Original Research

STEM education in Zambia

Bentry Nkhata, Kabunga Nachiyunde, Patricia P. Nalube, Zanzini B. Ndhlovu, Christopher Haambokoma

Received: 01 Dec. 2025; Accepted: 26 Apr. 2026; Published: 12 May 2026

Copyright: © 2026. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract

Background: Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Zambia continues to occur within disciplinary silos, limiting opportunities for integration, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Aim: To clarify Zambia’s interpretation of STEM education and examine how the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship (IE) can strengthen the national STEM agenda.

Setting: The study was done in Lusaka focusing on National STEM policy documents, school curricula implementing STEM activities and policies. It included the 2024 National Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) fair projects held in Lusaka.

Methods: The study adopted a qualitative desk review design, complemented by participant observation, in order to explore and clarify Zambia’s conceptualisation of STEM education and its relationship to innovation and entrepreneurship. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Lessons from the literature reviewed showed the need for STEM education to be conceptualised as an interdisciplinary body of knowledge. National policy pointed to the need to have a STEM education that is oriented towards entrepreneurship. Good practice exists in practices in projects of JETS.

Conclusion: The study concludes that Zambia STEM education agenda can take a clearer shape with a policy shift from merely STEM to STEME, that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics with Entrepreneurship, with JETS style project-based learning being the anchor of implementation.

Contribution: Providing a new conceptualisation of STEM education in Zambia by adding Entrepreneurship (STEME). This expands existing theoretical frameworks and aligns STEM with national economic priorities.

Keywords: STEM education; implementation strategies; entrepreneurship; junior engineers, technicians and scientists; continuing professional development.

Introduction

This article is a conceptual review of Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Zambia, interrogating the interpretation of STEM education, policy provisions, implementation modalities, interventions and how STEM education could be conceptualised for better teaching and learning.

Background

The four disciplines, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education, are distinct from each other, and each discipline is essential in its own right. Yet the four disciplines are interconnected and interdependent in a way that they are needed collectively. The fact that the four STEM disciplines are heavily interconnected and interdependent means that the teaching and learning of the four disciplines leverage each other, and their silos minimise the effectiveness and benefits of each one of them. For this reason, among others, STEM education is more than Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education as individual disciplines. For some, and this is a growing trend, STEM education is much more than a convenient integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Zambian school curriculum is anchored on the philosophy of constructivism. Constructivist philosophies suggest that knowledge is actively built and not passively received by the cognising agent. Arising from the above philosophical underpinning, the Zambian school curriculum emphasises learner-centred approaches to teaching with a focus on learning competences. Based on these principles, STEM education goes beyond the four silos of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to a transdisciplinary approach, which is more in tune with the aspirations espoused in the 2023 Zambia Education Curriculum Framework, in which the focus of education has been moved from Outcomes-Based to Competence-Based (Ministry of Education [MOE] 2023). Additionally, the Ministry has defined Competence-Based Curriculum as ‘an approach to teaching and learning that primarily focuses on the learner’s demonstration of their desired learning outcomes as central to the overall learning process’ (MOE 2023:6), adding that it is a Curriculum that puts emphasis on what learners are expected to do as opposed to what they are expected to know. Well-implemented STEM education should make a significant contribution to the achievement of the aspirations of competence-based education.

The importance of STEM education is well recognised in Zambia. Policy provisions are available to this effect, and there is a litany of interventions to support implementation. Nothing underscores the importance of STEM education in Zambia more than the elevation of the National Science Centre (NSC), a unit in the Directorate of Teacher Education and Specialised Services, into a full-fledged Directorate in the MOE with the responsibility to promote the teaching and learning of STEM subjects. However, effective implementation requires clarity on Zambia’s interpretation of STEM education as well as on implementation modalities.

