Embed STEM in schools curricula …says President Granger
President David Granger
President David Granger

By Vanessa Braithwaite

PRESIDENT David Granger has posited that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) should be embedded in all levels of schools’ curricula, as the future of Guyana depends on those disciplines.Addressing, on Friday, the audience at the closing exercise of the National Science, Mathematics and Technology Fair, which ran together with the Sagicor Visionaries Challenge Fair at the Linden Foundation Secondary School, the President stressed during his main address that the four disciplines must not only be taught separately, but should be integrated into one.

He encouraged the students who participated in the fairs to pursue the disciplines, as he said they were important for one’s intellectual development and survival.

“Guyana’s young people must be educated and encouraged to be inventive and innovative. They must be provided with the opportunities to develop practical solutions to the challenges we face, and so we encourage them to undertake studies in STEM,” the President said.

He said the four disciplines encourage critical thinking, which is essential to solving problems and, most importantly, to being innovative and competitive.

“We have to become an innovation nation, and STEM is essential to innovation. We have to compete against bigger countries in the global market, and we can only compete if we can innovate. We can’t simply copy what the big boys and girls are doing, we have to be better by introducing new products,” the President articulated.

For Guyana to become more innovative, more emphasis must be given to these subjects at all three levels of the education system, starting from primary; so that the students will be moulded into becoming innovators and critical thinkers, he posited.

FUTURE IS IN SAFE HANDS
President Granger commended the coordinators of the fair, held in different regions biennially, and said it is “an inspiring experience for all of us.” The innovative exhibits and projects illustrate the interest and imagination of young people, he said.

“These exhibitions of the creative genius of our students reassure us that our country’s future will be guided by a generation of fine minds, and they remind us constantly that the future of this country will be in safe hands,” the President said.

These innovations, he said, must not only be projects, but must be seen as practical applications to be shared with the wider society.

“This fair must not be seen as an end, but as merely a means to an end, a path that we should pursue beyond the walls of our classrooms. They should lead us into the communities and our countrysides, where children live, work and play. The models should be shared with the wider society, so that the practical application will not be completely lost, but will add value to people’s lives,” the President said.

NEEDS ARE LIMITLESS
The students were encouraged by the Head of State to take the sciences and technological/vocational skills seriously, as those would not only be to their individual benefit, but to the holistic benefit of Guyana, which possesses limitless needs.

“We need science for energy generation, for management of solid waste, and (for) creating green communities and economies. Guyana needs persons in manufacturing and mining. We need architects, construction workers to build our homes. We need medical doctors and technologists to protect us from epidemic disease, or to cure our everyday disorders. We need computer scientists to enhance our knowledge. Our needs as a nation are limitless,” he said.

The 2016 National Science, Mathematics and Technology Fair and the Sagicor Visionary Challenge Fair were officially launched on Wednesday under the theme: “Enhancing traditional technology to sustain modern societies through science, mathematics, engineering and technology.”

The fair was hosted by Education District 10, and saw contingents from all 11 education districts participating in this biennial educational event.

 

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