Karaganda schoolchildren were among the best at the international robotics championship in Beijing

Karaganda schoolchildren have made a name for themselves on the global robotics scene. At the FIRST LEGO League Asia Open Championship 2026 in Beijing, the ASTRIX team from Murager School took third place among more than 500 teams from around the world. Another team from Karaganda, Ancient-TREX from Daryn School, won the Breakthrough Award.

Over 5,000 people from over 30 countries and regions participated in the Beijing competition. For the Ancient-TREX team, this was their first foray onto the global stage—and an international award at that.

To reach China, the students went through several stages of selection: regional and national championships, and then the Central Asia FIRST Championship in Astana, where they won a quota to compete in Beijing.

"This competition was one of the largest in FIRST history and marked the season's closing. We received the 'Breakthrough of the Year' award. This means we performed well in all areas—the robotics game, the project, core values, and activities. For our first time competing on the global stage, this is very good. We've learned from our mistakes and will strive to achieve even better results next time," shared team member Yeraly Bulatov.

The students focused particularly on their innovative project, which combined archaeology, IT, and gaming. The idea emerged from a survey the team conducted: the students discovered that interest in archaeology was declining, in part because history is often taught through textbooks.

"We created an interactive game with various tasks and 3D artifacts that can be viewed and studied on a special platform. This year, we decided to make the game even more engaging and added an Arduino. Magnets are connected to the playing field, which trigger educational videos during the game," said team leader Aysha Orynbasar.

Since the championship was held in China, the students chose the theme of the Great Silk Road for their project, linking the histories of Kazakhstan and China. The game included videos about the civilizations that existed during that period, turning the study of history into an interactive journey.

The competition wasn't without its challenges, however. During the judging session, the team faced a language barrier: of the three judges, only one spoke English. But thanks to their good preparation, the team was able to complete the task more easily than expected.

Overall, the Kazakhstani teams demonstrated a high level of preparation and were virtually on par with their international competitors.

In the new academic year, the Ancient-TREX team will begin training, building on their experience and striving to reach even higher levels.

"The guys have done a tremendous job. We're a young team; we only started last academic year, practically building our team from scratch. And in just one year, we were able to go to Beijing and receive the 'Breakthrough of the Year' award. I think this is just the beginning of our future victories and achievements," says Nazira Smagulova, one of the team's leaders and a computer science teacher at the Daryn School of Youth.