PRESIDENT Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. wants the government to offer scholarships for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics courses to encourage more students to enroll.

The President said that increasing the number of STEM students will address the lack of talent for information and communication technology businesses.

During the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Marcos ordered Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy to coordinate with industry players to determine their specific needs and address jobs mismatch.

Uy told Marcos that a lot of Information Technology graduates lack the equipment and training needed by the ICT business.

He admitted that few students are taking STEM programs.

Marcos is committed to close the research and development gap in STEM, saying that the Philippines has “a lot to catch up” in these areas.

According to experts, the Philippines needs to make an investment in resolving these problems to have a strong STEM community and maintain its competitiveness.

Experts said that investing in STEM could help boost the country’s economy.