Non-governmental organisation (NGO)

P2EINT (Passport to Employability International) is a medium-sized, multi-sectoral non-profit organisation focused on fostering entrepreneurship and enhancing employability across diverse sectors. Its scalable model emphasises empowering individuals, particularly young people, through collaborative partnerships, digital literacy, and employability pathways. P2EINT specialises in areas such as social enterprise, digital skills development, AI in digital marketing, and STEM education. It operates in both developed and developing regions, addressing socioeconomic challenges, especially among marginalised groups, including political asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, and disadvantaged communities. P2EINT aligns its work with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and EU priorities.

Current Situtation in Malta: 

• Curriculum Adaptation: Malta has been gradually updating its curriculum to incorporate STEM subjects more prominently. This includes introducing coding, robotics, and other technology-related topics in schools. However, the pace of adaptation can sometimes lag behind the rapid changes in technology.
• Teacher Training: Ensuring that educators are well-prepared to teach STEM subjects is a challenge. Adequate teacher training programs are crucial to help educators stay up to date with the latest developments in their respective fields and effectively teach complex STEM concepts.
• Lack of Specialised Facilities: Due to its small size, Malta faces limitations in providing specialised STEM facilities and resources, such as advanced laboratories and equipment. This can hinder students' exposure to hands-on learning experiences.
• Gender Imbalance: Like many other countries, Malta faces gender disparities in STEM fields. Encouraging more girls to pursue STEM subjects and addressing gender biases is essential to creating a more inclusive and diverse STEM workforce.
• Promoting Interest: While there is growing interest in STEM education, attracting and retaining students in STEM disciplines beyond mandatory education remains a challenge. Engaging teaching methods, real-world applications, and extracurricular activities are crucial for maintaining interest.

OPPORTUNITIES:

1. Partnerships with Industry: Collaborations between educational institutions and industry can help bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications. Industry involvement can provide students with practical experiences and insights into STEM careers.
2. Digital Learning: Given its small size and connectivity, Malta has an opportunity to leverage digital learning platforms to enhance STEM education. Online resources, interactive simulations, and virtual labs can supplement traditional classroom learning.
3. Global Networking: Malta can benefit from participating in international STEM initiatives, competitions, and partnerships, allowing students and educators to exchange ideas and experiences with counterparts from around the world.
4. Teacher Professional Development: Investing in professional development opportunities for STEM educators can ensure that they are equipped with the latest teaching methodologies and are well-prepared to inspire and guide their students.

Center for Education and Innovative Learning - STEMLab was registered in 16 May 2018. It is a non-governmental organization that consists of educators, primary and secondary school teachers, university professors, advisers, former higher education accreditation board member and teacher trainers from Republic of North Macedonia and abroad. They have experience in working in different environments with cultural diversity, different age groups and different languages, people with different professions and life-long experience. Our institution is continuously communicating and collaborating with primary and secondary school teachers, municipalities, faculties, NGO and other institutions of social importance. Our programs consist of organizing courses, tribunes, lectures, seminars and conferences on topics in the field of STEM education for students, teachers and other educators from the Republic of North Macedonia and abroad. Moreover, our focus is also in realizing joint projects with the NGO, educational policymakers, governmental sector, companies, student families, public institutions and realization of international cooperation in order to provide and ensure input for quality education at the national level. Our determination is to build a center that, in line with current trends, will provide curricula, programs, and educational tools appropriate to the 21st-century education requirements in STEM profiles, at all levels of education.

Learn IT Academy o.z. a civil association that has been operating since 2021. It works with children's education within the areas of basic computer knowledge, ECDL courses, retraining courses, 3D modelling, design and implementation, website and online store creation. Our team has expanded its scope of activities from the summer of 2022 and has started working with Lego as a development tool. We contacted kindergartens and elementary schools in the region of southern Slovakia. We offered them the opportunity to develop with Lego, in the form of specialist courses. We are currently active in 23 institutions with 6 instructors.

We are currently planning to cooperate with AGEMSOFT, which has 20 years of experience in the field of digital education, and they bring innovative products and educational projects for kindergarten, elementary and high school students. Besides that we would like to introduce the currently operating Lego Education courses in more and more schools. During the summer holidays, we would increase the popularity of STEM by organizing one-week LEGO ISLAND camps and competitions. We are also conducting negotiations with the Edulab academy about future cooperation. Our joint plans include the inclusion of LEGO in their educational materials, as well as the preparation of reviewers for the further training of teachers in schools based on the STEM guidelines. Our long-term plans include the construction of schools and kindergartens based on STEM educational principles in Slovakia.

The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship is the national knowledge centre and focal point for the development of entrepreneurship teaching at all educational levels. The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship works to ensure that the ability to be innovative is a fundamental element in all educations from primary school to PhD. 

