Minister directs to complete STEM project in time, train teachers

Islamabad : Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Agha Hassan Baloch Wednesday directed the relevant officials to complete the project of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) in time and initiate the process of teachers training.

The minister was addressing a ceremony held here to distribute the cheques of Rs1 million on the account of enabling the STEM labs among the principals of schools.

Secretary MoST, Ghulam Muhammad Memon, Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, Prof. Dr. Shahid Mahmood Baig and other officials were present in the ceremony.

The Public Sector Development Programme ‘Launching of STEM in Pakistan, Phase-I’ is the umbrella project recently launched by the Pakistan Science Foundation and will be executed throughout the country with the support of federal and provincial stakeholders/education departments.

One of the targets of the project is to give impetus to Pakistan’s preparation for developing a workforce for the fifth Industrial Revolution.

Under the STEM project, 50 STEM labs will be established in 50 higher secondary schools/cadet colleges and 8 labs in different universities/institutions with a total cost of Rs993.784 million.

High tech equipment including 3D printers, vinyl cutters, design computers, STEM kits, etc., will be installed in these labs upon which the students will learn new techniques which are compulsory for the 5th Industrial Revolution.

Speaking on the occasion, the federal minister emphasised hands-on activities and development of entrepreneurship skills in students.

He said that STEM education is a paradigm shift from traditional education to hands-on learning of core scientific concepts.

STEM encourages youth to experiment, make mistakes and learn from their own experiences rather than relying on what the textbook says.

It has basic areas of critical thinking, logical analysis, inquiry and project-based learning which boost the curiosity among students as it motivates and inspires students to excel in applied STEM fields.