This study is supported by Schumpeter’s theory of entrepreneurship and innovation, as explained by Śledzik (2013). According to Schumpeter, the execution of innovations is the fundamental function in history. He emphasised that entrepreneurship replaces today’s Pareto efficiency with tomorrow’s innovations. In this study, STEM education was considered through the lens of this theory. It is essential to recognise that we live in a complex and dynamic world where innovation and entrepreneurship play a crucial role in economic development. In this study, the narrative of Innovative Entrepreneurship (IE) will take centre stage, as seen in the JETS projects, and will be examined in the context of Schumpeter’s theory of innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovative Entrepreneurship differs from other forms of entrepreneurship. It involves various actors (user entrepreneurs, inventors, academic entrepreneurs, employees) and requires distinct skills (Block, Fisch & Van Praag 2016). This IE agenda is particularly relevant to this study. The study aimed to clarify the often-vague STEM agenda by amplifying its relationship to entrepreneurship while leveraging the chosen theory.

Problem statement

Despite strong policy recognition of STEM education in Zambia, namely the 7th National Development Plan (Ministry of National Development Planning [MNDP] 2017). The shift to a Competence-Based Curriculum and the establishment of a Directorate responsible for STEM education (MOE 2023), the STEM agenda remains conceptually unclear and inconsistently implemented MOE (2013, 2018, 2023). While the curriculum emphasises learner-centred, competence-driven and transdisciplinary learning, STEM teaching in Zambian schools often continues to occur within disciplinary silos, limiting opportunities for integration, innovation and entrepreneurship. Additionally, although national policy highlights the importance of entrepreneurship, the connection between STEM and Innovative Entrepreneurship (IE) remains weakly articulated in both curriculum interpretation and classroom practice. This conceptual ambiguity has resulted in a misty STEM agenda in Zambia: teachers lack a shared understanding of what constitutes authentic STEM education, schools face challenges operationalising integrated STEM approaches, and the entrepreneurial dimension of STEM – central to global innovation agendas and supported by Schumpeter’s theory – is largely underdeveloped. Without a clear, contextually grounded interpretation of STEM and its relationship to entrepreneurship, the country risks misalignment between policy aspirations and practical implementation.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to seek to clarify what STEM education could mean in Zambia and examine how the integration of IE can strengthen the national STEM agenda. Guided by Schumpeter’s Theory of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the study sought to identify conceptual, curricular, and implementation issues that contribute to the ambiguous (‘misty’) understanding of STEM education for schools in Zambia and to propose a STEME (STEM + Entrepreneurship) model that aligns with the Competence-Based Curriculum and national development goals.

Objectives of the study

The study had the following objectives:

• To examine a variety of conceptualisations of STEM education from the literature.
• To analyse the alignment between STEM policy provisions and implementation practices in Zambia.
• To investigate the role and integration of IE in STEM education within the Zambian context.
• To propose a contextualised framework that links STEM education with innovation and entrepreneurship.

Theoretical framework

This study is anchored on Schumpeter’s Theory of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which emphasises that economic and social progress is driven by the creation, diffusion and utilisation of innovations. Schumpeter asserts that entrepreneurship is not merely business creation but a process of ‘creative destruction’ – introducing new combinations of ideas, technologies and processes that replace obsolete ones. This theory aligns with STEM education, whose essence lies in developing problem-solving, creative thinking and design-based solutions for real-world challenges. In the Zambian context, Schumpeter’s theory supports a reconceptualisation of STEM as STEME (STEM with Entrepreneurship). Integrated STEM should enable learners to innovate using scientific and technological knowledge, apply engineering design-thinking, use mathematics to reason, model and optimise solutions, engage in creative problem-solving that generates new value, demonstrate entrepreneurial competencies, such as opportunity recognition, experimentation and product development.

The theory was therefore useful as the foundation for examining how Zambia’s policy, curriculum and classroom practices integrate (or fail to integrate) Innovative Entrepreneurship within STEM learning experiences.

In relation to this study, Schumpeter’s Theory implies that effective STEM education requires the integration of four key constructs, which together operationalise a STEME vision:

• Policy: STEM Disciplines as Interconnected Domains, that is, STEM are treated as mutually reinforcing domains. Effective STEM learning occurs when these disciplines are integrated to solve authentic problems rather than taught as isolated subjects.
• Curriculum: Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) Orientation, that is CBC, as adopted in Zambia, emphasises performance, demonstration and application of knowledge. This aligns with integrated STEM because both require active learning, inquiry, design and collaborative problem-solving.
• Teaching practice: Innovative Entrepreneurship (IE), building on Schumpeter theory, IE in education involves learners experimenting with ideas, designing prototypes, identifying opportunities and innovating solutions. Zambia’s JETS fairs provide early evidence of IE potential but remain disconnected from routine pedagogy.

