SIBU: The STEM 50 programme is a holistic approach to increasing the number of students studying in the science stream, said Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.
According to the Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development, the programme will involve four components namely free tuition, study tours, quizzes and activities.
“These students will have free tuition in science and mathematics by teachers as well as join activities organised by our three partners which are Sibu Digital Innovation Hub (DIH), University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), and PUSTAKA.
“Apart from that, we will also organise study tours for them, and for the quizzes, the top 15 students will get a laptop from me as a token,” he said when met by reporters after officiating the STEM 50 launching ceremony.
Dr Annuar stressed that the programme is one of a kind and not a motivational talk as it is a continuous approach that will cultivate students’ interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields from Form 1 to prepare them to enter the Pure Science stream in upper secondary.
“This is not a motivational type of programme. This programme involves everything, tuition, activities, and assessments. It is not a motivational talk, it organises with different modules which also involve teachers and principals,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Dr Annuar pointed out that the STEM student figures are very low both at the state and national level, hence if the problem is not addressed, there will be a shortage of manpower, especially experts.
“We need to use foreign experts and specialists which will result in many implications to the country such as our children not having a high salary nor becoming the leader, and even our money will flow outside.
“This are all implications due to these fluctuating statistics, even the 60 per cent target (of students in STEM) at the national level was not achieved, nor was the state’s,” he said.
Hence, he hoped that all parties – parents, teachers, and students involved in the programme will work together with the ministry to make sure STEM 50 will be a success.
“For a start, this programme is only organised in the Nangka constituency, however, if this programme is a success, I will propose to the ministry to implement this programme throughout the state,” he said.
A total of 150 students from three schools in the constituency namely Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Agama, SMK Jalan Oya and SMK Kampung Nangka Sibu are involved in the programme.
