Manickchand spotlights plan for developing rounded students as STEAM fair opens

A three-day education fair, focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (S.T.E.A.M) was declared open by Education Minister, Priya Manickchand on Monday in the compound of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).

It came with an earnest encouragement from Manickchand for parents, teachers and students to take full advantage of the innovations and creativity on display, with 177 projects up for judging.

The Education Minister said the government was pushing forward with attaining universal access to education at both the primary and secondary levels and ensuring that 100 per cent of all teachers are trained.

These efforts, along with infrastructural improvements for learning institutions, are geared towards the development of well-rounded students.

Manickchand envisions each child leaving school academically sound but also having been exposed to at least one instrument, one sport, one foreign language and a strong sense of voluntarism.

“This is an extremely exciting time to be a teacher, an extremely exciting time to be a student, an extremely exciting time to lead the Ministry of Education and to look on at the kind of product we are putting out,” the minister told those gathered in the auditorium at CPCE.

“I invite you to go booth to booth, take time off from work and bring the children to the fair,” she added.

The fair wraps up on Wednesday but brings together students at the nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary levels to showcase the ongoing transformation of the education sector through innovation and S.T.E.A.M.

The last such fair was hosted five years ago and it affords students to opportunity to share experiences and make oral presentations.

“Today is all about S.T.E.A.M but what is S.T.E.A.M… S.T.E.A.M is everything education, how the world functions, how we will be.

“Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics is a very short word for just about everything we are expected to do,” Manickchand reasoned.

She believes the fair is a demonstration that available locally, are all the resources needed to make the education system first class.

Manickchand projects a more resilient education system in the future, characterised by a continuation of students doing well and consequent unprecedented statistics for the country.