be on hand to guide participants through the challenges set on the day, ensuring that the experience is both educational and enjoyable.

We are committed to establishing a self-sustaining, community-supported competition model. Venue hire, catering, printed materials, and robot buggies will be funded through the modest entry fees, which we aim to keep as low as possible. With additional support and sponsorship, we hope to provide each participating school with a robotics kit to take back with them. This will serve as a valuable classroom resource, enabling teachers to continue developing practical coding and robotics skills long after the competition ends.

Each buggy costs the equivalent of UK£50 to build, this includes the chassis, electronic components, sensors, batteries and two micro:bits. In addition to the UK£2000 needed to build 40 buggies we will need UK£500 to cover the remaining budget for hosting a competition. To launch this initiative we are seeking funding for the first of what we hope will become a long series of self-sustaining competitions in the future.