Page 68 - 東華三院辛亥年總理中學（40周年校慶特刊）

The importance of
The importance of

STEM Education
STEM Education

Design and Technology Mr. Cheung Koon Wai

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The world is fiercely competitive in the 21 century. Some people say that the ideal education nowadays should
allow students to realize their potential and strengthen their competitiveness to solve real-life problems. The key to
success is to stimulate children’s creativity and imagination to meet the needs of work and to inspire the spirit of
innovation and technology. This is the ballast stone for the development of national science and technology. Therefore,
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education has been recognized internationally as the key
to boosting students’ innovation and creativity.

Just like in the past few years, the innovative technology with artificial intelligence (AI) as the frontier has changed
our lives and work patterns and has become the main driving force for the development of the knowledge-based
economy. When Alpha Go has repeatedly defeated world chess kings such as Ke Ji and Li Shishi, Tesla reveals
electric cars with advanced hardware capable of providing Autopilot features, and full self-driving capabilities. Google’s
self-driving cars shuttle back and forth in the streets of Silicon Valley, a high-tech town. IBM’s Watson successfully
diagnosed a rare cancer that was not detected by a doctor. Smartphones with 5G wireless network deliver data
extremely fast. An era, in which artificial intelligence is gradually being integrated into our lives, will be very different.

It is a widely reported fact that 75% of all future jobs will require STEM skills and knowledge. So, if you’re planning
on being employed in the future, having STEM skills will widen your job opportunities exponentially. Therefore, in the
near future, whoever can master science and technology will be the big winner. More directly, science and technology
are national power, that is, national competitiveness. Among them, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) Education is considered to be the top priority because it is regarded as the cradle of innovative
technology and is the key to success. At the same time, it is expected that it can serve the younger generation,
nurture them the spirit of creativity and innovation.

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