KUALA KANGSAR, The objective of organizing the Malaysia Techlympics is one of the methods in fostering the interest of pupils and school students in the fields of Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (STEM). Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said the program which also involves the Ministry of Education and the state government also focused on reducing the exposure gap between pupils and students in urban and rural areas. 'We can see many students from rural schools. We emphasize so that it is more balanced and can reduce the gap between urban and rural students,' he said after officiating the opening of the Perak state level National Science Week Carnival and 2024 North Zone Malaysia Techlympics at Dewan Jubli Perak, here today. Earlier, a total of 5,784 participants from 260 schools from the states of Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis competed in the Malaysia Techlympics 2024 Competition North Zone Level. The highlight of the Malaysia Techlympics 2024 competition will take place in Putrajaya next month involving other zones. Commenting on the establishment of the STEM Committee, Lih Kang said it also involves the Ministry of Education and the focus will be on how to deal with the decline of students in the field. Meanwhile, MOSTI focuses on cultural programs such as MSN and Malaysia Techlympics to support the formal education syllabus as set by the Ministry of Education. 'This close cooperation is very important in fostering STEM interest among children. The interest generated will in turn start producing more engineers, scientists, technology experts, coders and so on,' he said. Source: BERNAMA News Agency