PHILIPSBURG--Five schools with a combined total of 23 projects are competing in this year's 16th Annual Science Fair, which opened at the Belair Community Center on Thursday.

Competing are St. Dominic High, Milton Peters College, St. Maarten Academy, Caribbean International Academy and Learning Unlimited.

For the first time, the Science Fair Foundation has added a vocational category for students from vocational schools. The other category is academic.

Organisers have also grouped science and technology projects into separate categories. The Foundation has also introduced a new method of judging, Foundation official Benson Pompier said on Thursday.

The fair ends with an awards ceremony on Saturday, March 20 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Primary schools will be able to visit the fair today from 8:00am to 1:15pm. On Saturday, from 10:00am to 2:00 pm, it will be open to the public.

Pompier said the fair teaches students "how to look at problems in a different way so that they can see that we can solve our own problems and not just see them as problems with no solutions."