Dr Manasvi M Kamat
Madhya Pradesh is all set to become the first State in the country to follow the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) model of education at the mass level to impact and enhance the learning experience of students in almost 1.21 lakh public-funded schools.
The STEAM model of education is a step forward after STEM -- a curriculum based on teaching students in four specific disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) -- in an interdisciplinary and applied approach.
At the STEM Education Model, we think of STEM as embedded in real-world problem solving and a set of skills and processes that will enable students to succeed in the future. Here the activities and course materials focus on actual use and application of the learning objectives enumerated in the STEM curriculum. The STEM Model hypothesises that students find practical applications in their course work.
To make teachers and head of schools learn about the STEM Education Model, the MP government is pooling the help of educationists working in the STEM education from USA, South Korea and other countries, apart from Karnataka and Delhi. The identified experts have been invited for a two-day conference in its capital, Bhopal, where the school teachers of the State would attend including the teachers and principals who were recently sent to South Korea to study their model of education.
There is no doubt that a robust STEM education creates critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators. It is found that STEM education successfully inculcates skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, and physical computing. According to the National Science Foundation, it is predicted that 80 per cent of the jobs created in the next decade will require some form of math and science skills. Thus, for a country like India having over 600 million youth as a part of its total population, it is highly important that they are trained in the STEM subjects. STEM Education becomes more significant as the number of STEM jobs are growing at a fast pace and currently outstripping the number of STEM graduates.
Upon realising the potential of a STEM model of education, several governments around the world have risen to the occasion and persuaded their respective States, districts and schools to make the transition. Japan, for example, has already taken the first steps towards this methodology by introducing national STEM frameworks for 2020 and others are quickly joining as well.
In the UK, BBC developed the ‘Micro:bit’, a small inexpensive codeable device linked to a rich environment that allows teachers to link STEM to real-life problems. The UK rolled out the Micro:bit project to one million children in 2016 and several other countries have followed including Singapore and Iceland.
To promote STEM in India and to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds, the government has established Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across the nation set up to create opportunities to develop Neoteric Child Innovators in India. The other private organisations like the Agastya International Foundation (AIF) and India STEM Foundation (ISM) are making dedicated efforts to popularize STEM education in India with the help of Corporate CSR departments and governmental agencies.
The AIF runs one of the largest hands-on science education programmes for teachers and children in the world with more than 200 mobile science labs, 70 science centres and around 60 lab on a bike / tech la-bike programmes in 19 Indian states while the ISM since 2006 have been able to establish an outreach to more than 20,000 institutes. It has been working through hands-on robotics initiatives like establishing robotics labs through their ‘Robo Shiksha Kendra’ by holding workshops, competitive events like Robo Olympiads, Lego Leagues, teachers’ training and many more.
Other micro-level initiatives are creating an impact as well. A two-year free course on robotics is conducted for five schools in Karnataka by the Just Robotics Academy. One of the schools that have benefitted is the Yediyur Government Primary School in Jayanagar, Bengaluru, where free kits and equipment are provided to students pursuing robotics. The program has been organised by ‘The Akshaya Patra Foundation’ under the initiative ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance’.
As we are propagating the STEM Model yet another significant challenge that needs to be addressed is being taken up by the Delhi government. Realising that the participation of women in the areas of STEM is almost the lowest in the world, Delhi government is trying to fill the gaps. To address this gender parity in STEM education, it announced the scheme of STEM education for girl students in its schools to ensure a majority of them opt for it.
The Delhi government has marked a way forward by launching a mobile app in partnership with EY, a corporate dealing in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services called as the ‘EY STEM Tribe’. This app features modules on science and technology like climate change, space exploration, artificial intelligence, 3D printing etc, and will cater to 6,000 girls between 13-18 years in 45 private and government schools of Delhi NCR.
The MP government has rightly understood that the STEM model is the need of the hour to prepare students for competition in present times, while the Delhi government is addressing the specific problem of gender gaps to implement STEM. It is heartening that the State governments along with the active support of the Union as well as private initiatives are trying their bit to transform students from being users of technology to being innovators.
The MP government needs applause as they plan to take this up on a mass scale and I am sure Goa too will take inspiration from these efforts.
