“Fastest-Growing Economy” Struggles to Fund Youth Tech: STEMGuyana Urges State Action for World Robotics Stage
By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — The co-founder of STEMGuyana and the Pathway Online Academy, Dr. Karen Abrams, has issued a passionate and urgent appeal for financial assistance to ensure the nation’s youth robotics team can participate in the upcoming 2026 FIRST Global Challenge in Incheon, South Korea.
Speaking frankly about the team’s ongoing financial hurdles, Dr. Abrams expressed deep concern and frustration over the lack of predictable government support, especially as Guyana boasts the fastest-growing economy in the world and continues to expand its oil revenues. The “Olympics-style” global robotics competition, scheduled to run from October 7 to October 10, 2026, will feature high school students from more than 190 countries under the theme Igniting Innovation, focusing on robotic technology engineered for wildfire prevention and environmental resilience.
“I have no idea why the government has not committed to this, considering that we have the money,” Dr. Abrams stated in an emotional address. “Our young people are preparing to compete against 180 other nations. In almost every other participating country, the state fully sponsors, meets with, and builds the confidence of their youth representatives before they travel. Yet here, we are left pleading for basic support.”
STEMGuyana’s Global Challenge: Key Campaign Figures
| Metric | Details |
| Event & Date | 2026 FIRST Global Challenge (October 7–10, 2026) |
| Location | Incheon, Republic of Korea |
| 2026 Theme | Igniting Innovation (Wildfire mitigation and response robotics) |
| National Track Record | 9 consecutive years of participation and top-tier global rankings |
| Funding Gap Impact | High risk of traveling with a severely reduced team or missing the event entirely |
| Emergency Action | Direct funding appeals dispatched to key ministries and private sector partners |
“We have launched a new round of outreach, and we have written directly to several government ministries and private sector corporations,” Dr. Abrams noted. “We are currently awaiting feedback. People like Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony have been individually supportive over the years, but generally, there has been a persistent, worrying reticence from the state to formally fund this team.”
The “Rich Country” Paradox and Scholarship Dilemmas
Dr. Abrams revealed that for the past several years, STEMGuyana has been forced to rely on emergency travel scholarships provided by the FIRST Global mother organization to make the trip possible. However, she warned that this dependency has placed the Guyanese delegation in an increasingly precarious and embarrassing position.
Under the international organization’s guidelines, these competitive scholarships are strictly reserved for impoverished countries that genuinely lack the basic national resources to fund youth science programs. Because of Guyana’s highly publicized economic boom, the international body expects the Guyanese government and local private sector to comfortably cover their own team’s travel, kits, and accommodation logistics. Dr. Abrams emphasized that the only reason Guyana has managed to qualify for these hardship grants is due to the team’s consistently outstanding, top-tier performances on the global stage.
If funding is not secured in the coming weeks, Guyana faces the embarrassing prospect of either withdrawing entirely from the Incheon games or sending a skeleton crew, depriving dozens of qualified local students of a life-changing educational experience. Dr. Abrams urged corporate Guyana and state officials to recognize the long-term value of the program, pointing out that students return from these world summits with advanced technical skills in programming, mechanical design, and system integration, which they immediately pass on to thousands of children in local STEM clubs across all ten administrative regions.