Thus, a successful STEME implementation depends on clear national STEM definitions, a curriculum supporting integration and design-thinking, teacher capacity in interdisciplinary pedagogy, resources, labs and community partnerships.

These elements interact dynamically. Weakness in any dimension results in a ‘misty agenda’, where STEM exists in isolated silos rather than disciplines that interact with each other.

Research methods and design

This study adopted a qualitative desk review design and was complemented by participant observation to explore and clarify Zambia’s conceptualisation of STEM education and its relationship to innovation and entrepreneurship. A desk review was appropriate because the study sought to synthesise existing knowledge, examine policy intentions, and analyse documented evidence of STEM initiatives without collecting large -scale primary data.

The reviewed literature included international literature on STEM education, local (Zambian) literature and policy documents and evaluation reports of STEM-related interventions. This was complemented by participant observation of projects at the 2023 national Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) fairs. Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists fairs were chosen because they serve as a practical platform where innovation, engineering thinking, and entrepreneurship tendencies visibly manifest among learners. National JETS fairs have projects categorised by education level, that is, primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary, adjudicated based on criteria that include Analytical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication, Creativity and Innovation, Environmental Sustainability and Technical Competence. These observations provided contextual understanding of how STEM is enacted in practice and highlighted gaps between policy aspirations and real-world implementation. Data from both the desk review and participant observation were analysed using thematic analysis.

Literature review

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics education has different meanings depending on the context. In other words, there is no commonly agreed-upon meaning of STEM education (English 2016). Science, technology, engineering and mathematics education could refer to individual subjects, a single course, a sequence of courses or activities involving STEM (California Department of Education 2014), or an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply STEM in relevant contexts (Chalmers et al. 2017; Southwest Regional STEM Network 2009). Or it can be considered as multi-faceted and seen as going well beyond the disciplines and subjects (Dannchadha 2017). STEM education can also be taken to be an integrated curricular approach focusing on studying grand challenges of our time (era), that is, studying such issues as energy efficiency, resource use and environmental quality among others (Bybee 2010). Yet another perspective on STEM education is that of being an interdisciplinary approach in learning that removes traditional barriers of separating the four disciplines of STEM that form the acronym STEM and integrates them into real-world (Vasquez, Sneider & Comer 2013), or the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics into a new cross-disciplinary subject in schools (Dugger 2010).

The more widely presented view of STEM education appears to be a curriculum area that builds on the content knowledge and understanding developed in and across the four disciplines represented in the STEM acronym. As summed up by Kennedy and Odell (2014), in the 21st century, the way STEM is viewed has evolved from being subject entities to being an integration of these entities. Implied in the integration is an ‘innovation and the applied process of designing solutions to complex contextual problems using current tools and technologies’ (Kennedy & Odell 2014:246).

Wells and Ernst (2012) went further to introduce the concept of Integrative STEM education, which again, was founded on premises of integration among STEM disciplines, but their points of emphasis were those of being intentional, systematic and persistent – rather than sporadic integration across a selection of curriculum units among STEM constituent disciplines. The specific definition presented by Wells and Ernst was that Integrative STEM education was the application of technological and/or engineering design-based pedagogical approaches to intentionally teach content and practices of science and Mathematics Education concurrently with content and practices of technology and/or engineering education (Wells & Ernst 2012). The wider view on Integrative STEM education was that it was a pedagogy through which students might acquire the ability to transform knowledge into personally useful strategies (Wells 2010).

