STEM Fields
I met many friends in my early year of schooling, who wanted to pursue novel fields of studies in their college and university life, some wanted to opt for aeronautical engineering, some wanted to become a mathematician, physicist and some wanted to dive deep into the ocean. As they reached that stage of life where they were a small distance away from their goals, they were either discouraged by the society or some internal fear stopped them from taking on with their goals or lack of resources took them aback. The big reason for the difference between what fields interest students the most and what students end up studying is the lack of information and resources in Pakistan. For more than 20 years STEM education in the USA is helping young minds to study the fields that fascinate them the most and now this project has been launched in Pakistan also, so, this will help our students achieve their goals.
STEM fields offered in Pakistan
STEM education is an interdisciplinary and applied approach towards education and is meant to equip students with knowledge and skills to pursue their dream careers and in Pakistani colleges and universities, different fields of studies are offered, some of which are directly or indirectly related to STEM education. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and there is a vast number of subjects under these four broad categories. There are more than 300 courses under the STEM education system offered to students around the world including Pakistan and the most unique fields are Aerospace engineering, Astronomy, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemical engineering, Chemistry, Civil engineering, Computer Science, Electrical engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical engineering, Physics, Psychology, Statistics, and many more. In Pakistan, all these fields are available for students to study in different universities in the country, but the culture of education in Pakistan is memorization of all the knowledge and STEM is all about the practical implementation of what a student learns both inside and outside the classroom.
Future benefits of Stem
Through STEM education, the world is going to transform into a new world. In near future, we need people who can understand the planet earth, its problem like pollution, global warming, and possess skills to reverse these changes, and even can accurately predict earthquakes. We need people who can make scientific discoveries and settle the human population on other planets and make space travel as common as airplanes traveling across countries. It is now very clear that from now on we should raise inventors, innovators who are emotionally and ethically responsible enough to not put us at the mercy of technology. We should be the ones controlling technology not the other way around. These all are possible if we invest in STEM education in Pakistan and develop students’ interest in STEM fields from a very early age. For this, we need all the educationists, politicians, teachers, parents, and children on one platform, who can make joint policies for the better future of Pakistan.
Shazia SamSam
Bs Economics Â
