HOW DOES THE STEM EDUCATION SYSTEM CONNECT CURRENT AND FUTURE SKILLS?

The word STEM exemplified Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
and was first introduced by the National Science Foundation in 2001. In the year 2020,
everyone is having a mild knowledge of technology. But the kids need to get the
knowledge of technology in practice so they can engage the technology with its basics
and develop themselves as problem-solvers. STEM education is the benchmark for the
students that promotes understanding in them for their engagement in technology and
mathematics for understanding the topic instead of cramming the questions. The
essential elements of STEM learning are critical- thinking, problem-solving, and team-
work, which play the role of the overall development of the children and make them
skilled kids as the problem solvers of tomorrow. There is a need for skills to find
solutions for typical problems in less time to bridge future skills with the current skills.
The current technological skills can be used to shape future technologies, and STEM
graduates need to play an extensive role in constructing the future of the country. The
primary role of STEM education is to build critical-thinking among the students so they
can use those skills to work efficiently for the industries. In the age of Artificial
Intelligence, it needs good computer skills and engineering skills to produce a better AI
for making the work easy.

Letting the students understand the need for STEM education in future industries.
There are five mainstreams which are needed to get success in the industrial revolution:
● Tech-enabled techniques and their work skills.
● Computer programming skills.
● Technology and digital literacy.
● Critical Thinking
● Robotics

All these industries are at their development stages and need very much improvements
in the upcoming future. STEM Education in future industries requires skills and
knowledge which is not getting promoted by the current education system, and the
focus of the current education system is to just get the marks in the academics which
resists the ability of thinking and understanding the concepts. There are a lot of innovations done with regards to STEM and needed for promoting understanding
among the kids and letting them perform STEM activities for their minds to enhance
their capability of thinking and making new things.

● The smart classroom concept is the best STEM program in the current era,
which allows students to relate the things and understand the concepts by
watching them and performing them.
● There are several companies which are providing the tools for STEM learning
with the latest and upcoming technologies. They provide virtual reality tools so
that students can understand the topics by observing them.
● Games are part of every child because the games provide fun to the kids for their
graphics and gameplay as kids understand the concept of games using them
practically. So STEM learning allows students to play some games related to
STEM learning and make them understand the topics by allowing them to
engage with the game and find the solutions by playing.
● In the present time, kids are getting introduced by coding and basic
programming, which develops the interest in coding and their applications from
childhood and allows them to find the solutions in less time.
● The STEM teacher plays their role effectively for making the students understand
the topics and make the reaction of the given topics with the future problems
which can be faced by the students. So promoting STEM education soberly to
the students can be the best thing to gain them the skills.

What are the possible challenges for STEM education?
The educators and students need someone who can engage with the pattern of STEM
and make the studies convenient for students. So an experienced and skilful person can
only teach STEM to the students and the need for building confidence for problem-
solving and understanding the concepts. In India, the guidelines for STEM teachers are
not specified by the government, which makes it hard to get the perfect teacher.
Educators can make the bridge between the current and future-focused skills for
encouraging the students to get in reach of what is essential.

Collaboration with industries

For the students of primary age, industries can play an essential role in building the
opportunities of learning by collaborating with schools, local educational NGOs, and
colleges by introducing STEM in the primary age to build an interest in the STEM
education for making the students be the perfect problem-solvers in the future. It is
necessary to promote STEM education as it is the part of reshaping the future industries
and building skilled professionals to bridge the knowledge gap in the industries. STEM education can provide skilled, talented workers who can provide quality solutions in the upcoming challenges. Also, the government can collaborate with the STEM industries to
provide the best STEM resources for the students to open the path of encouragement
towards brushing up their skills.

The focus on developing innovations should be started from the primary schools for
making the kids more skilful and more developed to relate the present things for a better
tomorrow. Their current problem-solving skills will allow them to solve the problems of
the future and develop an attitude of understanding the concepts for shaping the
industries.

To Sum Up

In the world where everything is moving on with technology, current and future jobs will
depend on the skills of the employees. The demand for highly skilled work professionals
will increase, and most of the STEM graduates will find a way to connect the gaps
between current and future skills.

To bridge the skills gap educational institutions can play an essential role by introducing
the STEM education system in the current curriculum which builds the innovative skills
of students which allows them to bridge the skill gap in current and future STEM skills.
The main focus of STEM education is to build understanding in students and make
them relate those understandings in day to day life and find the solutions to these
problems. The ability of students enhances when they engage themselves in quality
learning and understand the concepts for getting the problems solved in significantly
less time.