Shropshire Star comment: STEM vital for guiding our future
Youngsters across our region are learning while having fun as part of the STEM Challenge 2019.
Engineering, marketing, 3D printing, future robotics and classic car restorations are among the practical skills that children are picking up learning as they look to equip themselves with the skills that will help them to thrive in adult life.
Our economy urgently needs to be rebalanced. It has moved too far towards service industries and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is helping to address that. Experts are passing on the benefit of their wisdom as schools look to broaden the base of knowledge that youngsters take with them when they leave.
Our region has a number of exceptional schools in both the state and private sector and STEM is leading to further improvements. The importance of a good education cannot be understated. It ought to be about more than just passing exams, however. While literacy, numeracy and other key subjects have valuable applications in the wider world, there is more to take on board.
Children need to know how to interact with adult colleagues, how to take instruction and apply themselves, how to motivate themselves and how to reach their potential. They also need practical instruction as they develop skills that will help them to make progress through their careers.
STEM provides all of that and more. It is a thoroughly modern scheme that is fit for purpose in our technologically-advanced era.
Our nation was once at the forefront of education and but has lost considerable ground. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development recently reported that it had fallen to 20th in the world, behind such nations as China, Taiwan, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Poland and Iceland.
It does not have the sort of world-beating scores for reading, maths or science that it once had and nor does it have the sort of connectivity with business and commerce that would allow children to make an easier transition into the workplace.
STEM attempts to address a number of those systemic failings as it gives youngsters the best platform to shine. In addition to learning new skills, youngsters are able to develop interpersonal skills and grow in confidence.
And so we must welcome the efforts being made in local schools as education comes to the fore. Our children are our future. They are switched onto the modern world and we must provide them with the best possible opportunities.
