Forum in Suzhou casts eyes on STEM education

By You Xiaodi & Li Yiwen

The International STEM Education Forum in Suzhou opened in Soochow University on May 30, attracting scholars and experts in STEM education and cultivating technology talents from home and abroad.

Under the guidance of Department of Foreign Experts Services, Ministry of Science and Technology(MOST ), the event was jointly organized by Foreign Talent Research Center,Ministry of Science and Technology and China Guanghua Foundation.

The forum expects to introduce and integrate international high-quality scientific and technological talents and education resources and establish a comprehensive service platform for STEM education.

Teachers and students from Suzhou Science and Technology Town Foreign Language School and higher education institutions such as China Foreign Affairs University, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Shanxi Medical University, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology and Harbin Institute of Technology also participated in the event.

Georgios Sergiadis, honorary professor of Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences from Greece, said that effective STEM education is desperately needed in today’s society with global technological innovation changing at a rapid pace.

Zhu Kai, deputy director of National Institute of Education Science Center for STEM Education, said that China should learn from the advanced development patterns of STEM education in other countries.

He added that measures such as taking STEM education into the national strategic development policy,cultivating teachers, investing special fund, setting up educational achievements display platform and sharing experiences should be taken to achieve effective STEM education in China.

The awarding ceremony of the third Intercultural Communicative Competence Test (ICCT) was held during the event. As a competition facing university students , ICCT tests competitors’ intercultural communication competence based on English.