‘The BAKSIS Day (STEMAZING WITH US)’ ' held at the Central Lecture Hall of Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus (UPMKB) on 12 November received encouraging response from the local education community in Bintulu.

The program organized by Students of the QKK2101 Student's Credit Co-curriculum Course (Group 2) Academic Session 2022/2023 emphasized the ‘Immersive Face-to-Face” method of learning to secondary school students.

This program aims to change the students' perception, way of life and mind towards the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) covering every aspect of daily life. This program is also in line with the wishes of the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) to lead the STEM direction, after students' interest in the field was seen as lackluster in recent years.

The program was designed for primary secondary students involving six secondary schools around Bintulu, namely SMK Bintulu, SMK Kidurong, SMK Bandar Bintulu, SMK Baru Bintulu, SMK Assyakirin and SMK Kemena with a total participation of 120 people and teachers.

Facilitator Mohammad Saufi Mohammad Ramli said the inaugural STEM program held at UPMKB was the idea of continuity among the students who attended the Student Service Course.

“The two-pronged program is to reveal with a variety of new knowledge and experiences that will attract participants in the field of science as well as to strengthen the elements of soft skills in themselves that can be practiced in everyday life. Therefore, this kind of experience can only be gained through such programs and not in the classroom.

“The second goal is to train students to always help the surrounding community with the knowledge they have. This sharing of experience and knowledge will indirectly provide awareness of the outside community to improve their education and their families.

The guest of honour of the program, Bintulu District Education Office (PPD) Officer Samri Suhaili said the program is in line with the Ministry of Education's plan and should continue in the future.

The efforts, support and assistance of the university are extremely helpful in the effort to increase students' interest in the STEM field.

Through this program, students must undergo group activities consisting of various schools. The specially designed activities involved five sets of modules, namely Biology, Physics, Chemistry, English and Mathematics. With the monitoring of the facilitators for each group, each student strives to compete between groups for the exciting prizes offered.

According to the program director, Muhd Adam Hafizi Tahah, such a group approach can help students to communicate and collaborate with new friends. They can also share the experiences they have had in their respective foreign schools.

In addition, The BAKSIS Day (STEMAZING WITH US) is also able to enhance the soft skills of students and students as well as encourage the involvement of the local community at all ages,” he said.

Date of Input: 04/01/2023 | Updated: 05/01/2023 | lanz