Low number of STEM students worrying - Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9  -- The number of students taking Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has fallen short of the target, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar.

Khairy said according to the Science Outlook Report for 2017, the annual tertiary education enrolment in STEM courses was 40 per cent in 2016 from the targeted 60 per cent of tertiary education places.

“That shortfall is quite worrying....perhaps because a lot of students still find STEM inaccessible, and part of it, I have been told, is because of the employment prospects for STEM graduates.

“That is something that we are looking at my ministry seriously to ensure that people who take STEM courses have good-paying jobs after they graduate,” he said in his closing speech of the 2020 Virtual National Science Challenge in National Science Challenge Malaysia Facebook today. 

Khairy believes the present enrolment trend of STEM students also has an implication on the available professional talents needed for the country’s development. 

Thus he reminded students that there is a bright future for Malaysians in STEM especially in keeping up with global developments including the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0)

“I think we are not far behind or too far behind in terms of peers in the region, and there is a lot of catching up to do. Akademi Sains Malaysia has been working very hard over the last few years to come out with the picture of the future,” he said. 

During the challenge, Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Jit Sin, Penang won the first place of the 2020 Virtual National Science Challenge, Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara took the second place and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mat Salleh, Ranau, Sabah, the third place. 

-- BERNAMA