03 Jun 2019
A team from DM School System in Karachi, Pakistan, has won the Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition for the Pakistan region.
The DM School System’s winning project, one of 32 entered into the competition from the region, involved the detection of adulterants in milk among well-known brands.
The winning team included Rida Sajid, Mahnoor Mustafa, Maliha Shoaib, Munneeba Akhtar, Nayab Fatima and Laiba Shahzad.
A statement from the youngsters, pictured with their teacher and a fellow student who was not part of the team, said: 'Being part of the Cambridge Upper Secondary Science competition has been an incredibly thrilling and delightful journey.
'It gave us an opportunity to collaborate with each other and dedicate ourselves to a particular purpose. It made us highly acquainted with a subject which we had less knowledge of. We are tremendously proud of our massive achievement which would have been unattainable without the support of our school, family and team-mates.'
Supervising teacher Faiza Khalid said 'I am delighted at the success and, of course, extremely thankful to Cambridge International for providing a platform to the science learners for their holistic development.
'It was a tough challenge for the students as they not only learned how to do experimentation based on the scientific methodologies, but also how to multi-task as they juggled studies, co-curricular activities and the project at the same time.
'Not only that, the way the students communicated and worked as a team startled me and left me with hope for an amazing tomorrow as I was witnessing leaders in the making. I hope my students participate again next year with more innovative ideas for the betterment of society.'
The aim of the competition was to give learners the chance to develop their passion for science and to promote attributes of a Cambridge learner through collaboration, communication, innovation and creativity.
The overall international winner of the competition was a team from Jayshree Periwal International School, India, in the South Asia region, who put together a project entitled 'Live or Dye? Negative impacts of synthetic dyes'. The project was an investigation into the effect of synthetic food colour dyes on the respiration and growth of yeast, a subject directly relevant to the everyday lives of the students.
The expert judging panel included Dr Helen Eccles, ex-Director of Cambridge International and Science Competition Lead, Dr Rachel Garsed, Senior Engineer at CMR Surgical, Dr Elaine Wilson, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University and Dr Judith Roberts, Head of Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary, Development, Cambridge International.