The Department of Education, Region Four opened its Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) Fair yesterday at the Hope Secondary School and 111 schools are participating.
Coordinator of the Region’s Science Fair, Education Officer (Pri-mary), Praniva Singh said that 111 nursery, primary and secondary schools are taking part in the event.
According to a Ministry of Education release, she said that the nursery schools will participate in the mathematics and science village and primary schools in the mathematics, science, craft and environmental science categories. The lower secondary students (grades seven to nine) will participate in the social and behavioural science, integrated science, agriculture science, environmental science, home economics, visual art, mathematics and information technology categories. She added that the upper secondary students (grades nine to 11) will take part in the same categories as lower secondary along with biology, chemistry, physics and industrial technology.
According to Singh, based on entries received, 114 schools will be participating in the STEAM Fair and presenting 140 projects. She said that a competent panel of judges led by Chief Judge Nardeo Persaud, retired Head Teacher of LBI Secondary School has been assembled.
Faith Gulliver, Educa-tion Officer within the Department of Education said that the Fair is an opportunity for students to showcase their innovative and creative ideas through projects created by them. She said that the structure of the Fair will allow students to improve their communication skills which will lead to greater self-confidence. She urged students to use the opportunity to think about ways STEAM can improve their educational experience in the classroom. Gulliver encouraged teachers to work with their students to ensure that STEAM is mastered.
The two-day activity began with an opening ceremony where Dr. Ritesh Tularam, Deputy Chief Education Officer (Tech-nical) delivered the feature address. He said that the STEAM Fair which is being hosted in each Education District is a carefully integrated activity.
Regional Chairman Daniel Seeram said that in partnership with the Ministry of Education, the Regional Democratic Council has placed the improvement of education delivery and education infrastructure as priority areas.
