In observance of international Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) day, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and European Union Delegation to Guyana, with support from the Ministry of Education on Monday launched the third and final campaign to promote STEM for girls in Guyana.
The event at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre was attended by 200 persons who included representatives of some 15 Secondary schools from regions three, four, five and ten, according to a release from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure..
“This is the 21st Century, and we realize that most of the jobs that are available are going to be jobs that incorporate STEM. So, the entire #GyGirlPowercampaign is to encourage our girls to re-think, and hopefully, choose careers in STEM. For this it is important that they take the science and technical streams in school,” explained Marissa Massiah, HR Manager from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
The release said that the campaign will see 10 new promotional videos. For three consecutive years, the campaign has interviewed/interacted with women to learn more about their experiences working in a wide range of STEM related fields. A number of the videos encapsulate interviews with well-respected figures who strongly support the sentiment that in order to gain good jobs and good salaries, girls need to apply themselves more seriously to STEM subjects.
Petal Punalall-Jetoo, National Science Coordinator and Head of the Science Unit, said in the release, “in Guyana, we’re short of STEM skills for both males and females. Sometimes we have to import skills. There are lots of opportunities in research, industry and manufacturing, food production, education.”
The project ‘Women in Engineering and Technology Awareness campaign’ which included the three year #GyGirlPower campaign was funded by the European Union as part of the gender approach in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management project (ICZM). The ICZM has been ongoing since 2017 and will continue up to 2021 with a budget of Euro 30 Million funded by the European Union.
The promotion of gender equality is an important principle for the EU.
The 2019 campaign videos will be released over the coming weeks. The videos from the previous campaigns can also be found on Facebook or Youtube by typing in the hashtag #GyGirlPower or #STEMworks. For more information interested persons can contact Marissa Massiah at marissa.massiah@gmail.com