Amid the multiple perspectives on what STEM education should be, it is helpful to bear in mind the synthesis offered by Bybee (2010). Bybee said that STEM education should involve four interrelated and complementary facets as follows: (1) Acquiring scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical knowledge and using that knowledge for identifying issues, acquiring new knowledge, and applying the knowledge to STEM-related issues; (2) Understanding the characteristic features of STEM disciplines that include the processes of inquiry, design, and analysis; (3) Recognising how STEM disciplines shape material and intellectual world; and (4) Engaging in STEM-related issues and with the ideas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as concerned, effective and constructive citizens. Overall, STEM education needs to be about the conceptual understandings and procedural skills and abilities for individuals to address STEM-related personal, social and global issues.

Ethical considerations

Ethical clearance to conduct this study was obtained from the University of Zambia, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (No. HSSREC-2025-NOV-027).

Results

The data analysis process involved coding extracted information from documents and observation notes, grouping codes into thematic categories, and synthesising themes into a coherent narrative that responded to the study objectives, and on the basis of which the findings are made.

Conceptualisation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in Zambia

The National Science Centre is a Directorate in the MOE and is mandated to spearhead the implementation of STEM education. In the conceptualisation of STEM education, the NSC (2018) stated that:

STEM is not a single subject that replaces several others, but by linking these four subjects and planning to teach them holistically, an opportunity is created to provide more meaningful and motivating lessons. (p. 46)

National Science Centre went further to spell out the aims of STEM education as to produce a learner who is (1) critical, creative and analytical thinker; (2) relates thinking with real-world situations; (3) a problem solver; and (4) a responsible citizen.

By way of implementation, the isolated instruction of each individual STEM subject is what is in place in Zambia. This approach manifests itself as a traditional disciplinary list of school subjects like sciences (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.), mathematics, technology and engineering being handled separately, that is, the silo approach. The products of the silo teaching-based approaches find it difficult to achieve integration between and among STEM subjects and the real world. One approach to STEM education that seemed possible was to integrate one of the STEM disciplines into the other three being taught. For example, engineering content could be integrated into science, technology and mathematics subjects.

The 2023 Zambia Education Curriculum Framework has provided for three Learning Areas at the Early Childhood Education (ECE) and the Lower Primary School (Grade 1–3) levels of the curriculum, of which two are Pre-mathematics and Science, and Creative and Technology Studies. Of special interest is mathematics and science being a single Learning Area. At the Upper primary school level, mathematics and Science have 4 hours of learning time assigned, and Technology Studies have 4 hours 40 minutes of the 28-total number of hours allocated per week. The curriculum at the Ordinary Level of Secondary School has been organised into eight pathways, of which four have been designated as STEM pathways, namely, Natural Sciences, Agriculture, Home Economics and Hospitality and Technology.

A notable change in the 2023 curriculum is the explicit provision for STEM pathways at the secondary school level, unlike the preceding curriculum, which only provided the dual pathways, Academic and Vocational. But even in the new curriculum where STEM pathways have been distinctly spelt out, subject options for each pathway still reflect the silo approach.

What remains to be discussed exhaustively is the meaning of STEM education at the classroom level. Emerging research shows a lack of consensus on the content and instructional practices associated with STEM education, with various models being promoted (Holmlund, Lesseig & Slavit 2018). There remains a lack of research-based arguments on what form the Zambian STEM education will take; it is currently in its infancy. Thus, it remains unclear at this point how classroom practices will be fundamentally different from non-STEM schools. The STEM programme aims to leverage on the existing career pathways as explained in the curriculum framework document of 2013, but how the classroom practices will be different at the classroom level is not yet clarified. The Zambian curriculum is explicit by stating that it intends to produce a learner who is ‘analytical, innovative, creative, versatile, employable, entrepreneurial, productive and constructive; appreciates the relationship between mathematical and scientific thought, action and technology’ (MOE 1996:5). But how far this has been realised or achieved remains to be evaluated. The situation remains unclear how this dream can be realised and how the new STEM movement can make this a reality.

