The US Space & Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, will be opening its doors for Malaysian mathematics and science teachers to participate in an astronaut training and professional development programme next year.

Teachers from around the world, including Malaysia, are invited to apply for the 2015 Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy (Hesa) program, designed to address current trends in science, technology, engineering, and math (Stem) education.

Honeywell (Southeast Asia) president Jim Bujold in a statement said: "Over the years, Hesa has brought remarkable transformations among teachers globally by providing valuable opportunities for them to approach advanced technologies and innovative training methodologies.

"We would like to see more educators in the region involved in this program and gain unforgettable learning experience to inspire the next generation of scientists."

Since the inception of the program in 2004, Honeywell has sponsored more than 2,375 teachers from 55 countries to participate in the Hesa program, including 11 teachers from Malaysia.

Among others, the participants will take part in 45 hours of professional development, as well as an intensive educator curriculum focused on space science and exploration.

Activities include classroom, laboratory, and field training exercises linked to international science and math teaching standards.

Each successful applicant will receive a full scholarship to participate in the five-day programme.

The application deadline for the 2016 Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy is Monday, Jan 4, 2016.

A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), released in May this year, had ranked the mathematics and science proficiency among Malaysia's 15-year-olds as being comparable to counterparts in poorer and less developed countries.

The study, based on students' test scores in the two subjects, ranked Malaysia 52nd out of 76 countries, several rungs behind Thailand (47), Kazakhstan (49) and Iran (51).

Singapore, however, held the top spot, followed by Hong Kong and South Korea while Japan and Taiwan were joint-fourth - in what was seen as an Asian dominance in maths and science among school children.