Lankan students take top honours in ThinkQuest International Competition 2011

More than 33,000 participants from 52 countries tested their skills on a global stage in the largest ThinkQuest International Competition to date. The global competition, sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation (OEF), challenges students to solve a real problem using their critical thinking, communication and technology skills.

Participants presented solutions using a variety of technologies, including online applications and games, websites, photo essays, online blogs/journals, animations, and videos. Prizes for the winners include laptop computers, school grants, and a trip to ThinkQuest Live, the inspirational awards event in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sri Lankan students were part of two award-winning teams. Four local students, Isuru, Sakuntha, Umesh and Viraj of Nalanda College, Colombo, created an entry called ‘Hope’. Upali Karawita coached the award-winning team. ‘Hope’ was awarded 1st place in the Application Development event, 19 and under age division. The entry addressed how to rebuild a village after war by developing an educational game where players must earn money by farming and mining to repair damaged public facilities. Six local students Azeez, Umar, Jazeel, Fazal, Aakil, and Rehman Abubakar of Amal International Schools, created an entry called ‘End Child Labour’. Mohammed Fazlaan coached the award-winning team. ‘End Child Labour’ was awarded 2nd place in the Digital Media event, 19 and under age division. The entry addressed the issue of child labour through the creation of a website to raise awareness on the topic. The website includes detailed research about child labour and its impact on society. The winners were selected from among 7,603 teams and represented China, Great Britain, Greece, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Moldova, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and the United States. Teams had approximately eight months to define a problem and present a solution. An international panel of volunteer judges reviewed the entries and selected 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place winners within three age divisions for each event. A full list of the winning entries can be viewed at www.thinkquest.org. “The Oracle Education Foundation is please to recognise all ThinkQuest International Competition participants for their outstanding achievements,” said Brad Saffer, Vice President, Oracle Corporate Citizenship. “These students identified realworld problems and accepted the challenge to solve them through innovative, thought provoking solutions. Throughout the process, these students developed skills that will position them for success in the classroom and workplace.” “The ThinkQuest International Competition 2011 has opened so many new opportunities to the Sri Lankan School Community, our students and teachers,” said Anura Dissanayake, Additional Secretary and Project Director of Education for Knowledge Society Project, Ministry of Education. “Through global competitions like ThinkQuest, our teachers and students are empowered with new knowledge and international experience that will take their ICT education to the next level.” “I would like to congratulate the winners of the ThinkQuest International Competition from Sri Lanka. It’s a pleasure to see these students being recognised for their hard work in creating projects that address key social issues,” said Ahsen Javed, Managing Director, Oracle South Asia Growth Economies – West.