THE Penang government, through Penang STEM, launched the ‘StepUp Initiative’ to address the declining interest in science and mathematics and their standards among the students in the state.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who officiated its launch at the Karpal Singh Learning Centre in Bukit Gelugor today, said the initiative aimed to ignite the interests of students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) learning in lower secondary school level and inspire them to opt for studies in science stream from Form Four onwards.
“The statistics have shown that there is now a decreasing number of science classes in secondary schools. This is something that the Education Ministry must consider. Penang can feel it because we are an industrial state and require a large number of talents to support the industry,” Chow told reporters in a press conference.
“So we, on the part of the state government, support such initiative. But the state government alone is not enough.
“We need the collaboration of the industry also. This is at a very elementary level but as they move up, there is also the skill development centre and USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) to support this ecosystem. We hope through this initiative, we can produce sufficient STEM graduates to cater to the needs of the industry.”
He said Penang, with the many flourishing Free Industrial Zones, needs to keep apace with IR4.0 and the digital revolution.
In addition to that, he said the Penang2030 vision is also to upgrade the economy to raise household incomes and hence, the importance to prepare the young for the future.
Chow also thanked seven pioneer sponsors from the industry for contributing RM20,000 each annually by adopting a school each in the ‘StepUp Initiative’. Of the seven sponsors, two adopted two schools each, thus bringing the total of schools to nine.
“They have not only stepped in but also ‘stepped up’ to support the initiative.
“Besides manufacturing, other sectors like the medical services, infrastructure, property development and even telcos should also stand to benefit from an increased pool of STEM talents.
“And I sincerely hope that the captains of these sectors will also come forward to support this programme, especially to help reach out to schools in other districts of Penang.”
Also present were Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy (who is also the Penang STEM chairman), Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng, Seri Delima assemblyman Syerleena Abdul Rashid, Bagan Dalam assemblyman M. Satees, Northeast district education officer Azizah Paijo and Penang STEM general manager Richard Chung Chok Yin.
They later witnessed the seven sponsors adopting nine schools. They are Inari Amertron (Chung Hwa Confucian & SMK Bukit Gambir), Flextronics Technology (SMK Perempuan Methodist & SMK Convent Datuk Keramat), Pentamaster Corporation (SMJK Chung Ling), Greatech Integration (SMJK Heng Ee), Motorola Solutions (SMK St Xavier’s Institution), Mi Technovation (SMK Abdullah Munshi) and VAT Manufacturing (SMK Jelutong).
There are six centres under the Penang STEM ecosystem, namely Penang Skills Development Centre, Penang Science Cluster, Tech Dome Penang, @CAT, Penang Math Platform and Penang Digital Library.
Dr Ramasamy said these centres have been conducting many STEM workshops, programmes and activities within their centres to cultivate, nurture and excite students in the field of science and technology.
“Both the Education Ministry and the state are equally concerned about the continuous decline in interest and standard in STEM-learning as reflected in the recent PISA and TIMSS scores for the nation,” Dr Ramasamy said.
“What is particularly alarming for Penang is similar decline in students opting for studies in Form Four are seen even amongst many of the established urban schools.”
Chung said for the pilot phase of the project, they approached more than 30 prospective sponsors and managed to secure the support of seven multinational companies and local corporations to adopt nine schools.
He also thanked the state Education Department, through the Northeast district education office, for supporting the initiative.
SMK Jelutong principal Loh Chee Heng said the ‘StepUp Initiative’ would lighten the burden of the school to source money for school projects, especially related to STEM. His school is being adopted by VAT Manufacturing.
“This will also help the school in its KPI (key performance index). We want to encourage more students to take up science. We hope that by carrying out some projects, we can stir up their interest,” said Loo.
For VAT Manufacturing managing director Bernd Kirchhofer, he said they have begun to see the lack of technical skills in Penang workforce.
“VAT as a high-precision company foresees the need for a higher-skilled workforce. Therefore, we are keen to be part of the ‘StepUp Program’ to inspire and attract young Malaysians’ interest in science and engineering at a young age.
“VAT is keen to bring up the technical skills and prepare our Malaysian workforce for highly skilled work opportunities with MNCs rather than us hiring foreign technical experts,” said Kirchhofer.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Ahmad Adil Muhamad