BALIK PULAU, December 28 – With a mutual aim of instilling STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) talent among school-going students, Penang Young Makers Carnival 2022 is a joint effort among Penang Island City Council (MBPP), MBPP MakerSpace, Penadeep Technology, Penggerak Komuniti Muda (PEKA), Persatuan Komuniti Literasi Pulau Pinang (PENITI), Generasi Penang (volunteer), and STEM it up! campaign by Persuasive Communication final year students from School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia collaborating with Shell MDS (M) Sdn. Bhd.

Penang Young Makers Carnival 2022 has successfully attracted approximately 100 participants who are the residents and students from Balik Pulau and Bayan Lepas area with its variety of activities respectively by Penadeep Technology and STEM it up!: STEAM and STEM Xplore. The event is honoured with the presence of Madam Rodziah Binti Abul Khassim (representative of the City Mayor), Ms. Nurhafiza Huda Binti Idris (MBPP Councillor) together with Dr. Suriati Saad and Dr. Atikah Rahman, both senior lecturer of Universiti Sains Malaysia and campaign advisor of USM STEM it up!

Ms. Sri Mageswari Pattel (Project Manager of MBPP | MakerSpace@BalikPulau) and Thirachiniswary Muniswaran (Representative of Penadeep Technology). STEM Xplore is one of the series activities by the social campaign USM STEM it up! to bust myths and negative stereotypes towards STEM education among parents and school-going children. There are four different activities related to STEM in total that have been carried out under STEM Xplore, these activities are: Mad Lab, Keyboard Hero, STEM the Builder and Number Ninja. 

“STEAM/STEM education is an essential academic field among children, especially school-going students nowadays with the increasing challenges in the real world. For instance, Mathematics is an academic field that is seen as one of the challenging subjects for students today”, said Ms. Nurhafiza. The Chief Minister of Penang has also mentioned that Penang lacks of talents to maintain the state’s demands as an industrial and technological state, Therefore, such initiative is taken to foster enthusiasm.

And validate the talents possessed in this academic field among the future generations, especially emphasising on empowering students from the B40 community in the Barat Daya area. Penang Young Makers Carnival 2022 also witnessed the first alliance between USM and MBPP as Ms. Nurhafiza sees importance of strong encouragement from universities students especially those from USM and NGOs with experience in hope that this meaningful alliance will be able to  inspire the future generations to pursue their studies in STEAM/STEM education.

MBPP Makerspace that started in March 2009 aims to promote education equality among students in urban and rural areas, especially in the Barat Daya area. They have been initiating varieties of programmes consistently, targeting the future talent pool with the aim of sparking their interest and ideas in STEM learning. MBPP MakerSpace has organised Penang Young Makers Carnival 2022 to leverage this platform and increase the awareness of STEM education, in conjunction with World Children’s Day which is aligned with one of the pillars of ILHam MBPP, Smart Social.

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