It is rather ironic that the emergence of STEM as the central change of Industrial Revolution 4.0 have been known and discussed more than 2 decades ago yet many are still grappling with the what and how to approach this new phenomenon sweeping the globe. While many developed nations have invested heavily in educating the masses on the intricacies of this new technological era others are slow off the mark and are still myriad in debates as to the proper definition of STEM to be used.
As this is a new thing in town many providers have emerged offering a specific aspect of STEM with the narrative that it is the whole of what needs to be known. It would of course be more beneficial to take stock of what technologically advance societies have done and methods used to achieve that levels. It is without a doubt that keen investment and focus in education is the key success factor for such emerging and advance societies. We of course need not replicate what they have done like a photocopy duplicate but would be wise to extract the positives to be implemented perhaps with heavy redactions to meet our needs. This will of course be based on the infrastructure to be used, investment capabilities and more importantly the ready available and adequately trained manpower to take on this task.
This begs to the question as to how Sri Bestari Private School Kuala Lumpur (SBPSKL) has faired the past 8 years. The school had set-up a STEM Lab way back in 2017 in collaboration with our now STEM Consultant, Infonique Sdn Bhd and started offering STEM as an after school program (ECA). The program takes after the Mitsubishi Electric (Nagoya) Industrial Robot Programme in collaboration with Mitsubishi Electric Singapore. This industry level exposure with the requisite level of technology and engineering besides mathematics and science are all the needed elements of an effective STEM program. Reliance on the STEM Consultant was critical at that juncture as school teachers do not have all the prerequisite knowledge and exposure to the levels of technology we has aspired to achieve in STEM.
The gamechanger for STEM at the school occurred in the least of plausible events – Covid-19. During the Covid-19 pandemic and Movement Control Order (MCO), a group of our STEM Lab students took part in the Top International Robotics Tournament (TIRT), Taiwan in 2020. The competition focussed on using STEM to come up with a unique system which could be of use in averting the spread of the deadly Covid-19 variants affecting mankind. Two (2) teams from SBPSKL managed to win awards competing with other teams from another 9 countries. This was of course a pleasant surprise and had provided us the impetus to take the bold step and implement STEM across the school from Year 1 Primary right up to Secondary starting from 2021.
There was of course a major hurdle to overcome. There was no standard STEM curriculum anywhere to be found and this posed an impediment to our kick-off target in early 2021. It then dawned upon us that we had no choice but to boldly create our own STEM curriculum and produce our own instructional modules. The effort by our teachers and STEM Consultant was nothing but extraordinary. Within months the draft modules were ready after extensive research of how other nations were approaching STEM and by combining STEM together with our existing Computer Science subject we termed it the STEM-CS subject in 2021. Today, the tremendous challenges faced and the experience gained are all water under the bridge. The past 4 years teaching STEM-Computer Science with repeated new Versions of our instructional modules shows the evolution of the program and is indicative of the speed of the changes in technology in the field of STEM. Things have now stabilised for the STEM-CS program at the school and we are now exploring the introduction of a significant level of Artificial Intelligence (AI) elements into the modules and once completed we shall than upgrade our instructional modules to STEM-AI.
The accolades and collaboration received are very soothing indeed as the journey we travelled was shrouded with pitfalls and minefields especially so during the MCO years in 2021/2022 where launching such a new program with Online instruction was not for the fainthearted. Modules were printed and delivered via courier to the students together with STEM Kits so they had the tools to work from the comforts of their home are memories and experiences only the team could savour. Today, we can safely share that the exact STEM modules have now been adopted by University Malaya (UM) and offered as 10-Micro Credentials for tertiary education. On 30 January 2024, the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) awarded Sri Bestari Private School Kuala Lumpur the MyDigital Award for being a Digital Maker Hub. This will surely spur us on to continue to make inroads to bring STEM-AI to the community and we truly believe we are ready to carry out that responsibility.
Incidentally, based on the keen observation and feedback from personnel of MDEC that since the school had successfully been teaching STEM-CS from Primary Year 1 right up to Form 5, it was advisable to start off with our Pre-schoolers as well. Never want to let up on a good suggestion and a challenge we have now completed the STEM Module for Preschool and teachers are now undergoing the requisite trainings to familiarise with the syllabuses and come September 2024, STEM will also be taught to K2 and K3 students. With that we have come full circle where STEM is introduced in all 5 stages – Pre-schoolers, Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary.
We have much to thank Dato’ (Ir.) Dr Lee Yee Cheong, the Honorary Chairman, Governing Council, International Science Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation under the auspices of UNESCO (ISTIC), Kuala Lumpur; and former Chairman Global Council InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) Science Education Program for his keen insight and guidance on how we should progress on the instruction of AI to our existing STEM program. He had introduced Professor Tan Li, the Vice Dean of the School of Computer and AI of Beijing Technology and Business University BTBU together with Professor Han Liqun who are in contact with our STEM Consultant to explore modules of AI Education at Primary and Secondary in China developed by the professors and their team. Therefore, we believe we are in good hands and although the path forward requires much effort and meticulous focus to detail we will be successfully to transient our STEM-CS to STEM-AI in the very near future. What else lies ahead in the advent of STEM-AI is still unknown but we are in an exciting phase of development this 2024 and are optimistic of the future for our STEM initiative right here at Sri Bestari Private School Kuala Lumpur.