Dr Annuar Rapaee
SIBU: Assistant Minister of Education and Technological Research Dr Annuar Rapaee calls for more creative teaching methods and better facilities to stop the slide in the enrolment of students into science stream in Sarawak.
He said the suggested facilities should include setting up of science labs and having Sarawak’s own science centre.
“In fact, the Sarawak government has agreed to set up a science centre, which will be built soon,” he said.
According to statistics from Sarawak Education Department the enrolment into Form 4 science stream in 2018 was only 23.2 per cent versus the projected of enrolment of 34 per cent. The projected enrolment for this year is 37 per cent and 40 per cent in 2020.
He said this in response to Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik’s recent statement that the number of students taking up Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subject was dropping every year.
“Sarawak is also showing a declining trend. Based on the statistics again, the enrolment into Form 4 science stream in Sarawak in 2014 was 31.6 per cent, 29.1 per cent in 2015, 22.9 per cent in 2016 and 19.7 per cent in 2017.
“Although there was a slight increase in enrolment in 2018 (at 23.2 per cent), it fell short of the projected figure of 34 per cent. This is not good for Sarawak if it wants to focus on technology based economy, especially digital economy,” he said when contacted yesterday, adding that the target was to have 60 per cent upper secondary school students taking science stream.
Dr Annuar, who is also Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health added that in 1970s the enrolment into arts stream was 55 per cent while science was 45 per cent in Sarawak.
Then, in 1980 – the enrolment into arts stream was 40 per cent while science 60 per cent.
The reasons for the decline, he believed was, among others, the very low interest among students on science subjects since their early school years.
He said students always thought that Maths and Science subjects were difficult and therefore easier to fail in examinations.
“This is coupled with poor encouragement from the parents who also think that it is easier to pass arts subjects.
“Principals and teachers also think too much on the schools’ overall performance and therefore do not encourage students to take up Maths and Science to avoid a high failure rate.
“It is therefore vital to encourage students to have interest in Science subjects by providing better ways of teaching, better facilities especially Science labs and also Sarawak having its own science centre,” he said.
Maszlee reportedly said although STEM-related positions were among the top emerging jobs, and the digital industry rapidly growing, the supply of workers is not.
Last year only 44 per cent of Malaysian students were in the STEM stream compared to 48 per cent in 2012.