STEM as in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths is without doubt deeply ingrained into our daily lives especially in these very real and challenging COVID-19 times.
If schools, teachers and parents were previously struggling for inspiration, struggling with the promotion and importance of education... struggle no more.
COVID-19; the imposed restrictions driven by scientific and mathematical data, our monumental reliance on the medical profession and engineering capabilities, are at the fore front of our minds. Hourly news updates inform us of the latest breakthroughs with new designs of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), swift development of pioneering new ventilators and live video stream of plastic clad lab technicians and scientists working tirelessly on preventative medicines.
STEM will lead us back down the path of normality. STEM will help our scientists find a cure. STEM will protect our medical staff. STEM will provide us with the data we so hungrily devour and STEM will be our future.
According to the World Economic Forum Future Jobs Report in the last 5 years, "creativity" has leapt up from 10th to 3rd place in the Top 10 Skills report, with "Critical Thinking" leading the way. The 2014 US Bureau of Labour Statistics predicted between 2014 ad 2024 the highest demand for jobs would be in Healthcare, due to our aging population. In fact, out of the Top 10 jobs only 3 would be outside of healthcare: Statistician, Wind Turbine Technician and Commercial Driver.. interesting stuff indeed.
I wonder what these reports will contain post COVID-19? My guess is Wind Turbine Technician will be replaced with another Healthcare role or indeed Food Delivery Driver ;o)
Let's think about technology. It's all around us, we use, we love it, we rely on it and we take it's continual presence for absolute granted but let's think about how it has allowed us to maintain "pseudo normality" during these unprecedented times. Virtual Quiz nights, FaceTime catch up with friends and family, online food orders, ability to work from home, government updates beamed live from MP's front rooms, virtual tuition, online school work - the list is literally endless.
At Juunipa Tutors we have embraced Virtual Tuition using Zoom. We love the ease of use, whiteboarding and document share functionalities, allowing us to continue providing personalized 1:1 tuition even in the face of adversity.
Without STEM, where would we be - certainly less informed, more isolated, unable to work, struggling to educate and entertain our children and probably hungry. Hungry for food, hungry for information and hungry for company.
So to all young scholars out there, consider the future. Future demands, future needs, future successes and consider STEM.
Stay safe and sane people.
