Background

Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) among students needs to be given serious attention. This is important to ensure that the country has knowledgeable and skilled human capital in line with the needs of the country by 2050.

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To ensure that the human capital needs are met, the culture of innovation and creativity of society needs to be intensified through the implementation of programs and activities based on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Comprehensive involvement of society such as teachers, students, parents, non-governmental organizations and industry is believed to increase awareness and interest in the importance of STI. In order to make a more comprehensive impact, a special week needs to be devoted as one of the initiatives to intensify the national science movement. Following this, the Government has set the National Science Week to be celebrated in the first week of April yearly starting in 2018.

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This National Science Week celebration is in line with the World Science Day celebration organized by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) since 2002 which is also practiced in several countries such as South Africa, the People's Republic of China, Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom. In addition, countries such as India and Thailand allocate only one day for the science day celebration.