Teknofest: How Turkey’s aerospace, tech festival is shaping the future of education

As Kenya rolls out the competency-based curriculum (CBC), one global stage is proving hard to ignore — Teknofest in Turkey.

Teknofest, short for Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Festival, takes place in the West-Asian country and is touted as the world’s largest aviation, aerospace, and technology festival.

Primarily aimed at raising public awareness about tech in society and the importance of national production, the event is a high-energy, hands-on science and innovation festival where students and young innovators showcase the future.

This includes drones, flying robots, aerospace technology, and next-generation inventions. It is not your typical classroom — it’s practical, bold, and a glimpse into the kind of learning CBC dreams of delivering.

This year’s edition of Teknofest landed in Northern Cyprus, drawing tens of thousands of young inventors, tech enthusiasts, and future engineers from across the region.

“Our main aim in Teknofest is to obtain new ideas from young people. The heart of Teknofest is competition,” said Elvan Kuzucu Hıdır, Chairperson of the Board of Directors at the T3 Foundation, which organises the festival.

Held at Ercan Airport in the Northern Cyprus district of Lefkosa, the event saw high school students and university teams competing in robotics design, drone racing, and artificial intelligence projects.

Turkey, known for its rapid growth in aerospace technology, including fighter jets and military drones, used the platform to demonstrate its latest innovations.

But what made this year’s Teknofest even more exciting was the announcement that the event could soon expand to Africa.

“Our five-year strategy includes organising Teknofest in Africa,” Hıdır said.

And if Africa — and perhaps Kenya — is selected as a future host, CBC students could have a rare opportunity to showcase their skills, compete internationally, and get exposed to cutting-edge technology.

Since its inception in 2018, Teknofest has grown from 20,000 participants to over 47,000 applicants from 22 countries this year, with a total attendance of 1.6 million people.

One thing is clear from it: the future of education is happening now, and it is global, interactive, and tech-driven.