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Shell T&T - 21st Century Education
21 st Century Education
As the global economy continues to transition as a result of foreseen and unforeseen occurrences, Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited (Shell) is continuing to invest in the education of the nation’s youth in preparation for the changes that are beginning to sweep through the energy sector.
The company has been running its flagship Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Education since 2013 – a programme that has added value to the industry by motivating participants to become better critical thinkers and more creative problem solvers. In 2021, the programme transitioned to “STREAM” to incorporate Research and the Arts.
While it has evolved over the years, the programme has maintained the following core components , academic support for secondary and tertiary students; technical industry-focussed training that engages students interested in STEM careers; teacher development that equips teachers with the skills to bring the STEM experience to their classrooms; infrastructural upgrades, that saw lab upgrades and refurbishment of facilities at a number of schools; and public awareness through a variety of exciting STEM events and initiatives such as the Science Bus and sponsorship of Sci-TechKnoFest.
The programme is enhanced through the active involvement of Shell staff members, referred to as Shell STEM ambassadors, who willingly share their time and expertise with students and teachers in a bid to attract students to the many exciting and rewarding career possibilities that exist within the industry.
Reigniting interest in STEM subjects
The company’s prioritisation of STREAM followed an assessment of industry needs, its manpower projections at that time, and published educational data highlighting the declining interest in STEM subjects among local and regional students. According to Shell, the STEM mandate was to address “declining participation in the sciences at the secondary level; underrepresentation in the sciences among secondary school students; and limited exposure to critical thinking, problem solving and innovative skills.”
Goal 4 in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) programme is “to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” and Target 4.4 aims “to substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.” Shell has deliberately aligned its STREAM programme to these SDG goals as well as with Goal 7 of the government’s National Development Strategy of Trinidad and Tobago 2016-2030 (Vision 2030):
monitoring and an independent evaluation conducted by the University of West Indies (2021). Altogether, the results confirm the positive effect and lasting benefits the programme has had on individuals and the school system.”
An ecosystem of learning
The evaluation confirmed that “through academic support, technical training, large scale events, teacher training and the deployment of a science bus which visits schools across the country, there have been several direct and indirect beneficiaries of this programme.” Listed among the benefits are informal lessons for students on the Trinidad and Tobago ecosystem; hands-on learning experiences that led to high emotional engagement; a positive brand image to Shells’ partners; and the fostering of strong relationships among stakeholders. Additionally, preliminary assessments suggest a noted increase in the interest in STEM subjects and careers by the participants, and that STEM participants showed a higher aptitude for problem solving than their non-STEM counterparts.
Several students have expressed their satisfaction with the programme with one student describing it as an inspiration.
Shell has been continuously evaluating the programme and believes it has seen great returns on its investment.
Candice Clarke-Salloum, Corporate Relations Manager at Shell, shared the process with the Review. “Shell has measured the short to long term impact of this programme in multiple ways including through ongoing performance
“I think the programme itself helped me to understand that I did not really know (much) about mechanical engineering. It was the experience from the instructors, hearing what they do, learning about their lives - that was also a push for me; and I wanted to be just like them, or I wanted to be better than them because some of them are engineers…”
Shell has also introduced its global STEM programmeNXPlorers to Trinidad and Tobago. NXplorers is a global STEM educational programme that focuses on teenagers 14-19, equipping them with the necessary tools, skills and know-how to take on real world problems. Students from 74 secondary schools and 15 tertiary education institutions have used the programme to bring STEM education to life.
Tasked to focus on the Food-Water-Energy nexus, as the basis for critical thinking, the students solve community and national problems by applying systems thinking, scenario planning and theory of change.
90K in Innovative Technology
This year, Shell also partnered with the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST) to launch its Bird Strike Challenge, which was open to graduates of the Shell NXPlorers programme. The challenge focused on a pervasive problem in the global aviation industry – Bird Strike.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) a Bird Strike is “a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight or on a take-off or landing roll. The term is often expanded to cover other wildlife strikes – with bats or ground animals.” Bird Strikes pose significant threats to aircraft safety and have resulted in a number of fatal accidents.
Shell awarded over TT$100,000 to students for creating solutions to this problem. Forty-five university students took up the challenge. Placed into nine groups, the students underwent several weeks of training using Shell proprietary NXthinking tools with the support of industry experts. The sessions were jointly facilitated by NIHERST and Shell’s subject matter experts.
One of the participants, Manda Baboolal said: “I think it’s a very great initiative because it allows students to be able to be exposed to real-life situations and problems in the world of work and the issues that happen. It also gives them time to develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”
21st Century Education
Collaboration and Recognition
In order to better develop innovation in STREAM education, Shell understands that placing a strong emphasis on collaboration would help to boost the efficacy of the programme. The Ministry of Education has been one of its partners from inception in the implementation of this programme since the programme aims to advance Goal 3 of the Ministry’s Education Policy Paper (2017-2022), which seeks to continue implementation of Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STREAM) Education.
In fact, the Ministry of Education has, on several occasions, publicly cited the Shell-funded National STEM consultation report as one of the driving forces behind the development of the new STREAM Strategic Plan. As a result, the Ministry has, many times, thrown its logistical support behind the STREAM programme. Last year the Energy Chamber presented Shell with an award for Best Social Investment Project for its work on STREAM.
Renewable Energy Efficiency
On November 23, 2022, Senior Vice President and Country Chairman of Shell T&T Eugene Okpere, launched yet another innovative Shell-sponsored programme. The Re-Energize TnT programme was introduced at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. The programme is a renewable energy efficiency project that was developed by the NGO, Renew TT. Its intent is to educate the young people of the Caribbean with knowledge of renewable energy and equip them with the skills to implement that knowledge to benefit the region.
As the energy giant continues to roll out projects aimed at keeping the young people of TT ahead of the game in a changing world, it anticipates that continued dialogue with stakeholders will see a transformation of the education system that will prepare students to effectively deal with whatever the world of work throws at them in the short and long term – an investment that will benefit the country economically and socially in the 21st Century and beyond.
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