STEM participates at ‘19+ Educational, Vocational, Career Guidance and Trade exhibition’

Friday, 26 October 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Ministry of Education organised the ‘19+, Educational, Vocational, Career Guidance and Trade exhibition’ 2018 from 3 to 7 October at the Kuliyapititya Central College. This exhibition was specifically targeted towards students of grade 9 and above but was open to all. A dedicated Japanese STEM group lead by Renaya Kikuchi of SCCIP Japan attended to provide invaluable insights into robotics, STEM-related technologies and teaching techniques.

SCCIP has been providing STEM educational know-how for the last 20 years and as of October 2018, has successfully deployed its services to over 50 schools in India, and 16 schools in Thailand. It is successfully engaged in over 22 after-school classroom programs in Japan and 26 in the United States of America. A characteristic attribute of SCCIP is its emphasis on hands-on authentic learning, project based learning and context based learning methods.

The SCCIP stall and its workshop on Robotics and STEM has been well received by the public and witnessed the attendance of a large number of students. Upon completion of the workshop the student received an internationally recognised certificate offered by SCCIP. This was a rare and valuable opportunity for Sri Lankan students to obtain an internationally recognised certificate at no cost. Malcom X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” As a country, let us procrastinate no further, and hasten to equip ourselves with the tools to face the challenges and demands of the modern world through STEM.

Since the launch of Sputnik in 1952, world leaders and individual states have been on a fierce competition, to be the front runners in the quest for human ingenuity and technological superiority, through the advancement of science and technology. The countries that had invested in this cause are now reaping the rewards of their investments. The acronym STEM was coined in 2001 by the National Science Foundation of the USA. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. It represents an integrated system of applying the individual elements of STEM to various subjects and fields of study. STEM emphasises the practical applications of its individual elements through critical and analytical thinking, problem solving and innovative thinking. Sri Lanka’s science and technological sector is in dire need. Our country is currently ranked 88 on the Global Innovation Index and the GDP share for the industry sector has only increased by 3.9% from 2010 to 2018. This is a worrying situation as 60% of the global job market is expected to be comprised of STEM related jobs by 2030. To face this reality and the entire education system of our country needs to be rethought, revaluated and completely overhauled.