Local Minister for European Affairs, Deputy Peter Burke, has welcomed the trebling of the Government’s budget for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM ) grants to €4.7 million.
The announcement represents a significant stride towards advancing STEM education in 16 County Westmeath primary schools who were successful in their applications, with many receiving €10,000 in additional funding.
Schools are receiving funding amounts of between €1,000 and €10,000, with the schools will receive 85 percent of the funding in 2023 with the remaining 15 percent paid following a reporting and evaluation process in 2024.
The successful projects include a focus on coding, robotics, growing plants without soil, modules on AI, interpreting weather patterns, film and animation and student STEM Clubs.
“This is a necessary and important step in order to provide a comprehensive and relevant education to our students. Teachers and management of schools across the country recognise the value of this funding, as the Department of Education received over 2,700 applications.
“We know that students develop an interest in subjects from a very young age, and that it is important that interesting and relevant topics are made accessible to all students. We see in particular that girls often end up choosing less STEM subjects than boys when secondary school and Leaving Cert come around, although trends are changing in more recent years which is positive.
“The upsurge in applications for the STEM grants comes in the wake of the very positive eight point increase in science literacy scores by Irish students in the recently published OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA ) 2022 results. Irish students have moved from 22nd place to 12th place in science literacy amongst the 81 countries taking part in the PISA project.
“STEM subjects are more important now than ever. When we look at the wealth of courses being offered in Further Education and Third level, and we see the high numbers of well-paying jobs that require STEM subjects as a qualification. This STEM grant scheme aims to equip schools to continue to provide the high-quality STEM education required for all their students, investing in programmes earlier in life to ensure students are encouraged and feel engaged with science.
“It is an important time for investment as a revised Science curriculum for Junior Cycle students was introduced in 2016 and currently there is public consultation being carried out on new curricula for the Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects for Leaving Certificate,” Minister Burke stated.
