Madrasati, US embassy and IREX conclude ‘STEM Green Labs’ after-school programme

AMMAN — An after-school programme to strengthen design thinking and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills among middle schoolers concluded on Sunday with an exhibition showcasing students’ solutions to climate change issues affecting their communities.

Representatives from Madrasati, the US embassy, global education and development non-profit IREX, and private sector companies toured the exhibition and listened to students from various governorates explain their projects, including a playground generating kinetic energy, school composting to reduce food waste, recycling hubs in communities, and a solar-paneled green house, according to a statement from the stakeholders.

The STEM Green Labs project, made possible through the generous support of the US embassy, was launched in November 2022 as part of Madrasati’s Masahati Student Clubs programme and engaged 240 grade 8-9 girls and boys in 10 schools in Tafileh, Amman, Zarqa and Balqa.  

The programme started with a training for teachers who then provided students a 10-week training in multi-disciplinary STEM and problem-based learning skills, and supported them in designing and testing climate change solutions. 

During the 10 weeks, students also met with experts and participated in field visits to organisations working on renewable energy, environmental and water conservation, and were exposed to new career paths and the growing green jobs’ market.

The winning team from each school attended a five-day summer camp, allowing the students to dig deeper into STEM and build on their initial climate change community solutions. At the summer camp, IREX and Madrasati ran interschool team building activities including media training, public speaking, and climate change activities. The fourth day of the summer camp, an expo featured student presentations of their prototypes to an audience of peers, teachers, experts and private sector guests. 

“The participating teachers expressed the positive change felt among their students toward such extracurricular programmes,” said Madrasati Director Tala Sweis.

“Through the STEM Green Labs, they employed the project-based learning and encouraged students to develop solutions to environmental issues they face in their communities,” Sweis added.

“This exhibition shows how innovative these students are,” said IREX MENA Director Francesca Ciriaci. “They are prepared as young leaders to be at the forefront in tackling climate change challenges, and we are looking forward to supporting them as partners,” Ciriaci noted.

US Embassy Strategic Planning and Analysis Specialist Lina Salah said that “empowering youth with not only the skills and tools they need to enter the green economy’s job market, but with the agency and confidence to design and implement community initiatives is essential in empowering a future generation of climate change leaders.”

Sara Allawi, a teacher in Tafileh, noted: “I have seen that in different countries, different states, different governorates, we all have climate change issues that we need to work on — and we can support our students to come up with creative initiatives”. 

Odai, a student from Sahab said: “In the area where I live, no one really cares about pollution, although I see people sick from it. I never thought that I could be a part of the solution- enrolling in this programme showed me that I can”.

The Madrasati initiative was launched by Her Majesty Queen Rania to improve the learning environment of Jordan’s most neglected public schools.  Madrasati works closely with the Ministry of Education and to date has served 1000 Jordanian public schools identified as the most underperforming and most in need of renovation and assistance in educational development. Madrasati has reached 420,000 students, and 19,000 teachers across the 12 governorates of Jordan.

With an annual portfolio of more than $100 million and more than 600 staff worldwide, IREX is a global development and education organization working with partners in more than 100 countries to cultivate leaders, empower youth, strengthen institutions, and increase access to quality education and information.