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Effective STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is a major challenge in Hong Kong’s schools and institutions, which have struggled with a lack of talent, time, and tools to support teaching, resulting from an exam-oriented culture and a staid system of learning. As an advocate for STEM education, Prof. Philip SOU Iam-Keong from the Department of Physics believes that it is important for STEM education to not stay in its current “Mickey Mouse” format but leverage existing technology and highlight discoveries from the most recent research so students can learn new knowledge. However, he also acknowledges teachers’ immense difficulty in teaching STEM subjects as they have no time to catch up with the latest scientific and technological innovations. “In schools, most of the teachers are too busy to engage in STEM, even though the government has allocated funds for STEM education, they are unwilling to pursue it,” comments Prof. Sou. 

STEM has been a “buzzword” in Hong Kong’s educational scene in recent years with schools investing resources in technology gadgets, but for Prof. King CHOW of Division of Life Sciences, the efforts do not seem to be on the right track. Hong Kong is a city known for rote learning, a key element of STEM education - trying to solve problems in an interdisciplinary approach - is missed out. This not only results in a cul-de-sac in science education but also an impediment to nurture innovators or scientists that Hong Kong needs. “STEM is really about allowing students to learn about methodology, approach and principles, and rules in application. Unfortunately, in many high schools and universities in Hong Kong, students learn information but miss out on logic and the analytical aspect of it,” comments Prof. Chow.

When I was in secondary school, my physics teacher, who was among HKUST's first batch of graduates, always encouraged me and my classmates to explore scientific questions according to our interests, even though those questions are outside the syllabus. With his encouragement and guidance, we participated in science competitions in high school, paving the way for my continuation of scientific pursuits ever since. Many of us in the science stream then were lucky to be able to receive comprehensive scientific training and study subjects such as additional maths, biology, physics and chemistry in addition to Chinese, English and maths for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Exam. At the Advanced Level, we could focus on three science subjects in addition to English and Chinese. This gave us plenty of exposure to science subjects and room to explore the areas we liked most.

By Prof. Mansun Chan, Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering, HKUST As the modern-day workplace evolves, it is clear that science, technology, engineering and mathematics will play increasingly larger roles, prompting the government to provide incentives to increase STEM education at schools. A one-off grant of HK$100,000 was provided to each primary school to support STEM education and activities in 2016, and HK$200,000 to each secondary school in 2017. In his latest budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po allocated HK$500 million to implement an IT Innovation Lab program in the next three school years; each subsidized secondary school will be granted HK$1 million to help students build an IT foundation.

Professor King Chow, Director of Interdisciplinary Programs Office A study on boys' and girls' ability in mathematics has placed a centuries-old argument in the spotlight: are men and women created equal, and do they perform equally in math-related subjects? The recent study, conducted by scientists at the University of Rochester and the University of Pittsburgh in the United States, examined cross-sectional gender differences in mathematical cognition from more than 500 children aged between six months and eight years old, focusing on numerosity perception, culturally trained counting, and formal and informal elementary mathematics concepts. To the surprise of many, the study - published in Nature Partner Journal of Science of Learning - found no difference between boys and girls in early quantitative and mathematical ability, which means that boys and girls are indeed created equal to reason about mathematics.

Forty-one students from five local secondary schools recently spent an unforgettable four days learning about electric vehicles (EV) and actually building and driving them! This was made possible through the four-day EV Summer Program co-organized by the Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and CLP Holdings Limited (CLP). The Academy is funded by a donation from the Bright Future Charitable Foundation, which is founded and chaired by Prof Roy Chung. The 41 participants came from five local secondary schools – Queen’s College, Tseung Kwan O Government Secondary School, Immaculate Heart of Mary College, St Mary’s Canossian College, and HKTA Tang Hin Memorial Secondary School. They were formed into four teams, each building a drivable car which competed with the others on aesthetics, engineering, and overall performance.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) celebrated on 5 November, 2016 the opening of the Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers, where engineering students at HKUST will be given the opportunities to mentor and engage secondary school students in various engineering workshops, to spark their interests in technology and instill in them an engineering frame of mind.

ANZ donates 30 paintings painted by Susan Yuen, CEO of ANZ Hong Kong, for auction to raise proceeds for scholarship fund The Women's Foundation and ANZ announced today an exciting new partnership to address the under-representation of young women in Hong Kong pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects at university. The need for this support comes on the back of a new study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for The Women's Foundation showing that the technology sector continues to be largely male-dominated in Hong Kong.