South, Tobago schools in Samsung sci-tech final

Marabella North Secondary will represent TT at the regional Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. -

MARABELLA North Secondary, St Joseph’s Convent San Fernando and Bishop’s High School Tobago have advanced to the final of Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow 2025, a regional competition in science and technology, featuring entries from 13 countries.

The three schools were named among 39 semi-finalists with projects focused on urgent environmental challenges, from flooding and invasive species to waste management and clean energy.

Marabella North’s team is developing a solar-powered flood early warning system called Don’t Get Wet – Alerts to Stay Dry and Stay Safe.

Their concept responds to Trinidad’s chronic flooding, linked to climate change, poor drainage and unplanned urbanisation. It uses low-cost, autonomous monitoring stations to alert communities before severe flooding occurs.

In a Facebook post, the school praised their team including Sunil Bridglal (tutor), Anjello Webb, Jesse Lee Sirju, Maahir Ramlakhan, and Priya Bachan.

St Joseph’s Convent San Fernando is defending Keep Wild T&T, an app to help users identify native and invasive plant species. The project promotes biodiversity protection and responsible reforestation, with the app’s database designed to support schools, farmers and conservation groups.

Bishop’s High students are working on Tobago’s Greencycle Hub, a hybrid community recycling centre powered by solar and biogas. The model would process plastic, glass and organic waste into reusable materials, compost and energy, targeting Scarborough and surrounding areas. The hub is designed to be run by youth and volunteers.

Samsung said 40 per cent of this year’s semi-finalist projects focused on environment and sustainability, reflecting the importance of ecological issues to young innovators.

Education and learning accounted for 15 per cent of entries, while equity and inclusion, civic engagement and health each made up around ten per cent.

Corporate citizenship manager Maria Fernanda Hernández said the competition continues to highlight students’ ability to match innovation with community needs.

“The Solve for Tomorrow programme challenges young people to devise and develop creative solutions to real problems that impact their communities. In this edition, the students demonstrated their ingenuity by linking their projects directly to the needs of their environments, proposing solutions that promise lasting benefits,” she said.

The regional finals will be held later this year, with teams receiving training in technology, project management and feasibility to strengthen their proposals.