In an effort to further encourage students to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses, the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute will hold the first-ever National Youth Science, Technology, and Innovation Festival from 25 to 28 October at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

"I see this as a great opportunity for the DoST to expand its reach and encourage more students to pursue STEM courses and increase the pool of scientists and researchers in the country," DoST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said during the pre-event media conference on Thursday.

According to Solidum, the Philippines has only 174 researchers per million population.

"We are already behind countries within Southeast Asia alone where Singapore has 6,730 researchers per million population, while Malaysia has more than 2,200 researchers per million population," he said.