The HSBC Malta Foundation is supporting the HSBC STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Challenge and the Malta Girl Guides (MGG) Quarantine Challenge, two initiatives aimed at helping children enjoy and use their time creatively while staying at home. These separate challenges will see children and their parents or guardians participating in different activities.

The HSBC STEM Challenge, being launched by the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes, in association with the science centre, aims to engage young students (Year 3 to Year 6 primary students) and their caregivers in doing science at home, while nurturing and developing 21st century life skills.

On the other hand, the Malta Girl Guides (MGG) Quarantine Challenge, with hashtags #mggquarantinechallenge and #beattheboredom, consists of a challenge, which will be launched every two days. The first challenge launched was the creation of a model of the coronavirus. Subsequent challenges are being created around the themes of music, Down Syndrome World Day, recreating travel scenes and creating positive, inspiring messages.

Some 1,000 people have already signed up to join in and all participants will have the opportunity to earn their very own #mggquarantinechallenge badge.

Caroline Buhagiar Klass, head of human resources and corporate sustainability at HSBC Malta, commented: “At a time when many of us are living an unusual reality, we believe that initiatives such as the HSBC STEM Challenge and the Malta Girl Guides Quarantine Challenge are an excellent way to engage young students in a genuinely productive way. Through its support, the HSBC Malta Foundation continues to support the community across Malta and Gozo, even in these challenging times.”

Those interested in taking on the HSBC STEM Challenge can sign up at https://bit.ly/2vLVu21. The Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes will be awarding gift vouchers, sponsored by the HSBC Malta Foundation, to the best three entries.

More information on the #mggquarantinechallenge can be found on the Malta Girl Guides Facebook page on www.facebook.com/MaltaGirlGuides/ or Instagram on /maltagirlguides.