By Ruby Roan-Cristobal, PhD
WE don’t have enough scientists and engineers in the Philippines. That’s a fact. A nation of 104 million people needs at least 39,520 science and technology (S&T)-educated individuals working in sectors that keep the economy up and running at a level that would benefit the society, fund education, propel the industry and promote the well-being of its citizens.
Estimates on the number of S&T workers in the country vary. According to the Research and Development (R&D) Survey conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), there were 36,517 R&D personnel in 2013, the bulk of which (73 percent) work as researchers in government, higher education institutions and private nonprofit organizations.
In the same year, however, there were 26,916 Filipinos in the S&T fields who were working temporarily abroad as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). More than 28 percent and 58 percent of them were engineers and nurses, respectively.
In 2010, there were 31,360,956 Filipinos 15 years old and above who were working in different sectors, with only 5.63 percent of the number working in the S&T field.
Latest studies conducted by the DOST-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) revealed that while there may seem to be a significant number of Filipinos who were S&T-educated and working in the various sectors of the economy, many were inclined to seek greener pastures in countries like the United States, Canada and the Middle East.
Nurses and engineers top the list of emigrants, professionals who play crucial roles in maintaining public health and industrial development, respectively.
Unless higher education is able to continuously replenish the human resource requirements of the industry and the S&T infrastucture, and unless government, academe and the private sector are able to absorb and offer adequate opportunities for the S&T work force, the country will keep on losing many of its highly trained scientists, engineers, nurses and other health professionals, science and mathematics teachers, mathematicians and technicians to other countries.
As such, universities should also be assured of a fresh supply of senior high-school graduates to pursue higher learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
However, it is not just about getting as many kids in high school to consider taking up STEM courses in college. It is also about letting them discover their own potentials and interests in specific fields.
More than anything, it is about getting them exposed in the various combinations of disciplines that characterize the industries of the future. But the situation is not that simple, considering that apart from the attraction to oversubscribed courses in tertiary education institutions, students are often not guided by trained career guidance counselors in many public high schools, thus, leaving career decisions mostly to parents, and perhaps to the students themselves.
This is what the new project of the DOST-SEI envisions to achieve. It aims to provide opportunities for senior high-school students to discover their own potentials in the various multidisciplinary areas in S&T so they can make better decisions about their future.
The “nuLab” is a mobile science learning facility that enables exploration and discovery through experiential learning driven by inspiration from high-caliber young scientists. It is a brand, a promise, a platform, a vehicle, a yellow bus that is different from ordinary school buses in many ways. The estimated cost of the nuLab is P15 million, including the equipment inside the bus.
It has a large interactive computer screen, laboratory countertops and stools, screen monitors, ports and outlets to plug in devices, Internet connectivity, bundled applications and software, instruments and tools.
The nuLab runs customized learning modules to spark and sustain the interests of children, students and adults to learn about science and engage in the various activities and games prepared by high-caliber scientists composed of space scientists, oceanographers and marine scientists, entomologists, geologists, mathematicians, engineers and materials scientists, spiced with the wit and creativity of film makers, science journalists, educators and communication specialists.
The nuLab project of DOST-SEI takes a different stance as it targets senior high-school students not just for them to hone their skills but to better understand themselves as they prepare to become future scientists and engineers, to develop their leadership potentials and build a value system that considers risks and failures as part of the scientific process.
It is anchored not just in the K to 12 curriculum but in the desired thinking process of people who will run, drive and thrive in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
It is the second mobile S&T learning facility in the Philippines designed to provide an opportunity for students to discover their potentials in the various disciplines in science and technology.
In other countries like the United States, this approach is not exactly new. To mention a few, there’s the “STEM Bus Mobile Lab” managed by a nonprofit organization, which carries fun, hands-on experiments for K to 12 students.
In Atlanta, the “STE(A)M Truck” goes around schools and inspires students and teachers using the maker-space platform so they can experience real-world science and engineering. The “Bio-Bus Program” of Georgia State University brings hands-on activities and demonstrations to students to generate a sense of fulfillment about science.
Another organization called STEM Scouts runs “Vortex,” a STEM mobile lab equipped with multiple smart televisions, computers, microscopes and a host of laboratory instruments to implement student-centered experiments and activities based on specific curriculum programs for elementary, middle and high school leading to formal courses in a regular STEM laboratory facility.
Another similar facility in Georgia is the “iTech Maker Bus” of the Bagwell College of Education, a mobile-maker space that carries a laser cutter, 3D printer, a drone, circuit kits and Wi-Fi connection.
More than 10 years ago, the first science bus called the “Science Explorer” was launched by DOST-SEI to spark the interests of elementary pupils and high-school students in science. Young scientists, DOST scholars and technical staff of DOST-SEI facilitated the sessions each participated in by at most 32 students in the same grade level.
The modules run for two and a half hours, with hands-on activities and games, especially designed to make science fun and exciting and yet enabling kids to acquire critical thinking skills.
The project has so far reached more than 35,000 students in far-flung areas in Davao, Panay Island, Samar, Leyte, Mountain Province, Benguet, Ilocos Norte, Masbate, Cagayan Valley, Rizal, Bicol, Cebu, and disadvantaged schools in urban areas such as Metro Manila.
The second bus unit of this kind, the “NuLab,” takes on a more specific role in the lives of future S&T leaders as it is envisioned to enable Grade 11 and 12 students to realize their true potentials as future scientists, engineers, mathematicians, innovators, technopreneurs, science educators, and even as advocates for the environment and sustainable technology development.
It aims to guide the students in their decision on which specific S&T field would match their interests and abilities, and provide the opportunity for them to meet and talk to scientists, engineers, researchers and experts, and take inspiration from them in an engaging manner.
The nuLab made its debut as a fitting attraction to students and scholars during this year’s celebration of the National Science and Technology Week, which opened on July 17 and runs till the 21st at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. The initial five-day run will feature a total of nine modules designed by scientists, engineers and science communication experts.
Each module to be implemented will last up to three hours with at most 24 students as participants. The modules tackle nanotechnology and new materials, aerospace, robotics engineering, the lives of insects, earth and water resources, oceanography, earthquake risk analysis and science communication.
More than 200 students from select senior high schools in Metro Manila will have the chance to experience a short, and yet what could be a life-changing encounter with real science.
In the years to come, the project is envisioned to adopt new and innovative ways of instilling among students a deeper level of appreciation and understanding of STEM as a field and as a career path, provide them opportunities to discover and explore their own line of interests in the various emerging STEM disciplines, and make informed decisions which the government can support through the DOST-SEI S&T Scholarship Programs.
This strategy will hopefully track students to the critical S&T fields as fresh infuse into the country’s dwindling cadre of scientists and engineers, and hopefully enable the economy to thrive in the fourth wave of industrial transformation.
Ruby R. Cristobal, PhD, is a Chief Science Research Specialist at the Science Education Institute at the Department of Science and Technology.
Image credits: Kotenko | Dreamstime.com, DOST-SEI