KUCHING: The Ministry of Women, Children and Community Well-being Development has welcomed a Petrosains effort to hold programmes related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for children below seven years old.
Minister, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said the early introduction to STEM especially Mathematics and Science which relate to daily life can create interest among young children.
“The state government has started a long time ago to increase the number of students majoring in science, but the numbers are still not reaching the target yet. And we really want to double our efforts for our children.
“Therefore, the proper effort should be start now and we really welcome Petrosains holding the basic programmes that will also need the involvement of teachers,” she said in a press conference after a courtesy visit by Petronas Petrosains at her office, in Baitulmakmur here yesterday.
She added that the ministry also suggested to Petrosains to reach out to students in the rural areas, so that the students could have the chance to participate in the programmes.
“We want them to enjoy the same thing what have been enjoyed by the students in the city, which is the Petrosains Playsmart programmes.
“Besides that, we also need to give chances to special needs (OKU) children because some of them have their talent in robotics, and this talent should be explored and developed,” Fatimah pointed out.
She then said, the ministry will hold Sarawak Kids Got Talent in October and invited Petrosains to collaborate with the ministry so that the activities will be more interesting.
“It is always the strategy to start from a young age, which is below seven years old because we want them to develop faster and better at the age. So it has to be fun, and from what I observed, Petrosains Playsmart offers fun, relevant and meaningful learning activities,” she said.