Mpofu (2019) has suggested a viable four-level framework in which STEM implementation can be achieved, albeit different from the Zambian model. An analysis of the Zambian STEM education casts doubts as to whether STEM education will be achieved. Five pathways of STEM Curriculum have been proposed namely: General STEM Curriculum; Agricultural STEM Curriculum; Entrepreneurial STEM Curriculum; Technological STEM Curriculum; and Tourism (Home Economics and Hospitality) STEM Curriculum. Having these five pathways is not in sync with the guiding operational definition of STEM as adopted by NSC. The guiding principle, according to Vasquez et al. (2013), is of STEM being an interdisciplinary approach in learning that removes traditional barriers separating the four disciplines of Science, technology, engineering and mathematics that form the acronym STEM and integrates them into real-world (localised and international), but relevant learning experiences for learners. There remains a challenge as to the relation between categories such as tourism, agricultural, entrepreneurial STEM and the overarching definition and compounds the problems associated with STEM, which are in most cases, a lack of a unified direction as what STEM really is. From a curriculum perspective, it remains unclear how the five-level STEM categories will be implemented.

The technology facet of STEM has not been well conceptualised in the Zambian context. It is not clear at this point as to whether the technology, at the school level, being referred to here is technology in teaching to enhance learning or technology as used in industries to create products, or a blend of the two. Every new technological tool seems like a possible solution, although sometimes we really do not know what the problem is or even if there is one (De Bruyckere, Kirschner & Hulshof 2016). If technology for learning or technology as an applied science is to be enhanced in Zambia, there is then a need for a well-defined problem for which that technology will be adopted and how a blend will be used in the context of STEM education in Zambia. The fundamental problem needs to be addressed and that is: what strategies should be adopted so that education systems in Zambia do not only follow a trajectory of a developed country but grow and progress based on the country’s needs in the path of progress. The desired path has been identified in the guiding principle of STEM, and the important issue is that of value addition.

The schools have been running JETS clubs. The JETS club was introduced as an extracurricular activity. The idea behind its formation was to popularise science and mathematics in schools. The JETS mission is to promote the production and display of high-quality scientific and mathematical projects that provide solutions to local problems (Brown 2011). Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists is a vibrant club co-curricular activity attracting highly ambitious pupils with the goal of creating solutions to societal problems using mathematics, science and technology (Mukanshi 2017). By far, the JETS model has been the most productive in terms of fulfilling and interpreting what the STEM Curriculum is envisioned to fulfil. Formalising the JETS model in the school system and enhancing it to suit the STEM agenda would be a fruitful undertaking. Over the years, the projects emanating from JETS have embodied engineering and technology aspects of mathematics and science. Indeed, JETS has been the face of STEM, though the latter seems like a new initiative. What may be required is tapping into the already existing JETS programme, systematising, formalising and situating it in the education system, bearing in mind the objectives of STEM. Following through the path of JETS will eliminate the challenge of a lack of a viable, workable and unified model for STEM implementation. Furthermore, the framework for STEM implementation proposed by Mpofu (2019) can be exploited further.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics education should provide learners with opportunities and deep learning experiences that would enable them to be resourceful and confident in engaging with STEM concepts in school and in their future lives. Learners should be engaged in activities that help or encourage them to develop their STEM knowledge and skills in an integrated and engaging way.

In school, informal activities like competitions, exhibitions, science fairs, after-school clubs, STEM weeks and a need for dedicated and enthusiastic teachers and learners are suggested. There should be, therefore, a deliberate attempt to create a sustainable STEM eco-system throughout the school system. Problem-based STEM education, where pupils focus on a real-life problem and use STEM to solve the problem and add value to our natural resources, is a viable approach.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics education interventions

Zambia has had numerous interventions to support STEM education (at least regarding mathematics and science). The interventions have focused on teacher capacity development, materials development, infrastructure development, research and evidence-based teaching and advocacy.

Teacher capacity development

Teacher capacity development has received by far the largest attention. One such intervention is the Zambia Mathematics and Science Teacher Education Project (ZAMSTEP), which started in 1987 under the sponsorship of the European Economic Commission (EEC). The aim of the project was to upgrade diploma-holding teachers of mathematics and science so that they could teach effectively at the senior secondary school level (Grades 10–12). The project offered a 1-year college-based programme at the end of which teachers were awarded an Advanced Diploma. In addition, ZAMSTEP also provided in-service courses of short duration for both primary and secondary school science teachers (Suffolk 1989). Although the project phase came to an end in 1991, the college-based course continued. However, in the conceptualisation of ‘upgrading’, there was no explicit intention of an interdisciplinary approach to teaching.

