Kürzlich startete der Energiekonzern Chevron in Thailand das Projekt "Enjoy Science". Dabei soll in Zusammenarbeit mit öffentlichen und privaten Partnern der Bereich Wissenschaft, Technik, Ingenieurwese und Mathematik verbessert und die berufliche Bildung im ganzen Land gestärkt werden.
Enjoy Science Project aims to improve vocational education
Chevron partners with public, private sectors on STEM
training
With the aim of helping increase Thailand's
competitiveness, Chevron recently rolled out an "Enjoy Science Project", working
with public and private partners to strengthen Thailand's innovation by
improving STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and vocational
education across the country.
Enjoy Science has long-term goals to
develop Thailand's STEM workforce sustainably. It is a five-year project with an
investment of US$30 million (Bt1 billion). It involves a range of partners in
civil society, academia, the private sector and the government, said Brad
Middleton, managing director of Chevron Asia South.
"This programme is
one of five major economic-development initiatives undertaken across Chevron's
global operations," he said.
The plan is to develop STEM teachers and
establish STEM and technical training hubs nationwide in order to build
21st-century workforce skills for people in STEM-related industries such as
automotive, energy and agriculture.
Middleton said these kinds of
educational and workforce developments were significant for the country's
development, especially in preparation for the launch of the Asean Economic
Community.
He said the Enjoy Science Project would help improve STEM
instruction in more than 600 schools, develop the capability of more than 10,000
teachers and directly benefit more than 500,000 students, teachers, principals,
government education officials and workers, providing increased career
opportunities and higher wages.
To accomplish Enjoy Science's goal, it
works through three approaches: STEM capacity building of teachers and students;
workforce development through vocational education; and awareness and
partnership building for STEM and vocational education.
The first
approach targets teachers and school administrators for the Grade 7-9 levels in
math and science.
"Our goal is to promote critical thinking skills,
inquiry and creativeness. The training is to focus on building a strong math and
science foundation in students in order to pave the way for technology-based and
engineering jobs," Middleton said.
It plans to develop 12 STEM hubs
across the country. Three of these will be launched this year as the first
phase.
The second approach is to build the capacity of vocational
teachers and administrators from Grade 10 to the post-secondary level,
developing interactive and practical training and curricula that meet industry
needs.
It aims to develop six technical training hubs across the country
to leverage vocational education and prepare students for industrial
careers.
Third, the project will engage public- and private-sector
stakeholders to raise awareness about the importance of STEM and vocational
education, for example, to create a common platform, vision and road map and to
hold high-level events, conferences, seminars and awards programmes.
Middleton said that to create awareness for STEM, the project had kicked off
two activities, "Let's Print the World" and "Bangkok Mini Maker Faire".
"Let's Print the World" is a competition on 3D printing technology, for which
149 entries have been received from across the country. The winners will be
announced this Saturday at the Bangkok Mini Maker Faire. Winners will get a
chance to visit and showcase their works at Maker Faire Berlin in
October.
Meanwhile, the Bangkok Mini Maker Faire is the first ever
"Maker Faire" in Thailand, showcasing innovations by local makers nationwide.
Previous maker events were small and limited to only people in the field. The
fair is organised by Chevron and the National Science and Technology Development
Agency (NSTDA), as well as local makers. It will run next weekend in Siam
Square.
"More than 80 maker groups from across the country applied to
participate in the event. It is a free fair that has various activities
including live demonstrations on the main stage and activity space, seminars, a
post-event maker party and more," Middleton said.
Among Enjoy Science's
goals for this year are the launch of three STEM hubs through expanding
partnerships to Khon Kaen University, Rajabhat Rajanagarindra University in
Chachoengsao, and Songkhla Rajabhat University and to sign memoranda of
understanding with 192 schools in those three provinces.
Also, it aims
to have 185 school leaders trained with 21st-century skills in learning and
management approaches; 743 teachers trained with "inquiry-based learning"
methods, and enhanced STEM curricula; and 15,942 students participating and
engaged in STEM awareness events such as fairs, caravans and exhibitions.
Education investment
Chevron has been investing in education at all levels in Thailand. At the
university level, the company has provided funding to support students,
instructors, and petroleum engineering and geo-science courses.
Chulalongkorn University's Master of Science Programme in Petroleum Geo-science
was launched in 2008 by Chevron Thailand and PTT Exploration and Production to
help fulfil the growing demand for qualified petroleum geo-scientists in
Thailand.
Chevron Thailand and PTTEP provided Bt300 million for the
programme's first phase from 2009 to 2013, supporting international lecturers,
scholarships, research work and improvements to the Geo-science Library. The
programme's success resulted in another Bt150 million being allocated for its
second phase from 2014 to 2018.
Meanwhile, at the technical-training
level, the company has established the Settapat Training Centre in Songkhla.
There have been 350,000 trainees and graduates since 1980.
Chevron has
partnered with Kenan Institute Asia to create the Chevron Inquiry-based
Classroom Reasoning for Experiential and Active Science Education project
(Chevron-INCREASE) in Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chumphon and Surat Thani
since 2013.
The project continues to improve the way science is taught
in the schools, including through the development of inquiry-based science
curricula, a series of instructional leadership workshops for school principals,
professional development for science teachers to adopt the new curricula, and
classroom mentoring by senior science-teacher mentors trained by Kenan.
Partners of Chevron's Enjoy Science are Kenan Institute Asia, the National
Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office, NSTDA, the National Science
Museum, the Office of the Basic Education Commission, the Office of the
Vocational Education Commission, the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching
Science and Technology, and the Labour Ministry's Department of Skills
Development.