Story by Farai Gwaze
THE 2025 Zimbabwe Science Fair, held in Harare this Friday, featured innovative ideas from more than 200 students representing 50 schools nationwide.
The students showcased their projects, aimed at addressing local challenges, to a panel of judges and an engaged audience.
“My project is a peer support network for women and children facing climate change in Africa. This application has two levels, peer to peer and organisational levels,” ZRP High school pupil Victor Mandongwe said.
“The aim of my project is to provide a suitable alternative to chemotherapy, which is currently used to treat breast cancer. My project uses cyanide, it is a known poison that kills cells by damaging the mitochondria, rendering cells unable to produce energy to fuel their cellular processes,” Dominican Convent High School pupil, Bulawayo, Crystal Dube said.
“My project aims to address the prevalence of deficiency diseases in young children in Zimbabwe. I then decided to design a chatbot which will act as a knowledge system among these children and teach them,” another ZRP High School pupil Charity Chirara said.
The winners were selected based on their problem-solving abilities.
“As the judges, we are looking at what the finalists have come up with. We go to their projects and look at their titles, we a look at the problem they are trying to solve and what gap they are trying to fill,” Mr Richard Ngomanyuni the Chief judge said.
The top performers were awarded bronze, silver, and gold medals, as well as special achievement awards which included scholarships to study in China, Europe, and America.
The 2025 Zimbabwe Science Fair demonstrated the potential of the country’s young minds to drive innovation and positive change.
