COURSES related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are all the rage worldwide, and Hong Kong is no exception. Many local non-profit organisations hold lessons or competitions that they claim are related to STEM.

But the instructors are often not certified teachers, and are not familiar with the subject. For example, one instructor took an entire hour to set up the equipment for a lesson that was supposed to last 90 minutes.

Another complaint is that many of the lessons do not encourage creativity. One class taught 3-D printing and programming, but failed to teach the students how to create their own items to be printed. A principal said some non-profit organisations are actually set up by toy manufacturers, so their lessons are more like a sales pitch.

(This article is published on Goodies on 9 November 2016)