Parents have been urged to encourage children to embrace Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, because education had gone beyond the traditional classroom and technologically inclined.
The appeal, which was made in different interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that “Traditional classrooms should not be depended on totally and that STEM encouraged creativity and entrepreneurship”.
The President, Codefest International, Mr Moss Uromtah, said that technology had taken over the world and Nigerian children should not be left out but to be more creative and proactive towards technology.
Uromtah said that the college certificate should not be the end of education, as several opportunities abound in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
According to him, the STEM education makes children creative and improves their reasoning as well as assist students to remain focused as well as make them develop software or apps that could generate income.
“They are myths surrounding STEM as being difficult and uninteresting among students and pupils.
“This myths can be erased through the right channels such as Bootcamps, which is a shortcut to STEM education.
“Also innovations and tinkering labs can be a continuous experience for the children to design and build using STEM curriculum in a tinkering lab.
“This would improve the children`s desire for STEM, especially if they realise they can earn income through play with STEM,’’ he said.
An Engineer, Mr Kalu Anya, said that exposing children to STEM education would improve their confidence in science related courses.
Anya said that it made them to be more focused and cultivate interest in their academic work, they spend more time reading and using STEM to develop apps.
Mrs Diane Ogwu, said that from what she experienced as a parent, children when introduced to STEM were more focused and strived for perfection in all that they do.
Ogwu said that there was need for parents to understand that education had gone beyond the classroom and that the world had gone technological, hence the need for children to adapt to the change.
