Zambia’s Young Innovators Shine at 2025 JETS Fair
The 2025 National Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) Fair has opened at the National Science Centre in Lusaka, showcasing the ingenuity of Zambia’s youth under the theme “Promoting Innovation, Engineering & Entrepreneurship: Accelerating STEM Growth and Competence Development.”
For the first time in the event’s history, the fair has introduced a Tertiary Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (TETS) segment, enabling university students to participate alongside school pupils.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary for Educational Services, Dr Kelvin Mambwe, described the theme as a national imperative rather than a mere slogan.
“The JETS programme is not just an annual competition. It is a national movement that nurtures curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving among our learners. It is a deliberate investment in our future human capital, the very engine that will drive the country’s industrialisation, job creation, and knowledge economy,” he said.
Dr Mambwe hailed the inclusion of university students as a historic milestone that bridges early-stage creativity with advanced research capacity, noting that higher education participants bring specialised knowledge, access to advanced laboratories, and enhanced research capabilities to the competition.
Earlier, National Science Centre Director, Professor Benson Banda, urged the country to embrace home-grown solutions and make better use of Zambia’s natural resources.
“Young minds hold the key to unlocking our potential, and their creativity must be at the heart of our development strategy,” he said.
