“Intersection of STEM Curricula and SDGs: An Initiative for Lasting Success”
Written by: Ms. Maryam Raza, International Relations Expert
As the world is fast approaching the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, the educational curricula being taught in our schools are becoming revolutionized as well. In many prolific schools, STEM curricula, consisting of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are being used to instill critical thinking and evaluation in their students. Simultaneously, the United Nations introduced its sustainable development goals in 2015. The amalgamation of both these efficacious domains is the need of the time, as the world’s challenges are becoming more and more complex with each passing day.
The world population has gone past eight billion people in recent years, and challenges like global warming, food security, poverty alleviation, and circumventing wars for lands and resources have become grave threats against the human race. With the advancement in the field of information technology with each passing day, a beacon of hope has emerged that these problems can be curbed in years to come. The next generation studying through STEM curricula is learning how to combat hunger and poverty using data analysis, and restriction of agricultural systems around the world. Resultantly, the allocation of financial resources and an exponential increase in agricultural production and clean energy resources are becoming possible with each passing day.
Issues like gender inequality and poverty alleviation can only be managed if the mammoth global population is adequately examined and their needs are properly met. The use of modern information technologies like AI and the latest cutting-edge technologies compels us to go places that require the most help in this regard. With the enormous nature of challenges vis-à-vis development around us, the convergence of STEM curricula and the development of SDGs must be introduced to students across the globe.
The most important benefit that the next generation can learn by mastering knowledge about SDGs is the increase in literacy rate. No matter how much an individual earns or achieves through his hard work, if he doesn’t have the prudence to efficaciously use his resources, he is always on the brink of losing it all. Modern and updated knowledge taught through the STEM curricula is a great solution for this predicament. The use of modern IT technology like AI and its apt use ascertain that more and more people are well-equipped to remain one step ahead in the face of modern-day calamities.
The United Nations and its subsidiary organizations have repeatedly emphasized connecting STEM education curricula and the implementation of SDGs. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has aimed to incorporate education for sustainable development in the STEM curricula by 2025. The Western countries that have adhered to accomplish this goal are already seeing increased levels of cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral learning in their education realms. Right now billions of people around the world are finding it challenging to shape peaceful, stable, and sustainable societies. The modern innovations in information technology ascertain that these challenges are met adequately under the auspices of smart and informative educational techniques mentioned hereinabove.
It is a fact that there is a huge population imbalance between rich and poor countries. It is a usual pattern that countries with more resources usually have less population as compared to the developing and under-developed countries in the world. It is a no-brainer that the developing and developing countries that have huge populations should teach their student about SDGs more than any other country. Nevertheless, the developed world also holds the responsibility to equip its students with persistently acquiring knowledge about the SDGs.
The United States of America is a country with an ever-growing population and the status of a melting pot for multifarious ethnicities within its boundaries. During the past century, this country has provided immense hope and courage to mankind through its sheer hard work and development techniques. For sustainable development, the USA has worked substantially to make the Paris Climate Accords 2015 and the SDGs a glowing reality. As a world leader in technological and educational advancement, the USA needs more experts and trainers than before to implement STEM curricula to support SDGs throughout the whole country. Lagging on these significant aspects of prosperity can prove to be extremely catastrophic for not only the future generations of this country but for other parts of the world as well.
The proposal of Ms. Ayesha Ali, who has expertise in software engineering, education, and sustainable development programs, is doing wonders for educating on sustainable development goals. She has given her revolutionary vision to inspire action and innovativeness among students by incorporating SDGs in STEM curricula. In her own words, “Technology is a tool that, if used wisely, can immensely enhance our learning environments”. Like any prudent expert, she is aware of the fact that there are many obstacles to implementing her goal. Nevertheless, she asserts that “change is never easy, but the stakes are too high for inaction”. The intersection of SDGs and STEM curricula will propel today’s students “to become a generation of innovators and problem solvers” she asserts. If implemented properly, her plan is surely a beacon of hope in the face of growing modern world problems that need to be solved immediately through knowledge of technology, skill, and critical analysis.
Most of us are aware that experts in multifarious fields have persistently claimed that catastrophic issues like climate change, food security, and illiteracy need to be addressed immediately. If this does not happen soon enough, these ticking bombs will explode in our faces and will make this world more and more inhabitable with each passing day. To curb these existential crises, it is imperative to revolutionize our educational systems to ensure that all the sustainable development goals are met by not only us but by our future generations as well in the centuries to come.
