Diana Barbu with Andrew Falloon. Photo supplied.Applications open on Wednesday for this year’s $1500 Andrew Falloon MP STEM scholarship.

Last year’s recipient was Ashburton College student Diana Barbu (above).

It is for students who have attended secondary school in the Rangitata electorate, and are interested in taking on a STEM subject at tertiary level, that is science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

“By itself my scholarship won’t solve the problem of skills shortages, but I hope that it will encourage more people to look at training in the areas we need to keep our economy moving,” Falloon said.

“Nearly every day I hear from employers the difficulty in finding locals with specialised training in STEM subjects.”

Falloon had sold almost $900 worth of raffle tickets at local A&P shows, and topped up the remainder of the scholarship himself.

Fellow judges will be Nigel Davenport from Aoraki Development, and Bevan Rickerby, the economic development manager at the Ashburton District Council.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 10 September 2019