The second intervention under teacher capacity development was the Diploma in Basic Science Education programme at Chalimbana National In-Service College in 1989. It was designed to upgrade content knowledge, methodologies and professional attitudes of teachers initially trained to teach Grades 1–7 classes, so that they could teach mathematics and environmental science effectively at Grades 8 and 9. Like ZAMSTEP, the conceptualisation of ‘upgrading’ did not explicitly address an interdisciplinary approach to teaching.

One of the largest interventions around teacher capacity development was the Action to Improve English, Mathematics and Science (AIEMS) project. The project began in 1994 and ended as a project in 2000. This initiative was jointly funded by the Zambian government and the British government. Action to Improve English, Mathematics and Science encouraged resource centre-based as well as school-based in-service training of teachers. One of the successes of the AIEMS project, according to Nkhata and Arden (2000), was that it had resulted in teachers using a variety of teaching aids and showing greater willingness to use more learner-centred approaches such as group work. Of special significance was that the AEIMS project transformed into the School Programme of In-service for the Term (SPRINT), which, to date, is the system for the provision of Continuing Professional Development in the MOE.

Yet another intervention with a focus on teacher capacity development was the Strengthening of Mathematics, Science and Technological Education (SMASTE) project, which started in 2001 and ended in 2005. Initially, the project was SMASE, but along the way, Technology was included to become SMASTE (Haambokoma et al. 2002).

Another teacher capacity building-focused intervention was the Improvement of Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (IPeCK) project. This project was driven by the NSC, now a full-fledged Directorate in the MOE, with the financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Phase I of the project started in 2014 and ended in 2019. The project was aimed at equipping the teachers of science and mathematics with the necessary skills of how to teach and develop content knowledge in the various science components of the primary and secondary curriculum (Noda & Mgemezulu 2015). The training programme is now available to several other countries in Africa.

The most recent and ongoing large-scale intervention is the Zambia Education Enhancement Project (ZEEP). This project started in 2018. The aim of the project is to provide a platform for improving performance in schools through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers using the School Programme of In-service for the Term (SPRINT) structures and provision of textbooks. The project started with a diagnostic assessment of learners and teachers to allow for data-driven materials development and CPD. The Zambia Education Enhancement Project has been championing activity-based teaching and deep conceptual understanding. For example, the lesson evaluation tool developed by ZEEP, specific to mathematics and science lessons at both primary and secondary school levels, provides as follows in the category Teaching Strategies, ‘Includes all the following: Uses differentiated teaching strategies; promotes cooperative learning; Utilises technology to promote learning; employs enquiry-based strategies; and graphic organisers’. Under the category for Ending of Lesson, the following is expected ‘Learners used mathematical/scientific language, reasoning, expressions and representation to summarise the main points of a lesson collaboratively with the teacher; linked to the next related concept’ (MOE 2021:7). The attributes being promoted by ZEEP in successful lessons largely align with the aspirations of STEM education. However, there is still a lack of deliberate advocacy of interdisciplinary teaching.

As can be seen from the account of the initiatives above, all of them were stand-alone projects. None of them built on previous projects. They were also initiated and supported financially by various cooperating partners. Thus, when the project phase came to an end, the intervention also folded up. Furthermore, none of the interventions addressed the issue of STEM education in Zambia in its totality. Most of these interventions focused on the improvement of teaching and learning, mainly science and mathematics, where performance in public examinations was low. However, despite the many interventions, learning achievement in mathematics and science subjects at all levels of the school system has remained low.

