Nairobi tech school makes history with double win at UN robotics challenge

Bolder Learner Tech School (BLTS) swept both age divisions of the AI for Good Robotics Youth Challenge at the national championships held at the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) in Karen on May 9, 2026, a result no Kenyan institution had managed before.

The double win sends the school's junior outfit, CYB3R h@CK3RS, and its senior team, FGC, to the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge Global Grand Finale, set for Geneva, Switzerland, from July 7 to 10.

Organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised UN agency, the challenge is rated among the world's premier robotics competitions for students aged 10 to 18. This year's national leg drew more than 56 teams from across the country, all working around a single theme: food security, tackled through the design and programming of autonomous farming robots.

In a statement, the school's management framed the win as bigger than its own corridors.

"This is not just a school victory. It is a Kenyan story. Our students came from diverse backgrounds in a classroom in Nairobi, trained every Sunday through an entire season, and beat teams from across the country at a United Nations competition," the statement read.

"Now they go to represent Kenya in Geneva. We are enormously proud, and we are determined to make Kenya proud on the world stage."

At the heart of the junior team's run was Agrobot X, an autonomous farming robot built on the VEX IQ platform and programmed in Python. The school says the machine was designed to mimic the full farming cycle, from seed planting and irrigation to harvesting and crop sorting.

The five-member junior squad was drawn from a mix of learning backgrounds, including homeschool programmes, Olerai School in Rongai, Hillcrest School, Braeburn School and Makena School. In the senior category, students from BLTS teamed up with peers from St. Luke's School in Kimilili, with the two jointly declared national champions and set to compete as a single Kenyan team in Geneva.

The competition itself is relatively young. The AI for Good Robotics Youth Challenge was launched in 2024 to nudge young people toward technology solutions tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the 2025-2026 edition zeroed in on food security as one of the world's most pressing problems.

Kenya's progress has been steep. The country made its debut in 2025, when BLTS finished third nationally and just one local team qualified for Geneva. A year on, Kenya is sending champions in both divisions.

The global finals will gather national champions from more than 40 countries, with over 7,500 participants taking part worldwide. A 16-member Kenyan delegation made up of students, mentors and chaperones is expected to make the trip to Switzerland.

"Our students are not just learning how to code, they are learning how to compete, how to lead and how to represent their country," the school said. "Geneva is the next step."