Girls from lower-income families to get more exposure to Stem workshops

SINGAPORE - Young girls from lower-income families will get to tinker with science experiments through a series of workshops this year that could spark their curiosity and interest in the field.

A new programme launched on Thursday (April 28) by global science company 3M and Science Centre Singapore (SCS) will give 300 girls aged five to 16 an avenue to learn about science through play and exploration.

Known as 3M Girls Can Tinker, the science outreach programme aims to encourage more females to go into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) fields. It is fully funded by a grant of US$50,000 (S$69,000) from 3Mgives, 3M's primary social investment arm.

Participants will be given challenges to solve using materials, supplies and tools at the workshops, which can be conducted in schools or SCS. The sessions may also be done virtually.

Recent local research has shown that girls do just as well as boys in science and mathematics in school, but feel less confident about their abilities later on in life.

Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, and Health, who was guest of honour at Thursday's event, said: "The possibilities of transforming our lives, our society and our country through technology are potentially endless, and women have a significant part to play in this."

He added that the Government will continue to ensure that opportunities in the Stem industry remain open to women. But he also hopes to see more such ground-up initiatives.

"These efforts increasingly will level the playing field, give girls the opportunity to tinker, to develop a curious mindset from young, and use those skills and experiences to achieve their dreams and aspirations," he said at the programme's launch at MOE Kindergarten @ Northshore in Punggol.

Citing results from 3M's 2021 State of Science Index Survey, he said that most respondents in Singapore agreed that diversity and inclusion are essential in Stem fields. They also felt that more needs to be done to encourage and keep girls engaged in Stem education, he said.

The worldwide survey conducted from February to March last year across 17 countries found that globally, more people felt science was important to their lives, compared to pre-pandemic times. Last year, the figure of respondents who felt this way was 54 per cent, up from 42 per cent in 2018.

The 3M Girls Can Tinker scheme has two kinds of workshops - one for younger girls aged five to six that will expose them to tech tools such as coding toys to help them learn science concepts through experimentation and play, and another creative woodworking space for girls aged 10 to 16.

On Thursday, 24 girls were the first to attend a workshop on electricity. The six-year-olds were tasked to "rebuild" a miniature neighbourhood experiencing a power outage.

With the help of science outreach volunteers from 3M, they learnt about simple electric circuits and tried their hand at lighting up the village using tech tools such as light-emitting diodes.

Dr Lee Song Choon, director of children's science centre KidsSTOP and events and engagement at SCS, said the programme hopes to cater to underprivileged children whose parents may not be able to expose them to Stem enrichment activities beyond school.

"A lot of us take the weekends for granted - we have a five-day work week and we get to spend time with our families. But a lot of these children are often left alone."

Mr Kevin McGuigan, vice-president and managing director of 3M's South-east Asia region and country leader for Singapore, said: "We want them to have fun, because if they have fun when they're engaging in Stem activities, hopefully that can get them to say 'I'm interested in it and I can do it'."

The partnership is the most recent science education initiative by 3M and SCS. Last year, they engaged a total of 600 primary school children from underprivileged families through 15 science workshops. Both organisations also distributed more than 280 simple science kits to students from lower-income families last year.

Mr McGuigan said: "We need to do more to encourage and inspire future scientists and engineers from all backgrounds, and we believe this effort starts with access to good education. The skills and abilities that young people acquire through scientific exploration are essential to success in life and we're always challenging ourselves to find new and better ways to support Stem."