Need for the intervention:
The future of Tech and jobs is STEM. In India, we have witnessed a 44% increase in STEM related jobs in the last 3 years itself (2016-19). The National Science Foundation estimates 80% of all jobs created in the next decade will require some form of STEM.
Similar trend is explained in the Future of Jobs Survey 2020 by the World Economic Forum. Worldwide, about 50% of employees will need reskilling by 20205 due to “double disruption” (economic impact of pandemic and increasing automation leading to jobs transformation). The survey also lists top 10 most important skills for being future ready and Technological Skills and Creativity are among the most demanded.
STEM is also being considered to be an equalizer with it being an integral part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5 – enabling technology, including ICTs as a means of achieving economic empowerment and greater agency.
While STEM is proven to be the future, there is a lack of infrastructure for studying STEM in the present Government schools. The Unified District Information System for Education – only 20-22% of secondary schools have lab facilities for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Only about 27% of schools have computer labs. This number is even lower at upper primary levels. This puts students graduating from government schools, who typically come from socio-economically lower strata of society, at a disadvantage in future job market and career development.
This situation is further aggravated for the girls. As per the current statistics, only 28% of the global STEM workers are women. In India, only 14% of the total scientists, engineers and technologists in research development institutions are women. Due to limited access to internet, gender stereotypes including gender bias, many girls in spite of being quite adept at STEM related subjects, end up not pursuing it in their graduation or for their careers.
Solution:
There is a need to provide access to the resources for learning STEM and to encourage the government school students to follow their passion in STEM. A positive step has recently been taken under National Education Policy (2020), which emphasizes flexibility on curriculum and STEM in government schools.
The STEM Lab Initiatives aims “To provide hands on experience for students by setting up laboratory(-ies) in various disciplines like Science, Mathematics, Language, Social Science and Computers in schools at different levels”
The setting up of this Lab will foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds and inculcate skills such as design mind-set, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing, rapid calculations, measurements etc.
Your support of $30/ INR 2500 per girl child for 1 year will enable young students to get a chance to work with tools and equipment to understand what, how and why aspects of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) will lead to an integrated approach to Science and Math, inculcating real understanding and bringing out innovation.
