Assessing The Status Of STEM Education In Basic Level In Prestea Hunni-Valley Municipality

It is an undeniable fact that STEM Education has received so much attention in Ghana recently as the country aims at creating a competent workforce to support its economic growth and development. Sub-Saharan Africa is also seeing a boom in the Information Communication Technology industry which is set to continue growing, with Ghana acting as a leading hub.

On this, it is projected that Ghana alone is to offer nine million digital jobs and nearly Four Billion Dollars in revenue potential by the year 2030 according to the 2019 International Finance Corporation (IFC) report entitled ‘Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa’.

The Government of Ghana indeed recognizes this huge potential as well as the importance of digitization and STEM Education in Ghana, resulting in some significant policy commitments.

In 2018, the Ministry of Education published the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2030, which highlights the need for ‘improved quality of teaching and learning and STEM at all level’ as a key priority.

The Government’s move to invest in the construction of thirty five STEM Schools nationwide is very visionary and highly commendable. As of December, 2023, seven of such schools were in full operation according to the sector Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) is also in the process of developing STEM Curriculum for all levels to help realize this national agenda.

However, in spite of this ongoing focus on STEM Education in Ghana, it has been observed that there is a significantly low drive and enthusiasm in STEM Learning at the Basic Level in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality. An initial survey conducted by this writer revealed that a paltry 9.4% of the sampled 2,098 candidates from Public Basic Schools, who wrote the 2023 BECE, opted to pursue STEM related programmes at the Senior High School.

Indeed, not all of them were even fortunate to be selected by the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to pursue such programmes.

Surprisingly, some teachers and students who were interviewed proved to be unaware of the existing STEM Programmes and Services in Ghana, not to talk of its tremendous potential of empowering the next generation of Ghanaians to be able to compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.

It becomes quite obvious that if such a trend should continue where most of the BECE candidates from the Municipality opt for non-STEM Programmes at the Senior High School, then we would be laying a foundation which could cause our young ones to struggle in the future job market.

Without any further delays, some drastic measures need to be put in place by stakeholders to change this narrative. UNESCO’s Research and Analysis Team asserts that ‘If we start acting now, in 2050 we could have equal access to technology and more critical citizens’.

In an attempt to tackle the situation, a survey is currently underway to specifically identify the existing barriers and opportunities and to assess the general awareness levels among teachers and students, for possible redress which would ultimately seek to ignite STEM Learning at the Basic Level in the Municipality.

Although the survey is yet to be finalized, a few challenges have been expressed by some teachers and students who were engaged; and are highlighted as follows:

Few Basic Schools in the Municipality own Science equipment and laboratories necessary to implement STEM Learning

There are limited practical learning opportunities for students; and such practical activities are limited to teacher demonstrations

Most teachers have not received any training with respect to how to integrate STEM Learning into their teaching methodologies

There seem to be a disconnection between policy makers and schools. Therefore, a lot of teachers and other stakeholders are not fully aware of the Government’s plan to roll out STEM Education in the country making it difficult to disseminate information and make use of available resources to reinforce it.

There is lack of funds to procure appropriate resources for teachers to use for their practical activities during contact periods

These and many more are the existing realities which should be confronted head on if we do not want our children to be left behind.

In spite of these challenges, there seem to be some opportunities that could be explored to our advantage. For instance, the Municipality is fortunate to have a state-of-the-art 48-seater Computer Laboratory named ‘Yamoransa Model Lab.8’ established in Bogoso. This facility could be leveraged significantly to turn things around.

The Laboratory, which was constructed by the Municipal Assembly under the able leadership of the Municipal Chief Executive, Hon. Dr. Isaac Dasmani, was fully furnished by Helping Africa Foundation and Friends of Yamoransa Foundation, (NGOs), with technical support from TechAide and the Implementers. The former Member of Parliament, Hon. Lawyer Mrs. Barbara Oteng Gyasi is credited for initiating the whole discussion towards the establishment of the Laboratory.

The ultra-modern facility is equipped with 48 computers and accessories, a virtual reality set-up, robotics kits, Arduino kits, a 3-D printer and a conference room available for students and the larger community. The potential of this Laboratory in helping to consolidate STEM Education in the Municipality is very huge.

All hands must therefore be on deck to take advantage of this facility and other existing opportunities to resolve the identified challenges, in order to nurture the children’s interest and desire in STEM Education from the Early Childhood to the Junior High School and beyond.

A strong foundation in this field could open for our students a wide array of career pathways such as Biomedical Science, Engineering, Computer Programming, Information Communication Technology, Robotics, Aerospace and Aviation, Manufacturing, Agricultural Science and many more. It calls for the right structures to be put in place at the onset of the children’s academic journey.

In conclusion, our attempt to ignite STEM Education at the Basic Level in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality should not be seen as one of the usual academic exercises. It should rather be seen as a strategic investment in job creation for the teeming youth, future prosperity and well-being of our communities.

By having everyone’s commitment and support to consolidate STEM Learning at the Basic Level, the Municipality can only hope to cultivate a culture of lifelong learning, curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, innovation and problem solving skills on the part of our youth for the benefit of the Municipal and the nation as a whole.

Let us be reminded of what Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, once said that, ‘You cannot memorize your way out of poverty, but you can think critically and innovate out of poverty’. The time for us to act is now!

By Ghapson Buabeng

The writer is the

Deputy Director – Human Resource Management and Development

Prestea Huni-Valley Municipal Education Directorate

Bogoso – Western Region

Editor’s note: Views expressed in this article do not represent that of The Chronicle

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