The Minister of Education, Jokin Bildarratz, presented and presented the II. The STEAM Euskadi Awards were presented on 8 June. The awards are part of the Department of Education's STEAM Strategy and aim to promote early vocations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics - linked to the arts and humanities. STEAM is an English acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics.

Along with the Minister, Begoña Pedrosa, Deputy Minister of Education, Adolfo Morais, Deputy Minister of Universities and Research, and Jorge Arevalo, Deputy Minister of Vocational Training, took part in the event. On behalf of the Basque Innovation Agency, Alaitz Landaluz, General Coordinator of Innovation Policies, took part.

During the awards ceremony, the Minister of Education, Jokin Bildarratz, applauded the large number of initiatives presented for this year's award (137) and reaffirmed his commitment to continue promoting the STEAM Euskadi Strategy, which is part of this initiative.

Speaking about this strategy promoted by the Department of Education, the Minister reminded that this makes a special emphasis on student girls, regardless of their level of education. “The aim of the STEAM Strategy is to bring all students closer to the scientific-technological disciplines, so that they can lose their fear and feel comfortable there. And especially for girls, so that they can do university studies or Vocational Training related to this content ”.

Bildarratz also mentioned the quality and level of the projects submitted this year, and in particular the winners of the two categories of the competition, after they had submitted their work. In the words of the Minister, as is often the case in education, the key lies not so much in the content of the lessons, but in the way the lessons are taught and in the ways they are chosen to bring those contents closer to the students.

Award-winning initiatives

The call for awards is made by the Department of Education in collaboration with Innobasque - the Basque Innovation Agency. There are two categories in the awards: the first category rewards innovative STEAM Education initiatives in non-university schools, and the second category rewards proposals from other types of entities (such as universities, agents of the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network). is there. In each category, there is a first prize of 3,000 euros, a second prize of 2,000 euros and a special mention of the gender perspective (1,000 euros). In all cases, the award of prizes will be directed to STEAM actions.