Don’t kill interest in the sciences

Rekindling curiosity: Allowing children, who are naturally curious about things, to explore, discover and learn new scientific knowledge in their own initiative can spark their interest in STEM. — Filepic

ONLY 19% or 85,500 students out of an average of 450,000 students who completed the Form Three Assessment (PT3) will take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects when they enter the higher secondary school level each year, according to National STEM Movement chairperson Datuk Prof Dr Noraini Idris.

Prof Noraini, who is also National STEM Association president, Universiti Malaya (UM) STEM Centre advisor, as well as the Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) president, said the percentage of PT3 finishers opting for pure science has not surpassed 21% annually since 2015 – the year which saw the most drastic drop of students enrolling into the science stream.