The world is witnessing the fourth technological revolution. The rapid increase in STEM education has become proportional to a country’s prosperous economic and social changes. However, before digging deeper into the subject, we must know what it signifies.
What is STEM education?
Science, Technology and Engineering characterize STEM education, and Mathematics. Each of these subjects and their different branches subscribe to methods and mechanisms elucidating modern attitudes towards knowledge and skills, which are acquired to design future prospects. The term STEM was coined in an inter-agency meeting held at the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2001.
Benefits of STEM Education
STEM education is not just a short tagline of the subjects above-named but an application full of opportunities with enhanced strategies and ingredients of knowledge over book learning. In addition, STEM education offers a project-based teaching method, not deemed appropriate earlier in outdated classrooms. The curriculum it provides is from within the books and lessons concurrent in the syllabus, but the study it provides constitutes critical intelligence and problem- solving abilities among individuals on account of technological advances the modern world has made over the few preceding decades. In addition, its insertion in different developed and developing countries around the globe has seen a significant change in their GDP growth. India, for example, now has the most significant number of STEM graduates in the world, with a relatively improved GDP rate. An estimate of around four million alone earns a living as mobile application developers, which would not have been possible if it wasn’t for STEM education and learning. Socially and culturally, STEM education is helping underdeveloped and developing countries improve pervasively to become part of the digital world to alleviate hunger and poverty, two of the central sustainable development goals allocated by the United Nations Foundation in its plan for 2030. With the help of STEM education, around 40% of the workforce is using computers in Bolivia and Kenya. Similarly, Pakistan can contribute more to the venture of STEM education for its prosperity as the economy of the entire world continues to boom with its support.
The prosperity of Pakistan enclosed in STEM education
STEM education is now an essential ingredient if a country needs to prosper in this ever-changing modern and digital world. The starting point of determining its outcomes can be the progress an individual makes, but we cannot precisely reckon the breakthroughs that it brings to the country an individual belongs to.
A country can develop socially, culturally, economically, and bureaucratically by introducing and activating mechanisation in industries presented by STEM. But to achieve this end, young individuals from across Pakistan must be made to have all the skills STEM promises to deliver. In this regard, an interdisciplinary study approach must be introduced and integrated into the curriculum already
Offered. According to the recent calculations maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , the current GDP of Pakistan is -0.4%. The country has continuously shrunk its GDP growth with each succeeding year. The target of sustaining and improving it this point, however, can be accomplished if STEM becomes an integral part of the learning of each individual’s life, as is seen in other developed countries such as Norway and Finland. The emergence of new technological advancements with STEM is inviting more professions and professionals. In EU countries, for example, it is predicted
in a study by Cedefop that by 2025, the demand for STEM professionals will grow by 8% as compared to a 3% demand for other professions. With new employment
opportunities, Pakistan cannot only reduce the unemployment it has been facing
over the years, but it can also move forward in the race of technology the entire
world is combatting for. In addition, various positions across the country specifically designated for individuals with STEM backgrounds go vacant sometimes. Therefore, our industrial and commercial sectors do not prosper as fast as in other countries. It can only be possible if the driving force behind it is built upon STEM-based learning. Besides, a system based on STEM education promises to offer equal opportunities for everyone, irrespective of differences. And it has also been seen worldwide in recent years that children are more inclined towards learning based on technology than rote learning, which generally drains their capacity to engulf the specified material. Millions of children in Pakistan have either less or no education, and only one skill from STEM can get them and their families well. With the assistance of STEM, Pakistan can also work to further its agricultural sector by improving the capacity of its already fertile land. The barren land it has can also be turned into gold if the resources by science in STEM are utilized correctly. Information and communication technologies are considered essential substances for a country today. By their foundations in a country still following the deep-rooted traditional and manual methods, Pakistan can have access to several networking opportunities. It can also prosper the entrepreneurial market by creating an environment conducive to innovative ideas.
Medicine and surgery also owe a great deal to STEM-based learning, and the development of vaccines by medical scientists from developed countries is due to STEM-based education beyond the shadow of a doubt. Various discoveries and creations made so far in the field are STEM subjects. The boons of STEM for prospering Pakistan are as uncountable as the facilities this program offers. Pakistan’s government has recently realized the significance of STEM-based learning, and many educational institutions around the country are now incorporating courses and subjects from STEM. This integration predicts a bright future, a better tomorrow for the country where the method is relatively easy new. But the matter cannot be overlooked as our nation’s economy’s sustenance depends on it.