Lessons from the projects in the 2023 Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists Fair in relation to science, technology, engineering and mathematics

Several projects generated by students were scrutinised, and insights into the interdisciplinary approach to STEM education were gleaned. It was observed that, for example, mathematics in science is not just for describing what pupils could see in a compact way. Mathematics was being utilised as an epistemological tool – a way of generating new knowledge. There were subtle differences in the way mathematics was applied across the different science majors. For physics related thematic areas such as Participant L17F who used python software to programme a robot for guiding visually impaired people, and Participant L16M who designed a soya beans shelling machine, it was clear that, mathematics is the ‘to go’ epistemological resource – the one that was triggered first and the one thought in to support intuitions and results developed in other ways. Participant L17F explained how she developed the robot, which can guide the blind or guide a child to programmed destinations as follows: ‘I wrote the instructions (coding) according to the map …’ She clearly understood the mathematics behind the Python language, which she used to program a robot to perform meaningful actions as planned.

For projects inclined to biology, the mathematics was decidedly secondary. The participants made several observations, inductively, on the products they developed before coming to a logical conclusion. Some of the projects included, among others, Participant T36M P-Complex Herbal Formulation (P-C+& P-C-) project and Integrating Indigenous Medicines for Improved Healthcare in Zambia. The projects relied on observations and testimonies from others, and general traditional narratives. Participant T33M gave the following narration regarding his drug formulation he inverted: ‘When I administered the concoction to my clients, they reported positive results. They came for more of the concoction, and they recommended it to other people …’ The general observation on efficacy, toxicity and potency was followed by a deliberate effort to systematise the products by working out dosages and durations in which the formulations should be administered. Chemical kinetics and mathematical modelling were used to explain how the products work thereafter. The mathematics function came secondary to the undertaking. It was an epistemology resource to go to after most of the work was done.

It was clear that participants did not just calculate with mathematics, they built knowledge with it and thought with it, whether at the beginning, such as in physics or at the terminal stage of the project, such as in biology. It enabled the participants to carry out chains of reasoning that are longer than they can easily do in their heads by using formal logic represented symbolically in calculations, predictions and summarising and describing of data.

It was clear from the participants that mathematics was used for conceptual knowledge in functional dependence, packing concepts, and epistemology. By and large, the participants were involved in controlling mathematical variables in a meaningful way to optimise their research projects. It was apparent that the JETS fair was STEM in action, mostly and could represent a valid model for STEM implementation in Zambia. In all the projects that were reviewed, it was clear that the participants were innovative and had the tenacity of entrepreneurship and were consistent with Schumpeter entrepreneurship and innovation perspective that it is entrepreneurship that ‘replaces today’s Pareto optimum with tomorrow’s different new thing’. The participants were equal to the task of value addition, penetrating the relevant industries and taking Zambia and the rest of the world to a new level.

Discussion

In the case of Zambia, STEM education needs to be conceptualised in the context of Vision 2030, the nation’s aspiration to be ‘a strong and dynamic middle-income industrial nation that provides opportunities for improving the well-being of all’ (GRZ 2006:2). The Vision document emphasises the importance of quality education, skills development, and innovation as key drivers of economic growth and social progress. The 8th National Development Plan, a specific plan for the period 2021 to 2026 to operationalise Vision 2030, recognises the significance of STEM in driving economic growth and sustainable development. The plan highlights the need to enhance the quality of education and promote technical and vocational skills training to meet the demands of a rapidly changing global economy and provides a priority for STEM education that promotes research, innovation, productivity and competitiveness for national and international demands (GRZ 2006). Therefore, entrepreneurship needs to be embedded in STEM education provision that is responsive to national aspirations.

Implications for curriculum

The science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum should challenge learners to innovate and invent. It should involve learners applying mathematics and science they learn to solve engineering problems with the assistance of technology. Hence, the learners should show their understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in work-based real-life contexts (Kennedy & Odell 2014). To achieve this, offering standard-based STEM programmes to learners that use innovative instructional tools is cardinal to promoting applied and collaborative learning. The integration of technology into the culture, curriculum, teaching strategies and daily operations of classrooms is necessary to enhance and make learning relevant. Hence, STEM is being referred to as a meta-discipline in that its teaching and learning must be conducted in an interdisciplinary way within the confines of policy on education and the curriculum. This will enable the development of learners who have critical thinking skills that can be applied to both their academic and everyday lives.

