A new initiative is now in motion to improve the performance of forms 2 and 3 students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
The initiative is a joint undertaking by the Ministry and Department of Education, in conjunction with the TVET Council, to highlight the importance of these four areas in everyday life and their significance in the career development of students.
It is to this end that the first annual fair of its kind was held at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium on Friday, May 2, with a number of public and private sector departments participating in the event.
The theme of the fair was “STEM, Ride the Wave of Innovation”. The initiative “seeks to highlight new, current and emerging career options available to students and the avenues which they should take in order to be successful and to take advantage of new opportunities,” a press release from the Ministry and Department of Education stated.
Careers Coordinator at the Comprehensive School, Mrs Anita Ruan, who had oversight of the event, explained: “It is a Technical Vocational Fair where we expose students to the technical areas in Anguilla. We look at how science, technology, engineering and math are intertwined in various careers, and to showcase some of the careers in those particular areas.”
Mrs Ruan continued: “The STEM Fair is mainly for the second and third formers, and we are doing it because the second formers are choosing the skill areas to go into third form. On the other hand, the third formers are choosing subjects to go into fourth from. So we want to encourage students to choose technical subjects, but we also want them to have information so that they can make good decisions when choosing the subjects that go with the career areas.”