The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship is also tasked by the Danish government with the coordination of the Danish Technology Pact (Danish STEM strategy). The Danish Technology Pact is national initiative made to boost the development of STEM-competences among Danes. The Pact is founded by the Danish government. Its mission is for Danes of all ages obtain the appropriate competences for a technical and digital future, in fields where Danish competitiveness and solutions to societal challenges will rely on new technology and digital innovation. In a partnership with actors from trade and industry, educational institutions and public sector operators the Technology Pact provides a shared direction for national and local initiatives to improve STEM-competences among both students and professionals.

The Technology Pact creates a national platform for evaluation, knowledge-sharing, development, expansion and setting up initiatives that improve education in STEM-subjects and promote interest and applicacy of STEM-competences. The platform specialises in identifying, supporting and promoting educational and competence-building initiatives succesfuld in helping danes ot obtain STEM-competences. 

The Technology Pact is comissioned to run from 2018-2028 and is anchored in the four ministries of 1) Industry, Business & Financial affairs, 2) Children & Education 3) Higher Education and Science, 4) Employment. An advisory board consisting of selected members from relevant organisations decides on the strategic focus of the Technology pact. The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship is appointed secretariatet for the Technology Pact. 6-8 people are employed at the foundation  to carry out daily operations for the pact. The Technology Pact is a part of ‘Strategy for Denmark’s Digital Growth’, which the Danish government  agreed on in February 2018. The strategy consists of 38 ambitious initiatives with the aim of making Denmark a digital front runner. 

More detailed English-language overviews of the Danish Technology Pact and related strategies can be found on the 'Publications' page.

Zukunft durch Innovation (ZDI) is the regional STEM platform in the North Rhine-Westfalia, a state in the west of Germany with a total population of 18 million people that shares a direct border with the Netherlands. ZDI is backed at regional level by three ministries (Science, Education, Economic Affairs), with the Ministry of Science holding overall responsibility. The ZDI Central Office is a source of advice and assistance for the networks and school laboratories and coordinates the allocation of funding. The objectives are:

• To inspire more young people to undertake a university course or vocational training in a STEM discipline
• To ensure the sufficient availability of STEM professionals at regional level
• To introduce young people to socially relevant topics at an early stage, such as conservation of resources, climate change, energy supply and the fight against poverty

These objectives are implemented through ZDI networks. A ZDI Network – also referred to as a ZDI Centre – is a regional bundling of players from politics, schools, universities, enterprises and other partners involved in education who wish to foster young people’s skills in STEM fields. Each ZDI Network is different. Some are run by school administrators, others by economic development bodies, universities, associations or foundations. But they all have one thing in common: They focus on the concrete requirements of their own specific region.

The regional ZDI Networks function as central contact points: they are the first port of call for teachers who want to give their STEM lessons a more practical focus and seek contacts to universities and enterprises. They also coordinate the involvement of firms and businesses and streamline higher education and career guidance measures in cooperation with enterprises, universities and employment agencies. Through broad-based practical work in the partner companies, young people can establish initial contacts to local firms and get to know different tasks and job profiles in the framework of projects and courses.

AEDE-France is a French association founded in 1957 to promote European Literacy and citizenship education; to develop intercultural understanding among Europeans and to work towards high quality education for all. Its members are either individual people: teachers, school-heads, inspectors, educators, researchers, experts in education and in evaluation - or schools and teacher education - university institutes and professional organisations. Since its establishment, AEDE-France has been involved in various European project within ERASMUS and, now ERASMUS+. It is currently a member of the management team of ELICIT-PLUS (European Literacy and Citizenship Education). The 23 partner organisations are now offering training courses in a dozen different EU countries to develop a better knowledge of our complex histories and cultures and to foster a common understanding of our shared future.

AEDE-France has been recognised by the French Ministry of Education as “association complémentaire de l’enseignement”, which is a national agreement to cooperate with schools on matters related to European education, including STEM, and the broader topics of skills mismatch and youth unemployment. AEDE-France joined the EU STEM Coalition in 2015.

Ecsite is the European network of science centres and museums. Ecsite’s vision is to foster creativity and critical thinking in European society, emboldening citizens to engage with science. Its mission is to inspire and empower science centres, museums and all organisations that engage people with science, and to promote their actions. Founded more than 25 years ago, the network now gathers more than 350 organisations in Europe and world-wide.

CSR Europe is the leading European business network for Corporate Social Responsibility. Through its network of around 50 corporate members and 45 National CSR organisations, it gathers over 10,000 companies, and acts as a platform for those businesses looking to enhance sustainable growth and positively contribute to society. In its mission to bring the CSR agenda forward, CSR Europe goes beyond European borders and cooperates with CSR organisations in other regions across the world.

The National Platform Science & Technology (PTvT) has been commissioned by the Dutch government, the education and the business sectors to ensure sufficient availability of people who have a background in scientific or technical education. This approach has been formulated in the Deltaplan Science & Technology, a policy document on how to prevent shortages in the technology sector. The aims: (1) to achieve a structural increase of pupils and students in scientific and technical education, and (2) to use existing talent more effectively in businesses and research institutes. The goal is not only making careers in science more appealing, but also to introduce educational innovations that will inspire and challenge young people.