To promote student interest in programming, introduce more of the public to learning programming in high school, and strengthen the public’s understanding of the importance of the digital field in various processes, Riga Business School, as a structural unit of Riga Technical University, announces a programming competition. The task of the competition is for students to present a project developed in their high school course Programming I or II, which solves an relevant problem for a selected group of society. Technology companies LMT and Tet financially support the development of the programming contest.
To apply, students must send a short video presenting their programming solution developed within the course at innovationeducation.lv by May 8. The topic of the project can be determined either by the teacher or chosen by the students, and it can be submitted individually or in a team of up to three people. On June 10, ten finalists will present their projects in person at Riga Business School. Jury representatives from Riga Business School, Tet, LMT, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economy, and two programming teachers will evaluate the submissions.
The prize fund of the competition is 3,300 euros to spend at LMT customer centers and Tet stores. Regardless of whether the work is submitted individually or in a group, each student will receive a prize worth 500 euros for 1st place, 300 euros for 2nd place, and 150 euros for 3rd place. The teachers of the first three teams will also receive prizes, each worth 100 euros.
Programming skills are almost taken for granted for many high school students. The competition is a great opportunity for students to practically apply what they learned in the programming course and demonstrate their interests, creativity, and entrepreneurship. I believe that the submitted works will surprise us, and I hope to see ideas that will help to improve the learning process or the school environment.
Santa Šmīdlere
Acting State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science
For us as a technology company that thinks about tomorrow, it is very important to see how young and promising professionals in the field of technology grow, so we gladly and purposefully support the promotion of STEM subjects to a young audience. Programming contests are a great opportunity to see how the work created throughout the school year is displayed, evaluated, and possibly rewarded in healthy competition. Therefore, we hope that more and more young people will be motivated to learn programming and improve their skills with modern technologies and learning materials to gain excellent knowledge and make Latvia proud of world-class specialists.
Uldis Tatarčuks
Chairman of the Board of Tet
LMT, as a technology and innovation company, has always emphasized that quality education and talent development is an important prerequisite for promoting innovation and technological progress. Digital skills are already one of the daily needs of both citizens and entrepreneurs. In the future, this need will only increase in ensuring competitiveness in Latvia’s labor market, business and overall economic development. In Latvia, still, too few young people choose to learn science subjects, so LMT already supports a series of initiatives that promote young people’s interest in STEAM, expand the available teaching materials and raise the quality of education. We will follow the students’ performance during the programming contest with great interest.
Juris Binde
President of LMT
In Latvia, 8,547 students in 142 schools study Programming I and 1,626 students in 77 schools study Programming II. The programming contest is one of the initiatives through which Riga Business School, as a structural unit of Riga Technical University, with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economy, LMT, and Tet, hopes to attract even more young people to the field of programming and to strengthen the learning of technology not only in higher education but also in schools.
More about the programming competition and application: https://innovationeducation.lv/programmesanas-konkurss-vidusskoleniem/
