AS the world faces overlapping challenges – from energy to food and climate crises – the ability to think critically and solve real-world problems has become an essential skill.
Through various initiatives, Yayasan PETRONAS is equipping Malaysia’s teachers and students to do just that.
Its flagship initiative, the Program Duta Guru (Teacher Ambassador Programme), aims to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education by empowering teachers to bring hands-on, inquiry-based learning into their classrooms.
“It’s a two-year journey where teachers not only undergo training but also gain exposure to what the industry is doing.
Shariah“We help them experience real-world problem-solving so that they can, in turn, inspire their students to think critically and creatively,” said Yayasan PETRONAS chief executive officer Shariah Nelly Francis.
At the end of the programme, participating teachers receive a STEM kit to help them develop classroom projects that mirror real-world applications.
Eligible teachers, she noted, may also receive funding for innovation initiatives, enabling them to create makerspaces, interterrain projects, or establish student innovation centres in their schools.
To ensure teachers remain connected to current industry developments, Shariah said the foundation also sponsors participants to attend key conferences such as Energy Asia and the Orbital Technical Conference.
“These conferences expose educators to global discussions on issues like energy crisis, food security crisis and climate crisis – knowledge they can take back to inspire their students,” she explained.
Beyond empowering teachers, Yayasan PETRONAS also nurtures students directly through its Student Innovation Centre initiative - collaborative, student-led environments where learners experiment, explore and build solutions together.
Many of these centres have evolved into hubs of collaboration among schools, where students not only prepare for competitions but also teach and challenge one another, deepening their understanding and sparking continuous discovery.
“Children are naturally open-minded and imaginative. Given the opportunity to explore and discover, they may hold the answers to many of today’s pressing problems – answers that those of us bound by conventional ways of thinking might not be able to see,” Shariah said.
Shariah shared her insights during the Bett Asia 2025 Leadership Summit. Her session, “Empowering the STEM generation: Building confidence, capacity and community”, focused on strengthening a more resilient and inclusive STEM ecosystem.
