In many parts of the world, education innovations can’t keep up with the massive rush of interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM learning.
A company in Tunisia is trying to change that.
Sciencia is a Tunis-based education company offering educational kits, teaching materials and more to schools and education centers around the country. Video resources on the Sciencia web site show kids eagerly participating in a range of interactive experiments.
“We measure our success by how happy our kids are after our workshops, and how eager they are to show and explain things to their friends, to their parents and others about what they learned and what they have built or done as experiments,” Mohamed Jaidane, one of the company’s founders, told Maghreb News Wire on Aug. 18. “We believe our success is mainly due to the passion of the entire team to ease the access to STEM, share our knowledge, and create a positive impact on the development and education of kids and youths…We also believe that teaching and learning of STEM are optimally made thru a learning-by-doing experience, and that this experience does not require a lot of resources.”
The plan for the company, Jaidane said, is to first expand in North Africa, and then build the Sciencia brand around the world. Being in Tunisia, Jaidane said, offers some advantages. Some local non-government officials in education have helped to build awareness.
“All this provides us an environment and an economy to shape ourselves with talented resources massively available in Tunisia as well as proximity to different hubs in Europe, MENA and Africa,” Jaidane said.
Eventually, Jaidane wants Sciencia to be a household name.
“We project Sciencia as a network of Scientific Leisure Centers around the world, providing a complementary experience to learn and teach STEM to kids and youths,” Jaidane said, likening the idea to “the McDonald’s of STEM.” “Knowledge should be accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere. Sciencia educational kits and teaching equipment will also be present in schools, and at home, so the learning continues, with always a hint of amusement.”