Bybee (2010) has advocated an educational approach that emphasises competency in addressing the situation, problem, or issue at hand, and not exclusive knowledge of concepts and processes within the respective STEM disciplines. Thus, he advises having instructional approaches that begin with a challenge or problem that engages learners as they explore options and gain an understanding of the problem. The learners must ‘reach out to the respective STEM disciplines and apply knowledge and skills to the problem’ (p. 33). Thus, the learning outcomes for STEM education could focus on competencies such as learners being able to identify STEM issues, explain issues from STEM perspectives, and use STEM information. This means programmes for learners in STEM education should therefore involve a curriculum that is rigorous, instruction and assessment, an integration of technology and engineering into the science and mathematics-based subjects, and also enhance scientific inquiry and the engineering design processes. This places great demand on the learners as well as the teachers in that the learners ought to be seen to participate in the STEM activities, while teachers require orientation to successfully implement the envisaged vision so that learners can be knowledgeable in STEM-related activities.

Dugger (2010) advances various ways of teaching STEM education. The first approach is to teach each of the four STEM disciplines individually in schools. This is referred to as teaching each discipline as in a ‘silo’ as a stand-alone subject with little or no integration. The second approach is to teach each of the four STEM disciplines with more emphasis going to one or two of the four disciplines, for example, StEM. The third approach is to integrate one of the STEM disciplines into the other three being taught. For example, engineering content can be integrated into science, technology and mathematics courses. The fourth approach Dugger proposed was to infuse all four disciplines into each other and teach them as an integrated subject matter. For example, this may involve a science teacher integrating technical, engineering and mathematical content into science.

Prospects and challenges of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in Zambia

Zambia has several factors on which the successful implementation of STEM education could be anchored. There is some political will. Prioritisation of STEM fields in key national documents, including the 7th National Development Plan, is a good sign. Availability of the NSC as a full-fledged directorate in the Ministry of General Education to spearhead the implementation of STEM speaks well of the government’s will too. Very obviously, the need to support teachers through continuing professional development will be great. But then, the availability of the School Programme of In-service for the Term (SPRINT), a national framework for the implementation of teachers’ continuing professional development, assures an institutional framework for teachers’ CPD.

There is no shortage of challenges. For a start, the lack of clarity on what STEM education is means that a lot of effort can easily be wasted pursuing unclear goals. Another is that teachers in the STEM fields have been trained to be subject-specific. Thus, breaking the silos will continue to be a challenge to achieving an integrated approach to teaching constituents’ components of STEM.

Conclusion

Lessons from the literature reviewed overwhelmingly point to the need for STEM education to be conceptualised as an interdisciplinary body of knowledge through which the teaching and learning of the individual constituents of STEM can leverage each other. National policy points to the need to have a STEM education that is oriented towards entrepreneurship. To this effect, pockets of good practice incorporating entrepreneurship in STEM education exist, as illustrated by the projects done under the JETS. Therefore, Zambia should move from STEM to STEME, that is, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics with Entrepreneurship. The policy environment is encouraging, with STEM prioritised in several key national policy and curriculum documents. What is needed for a successful STEM education agenda in the country is a more consultative interpretation of STEM education, and, as proposed here, to embrace innovation and entrepreneurship, a systematic interface between research, policy formulation, and system-wide continuing professional development to enhance classroom practice. Linkage to the industry related to the innovation introduced by learners is crucial to their self-worth and is to be elevated to see their contribution as impactful, and to foster entrepreneurship. The linkage to industry players has been advocated by the JETS programme, and it is a model we feel is worth scaling up across the STEM implementation agenda. This aligns well with the theory chosen for this study.

Acknowledgements

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Bentry Nkhata: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Kabunga Nachiyunde: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Patricia P. Nalube: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Zanzini B. Ndhlovu: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Christopher Haambokoma: Conceptualisation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. All authors reviewed the article, contributed to the discussion of results, approved the final version for submission and publication, and take responsibility for the integrity of its findings.

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

All sources are referenced in the article. Field notes for participant observation at selected Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) Fairs are available on request from the corresponding author, Bentry Nkhata.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and are the product of professional research. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated institution, funder, agency or that of the publisher. The authors are responsible for this article’s results, findings, and content.

References