The country’s first-ever and only all-female robotics competition in the country dubbed “Tagisang Robotics Competition (TRC): Girls & Gears” was held last August 19 at the PICC in Pasay City.
Conducted by the Science Education Institute (SEI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the contest drew 20 participating school composed of all-girl teams.
Rizal National Science High School was crowned as champion followed by Rizal High School as second placer and Caloocan National Science and Technology High School as the third placer.
The teams took home certificates, trophies, and cash grants worth P100,000.00, P75,000.00, and P50,000.00, respectively. Coaches of the top three teams also received cash grants.
The DOST-SEI also awarded the best-performing school teams during the three successive preliminary rounds of the competition.
Quezon City High School (QCHS) and Taguig Science High School (TSHS) tied for first place during the first round. TSHS once again got the highest score during the second round, while Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science (VCSMS) topped the third round. All of them received certificates and special tokens.
“Kami as participants, since we’re all women, we can serve as an inspiration to other girls na interested din to learn robotics to take the challenge kahit wala silang background sa programming. So maiinspire sila na parang ‘kung kaya nila, kaya rin namin,” said Kristine I. Butaran of Rizal National Science High School.
The TagRobo girls were glad to have participated in the competition as they picked some lessons which would prove beneficial in their future journeys.
“This competition can really help me in the future because even if we’re having a hard time, even if we’re not succeeding or ranking that high, we’re still gaining experience. And I believe that losing doesn’t mean that you’re a loser. It just means that you’re always gonna end up finding something that you’re gonna improve on,” said Rijana Lake S. Catacutan of Manila Science High School.
