In a complex, ever-changing world, it is more that essential that the nation's youth are prepared to bring skills and knowledge that make sense of the information and solve problems. Thus, as teachers practicing early years care and education, you need to inculcate these values from an early stage.
To expand a student's learning sphere and allow them to form a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world applications, STEM education was decided to be integrated. Let us first find out what STEM education is and why the Tamil Nadu government decide to implement it in the schools.
What Is STEM Education?
STEM education is the inclusion of the four disciplines namely Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It is a practical, theoretical and transversal educational approach where all of these courses are taught to boost the critical, logical, and creative thinking skills of a student.
Source: www.statista.com
The STEM curriculum is designed to offer the students with maximum practical exposure that they learn to research and brainstorm concepts in the classroom to find appropriate solutions in real life. The most effective way to introduce STEM is to incorporate Project Based Learning method. This offers the perfect blend of course modules and practical implementation of theoretical knowledge.
Goals And Objectives Of STEM Education
Now that you have understood the concept of STEM, here are some goals and objectives of the approach that you must understand.
1. Utilization Of Insights And Information
This educational approach aims at allowing students to use insights and information on the technological area, mathematics, engineering, and scientific field. This enables the students to explore a wide range of concepts and projects.
2. Implementation Of The Best Practices
With STEM education students are able to implement the best practices in all four disciplines. The long-term aim of the approach is to build a stronger aptitude for these disciplines among the students.
3. Creativity And Knowledge Acquisition
To be capable of innovating new ideas, students need to acquire sufficient knowledge in the four areas. By satisfying their curiosity and acquiring the knowledge they will be able to research, think, apply and create.
Why Is It Necessary For The Indian Education Sector?
Source: stemeducationguide.com
Here are the top 5 reasons why STEM education is necessary for the Indian sector:
1. Transformative Skill-Set Development
The first and foremost reason why Indian education should adopt STEM is that it provides a transformative skill set development to the students. They improve logical thinking, creativity, critical thinking, analysis power, innovative mindset, and teamwork among the students.
2. Meeting Global Workplace Demands
Another good thing about learning STEM is that its acceptance is not only limited to India. It has a global acceptance and hence a student who has graduated with a STEM degree in India can decide to further their course internationally. Additionally, they can also apply for jobs outside the country since they meet the global workplace demands.
3. Edge Over Traditional Students
Since STEM focuses on four major disciplines the skills of which are demanded globally, the students get an edge over the ones who have completed their education in a traditional setup. Essentially, when a student with a STEM education applies for a job they are more likely to get hired with a relatively better package than the other candidates.
4. Inventions In STEM Areas
STEM approach allows students to learn practically as well as theoretically. Both these aspects enable the students to reach the highest level of the educational roadmap which is invention. Students who have completed their education with a STEM degree are most likely to have an aptitude for a creator and invent a lot of new things.
5. Instils Great Leadership Quality
Students who have undergone SEM education, over a period of time become more efficient to solve any problems that might come their way. Additionally, they see challenges as opportunities to grow both professionally and personally.
Tamil Nadu’s Initiative "STEM on Wheels"
The School Education Department of Tamil Nadu announced that 13,210 government middle, high, and higher secondary schools would introduce the forming of STEM clubs for students of grades 6-8. The government declared that the STEM concepts will be taught statewide with the help of mobile labs.
Source: prayatna.typepad.com
They took the initiative 'STEM on Wheels' to foster curiosity about science. As a pilot study, it will first be implemented in 67 schools in the state and has already been launched by Chief Minister MK Stalin by the end of November 2022. To make the results fruitful the School Education Department is in the process of training 12,000 teachers. The department will also rope in new volunteers for the program.
The STEM ambassadors including volunteers and teachers will teach groups of around 50-60 per month. However, if the sessions garner a good response and more students enroll in them, the number of classes will be increased. Additionally, committees will also be formed at block, district, and state levels to ensure that the program is effectively implemented in government schools.
The panel formed at the district level will be governed by the chief educational officers and includes headmasters or high and higher secondary schools, block resource teacher educators, district educational officers, and resource persons from various organizations.
As a part of 'STEM on Wheels' field trips will be conducted to nearby scientific institutions for the students. This initiative is meant to encourage the students to develop a liking for science and mathematics subjects. A total of Rs 25 crore was sanctioned for this initiative and around 710 volunteers were identified for the same.
The Final Takeaway
STEM education is one of the pioneers of blending technology with education. It is meant to inspire personal expression, creativity, and curiosity in the students. If you are wondering how to introduce STEM education to young learners then consider pursuing an Early Years Care and Education course to provide opportunities and prioritize hands-on experience for real-world application.
Written By : Sanjana
