Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) bring society to the era of industrial revolution 4.0 that demands society’s progress, innovation, and empowerment through knowledge and skills. In Terengganu, the state government has established policies in an effort to strengthen STEM education and development in all schools.

However, there is a challenge faced in the world of education in that there has been a decline in the number of students choosing STEM when furthering their studies. This happened because students consider STEM too complicated to explore. In fact, students’ exposure to STEM application is limited and schools in remote areas are neglected. Indirectly, graduates produced fail to meet industry’s requirements.

STEM education needs to be further strengthened considering its role is great in producing competent human capital to break the complex challenges and subsequently help create a better future for society.

Realizing this, Terengganu STEM Implementation Committee chaired by Associate Professor Dr. Laili Haji Che Rose, UMT STEM Foundation Centre Director, has taken the responsibility to produce Kembara STEM module that has been successfully launched.

Kembara STEM consists of five hybrid STEM modules that become the backbone of all activities. These five modules were developed by experts form five different organizations. Ocean STEM was developed by experts from UMT, Health STEM by experts from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Exploration STEM by Sekolah Menengah Sains Sultan Mahmud, Creativity and Innovation STEM by Terengganu Science and Creativity Centre, and Robotic STEM by Jazro Robotik.

Kembara STEM is aimed at increasing the interest in STEM among school students and teachers in Terengganu specifically and Malaysia in general. The module that highlights the different niche areas is considered special and it is hoped the schools given the module can use it well.

Terengganu Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar in his opening speech read by Ustaz Haji Ahmad Shah Muhamed, Deputy Chairman of the state’s Education, Higher Education, Science, Technology, and Human Development Committee, said Kembara STEM functions as a reference and guide to students in Terengganu to explore the world of STEM in much more detail. The module will also become one of the teaching aids in knowledge transfer.

He added this process needs guidance from trained facilitators and mentors for the purpose of developing strong fundamental knowledge for a better future.

The module has been successfully implemented through two main programmes. The first was Terengganu Peers STEM Coaching in 2022 involving 25 elite schools and 625 students and 125 day schools and 3125 students. The second programme was STEM Educators Bootcamp 2023 involving 233 teachers from 124 schools around Terengganu.

Meanwhile, UMT Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Mazlan Abd Ghaffar said Kembara STEM represents a great achievement in terms of empowering STEM among school teachers and students in Terengganu.

The state government through the Terengganu Group Incorporated Sdn Bhd has contributed RM210,000. Terengganu Incorporated Sdn Bhd as the parent company that manages the commercial investment of the state government and its subsidiary company Syarikat Air Terengganu Sdn Bhd (SATU) helped conduct a study on empowering STEM among school students through Terengganu Peers STEM Coaching Programme. Among the outcomes of the study are Kembara STEM and journal article publications.

The production of the module also confirmed the efforts made by institutions of higher learning under the Ministry of Higher Education in helping the Ministry of Education promote STEM and attract students to explore STEM. With RM149,000 donation from Tun Hussein Onn Teachers’ Foundation, STEM Educators Bootcamp 2023 could be organized successfully, focussing on knowledge transfer to teachers through expert writers from all areas.

“The module serves as one of the solutions in the effort to overcome the decline in students’ involvement in STEM. The most important effort is changing students’ perspectives towards STEM, by transforming STEM delivery techniques to make them more creative and make STEM subjects easy to learn and understand.

“From the aspect of exposure, the module needs to be promoted around the entire state including rural areas with limited access to STEM,” he said.

It is hoped the creation of the module will lead to more opportunities for students to learn about STEM and subsequently support the government’s aspiration to produce more students in the field of STEM to fulfil market demand.

Published by:

Corporate Communications Office

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu