STEM for economic development is not a pipe dream – President

The lack of qualified teachers and adequate resources might prove as a major impediment in the STEM

initiatives in all levels of schools’ curricula but President David Granger is certain that this not just a wild fantasy.
STEM, acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, essentially defines the preparation of students in the proficiency in these core units while placing emphasis on modelling real world problems and simulating solutions.
Whether STEM initiatives are integrated or stand apart from regular school curriculum, it is clear that education programmes that produce critical thinkers, and improves math and science literacy are required to enable any developing economy to remain competitive through constant technological innovation and higher levels of human capital.
During the recent broadcast of ‘The Public Interest’, President Granger re-emphasised the importance of STEM in economic development and posited that, as farfetched as the concept may sound, it is far from delusional.
“It’s not a pipe dream, it’s not some wish… We need engineers, we need scientists, we need mathematicians,” Granger highlighted.
He explained that the biggest obstruction to development in Guyana is the lack of infrastructure and therefore the country needs a system of highways and bridges as well as better stellings.
“If you look at Region Ten, for example, just to travel from Kwakwani to Linden to transact business, it’s a nightmare. If you are in Region Nine, the Rupununi, it takes $5000 to go one way between Aishalton and Lethem,” he stated.
He also posited that, “If your grandfather has 1 hectare of cassava and he produces 100kilos, science would help you to get 200kilos from the same hectare by better fertilisers and better techniques.”
According to the Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015, out of 144 countries assessed, Barbados is the highest ranked country in the Western Hemisphere at 7th when measuring the quality of math and science education.
Its other Caribbean counterparts are lagging behind, with Trinidad and Tobago at 35th, Guyana 55th, Suriname 89th, Jamaica 101st, and Haiti at 124th. However, the Caribbean region remains well above the more developed economies in Latin America: Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico and Brazil are all ranked below Jamaica.
Notably, caution should be given to such findings since equity, population density and available infrastructure can be misrepresented.
For instance, Barbados like most other Caribbean nations has a very small population relative to the rest of its comparators, the number of well-equipped science labs and research centres in Brazil alone may outstrip the entire Caribbean, and very little innovation and technological improvements have originated from the Caribbean.
Research states that the jobs of tomorrow will continue to demand critical thinking and an understanding of mathematics and science to keep pace with the increasing dynamism of technological innovation.
While the focus on this issue may be dominated by the availability of infrastructure, large gains can be made by sowing the seeds of early STEM programmes at the nursery and primary levels.