Smartgene STEAM extracurricular school
QUICK: programme-initiative
Smartgene STEAM extracurricular school
Country:
Estonia
Education level:
Primary Education, Lower secondary education
Year start:
2016
Status:
Ongoing
Short summary:
Smartgene is an extracurricular private hobby school that consists of different extracurricular STEAM activities and classes for children in the kindergarten until classes 4-6, including robotics class, electronics class, science class, landscaping & architecture class, and “future skills class”.
Description and objectives:
Smartgene is an extracurricular private hobby school that consists of different extracurricular STEAM activities and classes for children in the kindergarten until classes 4-6, including robotics class, electronics class, science class, landscaping & architecture class, and “future skills class”. All the classes take place once a week.
Smartgene also organizes STEAM city camps during school vacations, aimed at children aged 7-13 years. The mission of Smartgene is to be a safe and instructive environment for children to learn STEM subjects through targeted games.
The objective of Smartgene is to encourage children to playfully solve real life everyday problems. Since the demand for STEAM proficiency increases in Estonia every year, Smartgene has developed extracurricular classes to introduce children at early ages science, robotics, and electronic areas. It's impact is measured by the number of kids participating in the extracurricular classes and camps.
The objectives are related to Estonia's broader government strategy to raise the popularity of science and IT as a career choice due to the fact that Estonia is facing a reality, where the demand for such professionals is higher than the supply. In addition, it is associated with the aim to develop a research-intensive economy.
Reach:
The Smartgene city camps each are meant for up to 30 children, and every year over 400 children participate in the Smartgene classes.
Impact:
Smartgene gives the opportunity for young people to get acquainted with different STEAM subject from the early age. Children learn through active and interactive play how to solve everyday problems. They get the opportunity to use their critical thinking and problem-solving skills based on the principles of the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics.
Budget and funding model:
The programme’s funding mechanism is based on the membership model – the funding depends on the children participating in the hobby school. All the Smartgene classes have a monthly fee for a child participating in the classes.