Letter of the Day | Let’s welcome STEM Centres of Excellence!
Published:Thursday | June 15, 2023 | 1:03 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I was not around when the initiative to create technical schools was born but I wonder if back then it sparked the level of discussion and controversy as has the recent announcement by the prime minister about STEM Centres of Learning. I agree that there are a lot of questions to be answered, such as: Will six schools in Jamaica mean one in each region? What is the age level being considered for student enrolment in these schools? Will the teachers be better paid than other teachers with similar qualifications in a primary or high school?
And, why can’t these centres operate under the current Education Act? However, in the interim, I believe it is a great forward-thinking move for our educational system and the students it prepares will be apt, 21st century global builders!
The integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are skill sets that will propel learners to be well functioning in this century. Some students are already adept with the prerequisites to matriculate into these areas – among them, the business model teams at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) who have won the innovative Development Bank of Jamaica’s (DBJ) National Business Model Competition for tertiary institutions for four consecutive years since its inception and aced the competition at the international level last year; schools like Jamaica College that has led the way in introducing robotics and animation while Tarrant High has caught on since this academic year.
It is evident that when students are strategically channelled they do well.
In an era where students’ performances in sciences and math at the CSEC and CAPE levels are below 60 per cent, who wouldn’t agree that the students who favour these subjects from primary schools and are channelled into STEM Centres of Excellence at the high school level will continue on that upward trajectory to ace their CSEC and CAPE exams in those areas.
Targeted
One key set of jobs of the 21st century requires innovation and the ability backed by the ‘know-how’ to create, produce and develop. What better way to ensure that this area of job demand is met than to explicitly prepare students by providing them with the requisite skills, training, resources and a supportive environment in a specified STEM Centre of Excellence?
Within the regular education system, the opportunity is provided somewhat for students to excel in these areas but not in the targeted way that I presume will happen with the STEM approach.
It is time for some of the key players in the education system to look at the future through the lens of the next 15-20 years and ask themselves,“What is on the global horizon? Where is Jamaica in the whole scheme of things? Can HEART Trust skills training alone suffice or is there need for an army of youth so trained in STEM to lead a revolution in the production industry and influence a positive turnaround of the local economy?” Three to six years is a long time to wait with my level of anticipation. STEM is here to stay so let’s welcome STEM Centres of Excellence!
LEONISSA BUCKLEY-PALMER