About 22 Senior High Schools from the western and Central Region on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 gathered at Adisadel College, Cape Coast to exhibit their innovation in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The program dubbed STEMNNOVATION, is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition focusing on the 21st Century skills to solve National Challenges.
It is a program put together by the by the Ministry of Education through the Ghana Education Service, with its partners including the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation among others.
Speaking to ATLFMNEWS, a STEM educator and the lead judge for the competition, Mr. Ben Amoako hinted that the program will aid in promoting STEM Education and make it relevant not only to the students but to the benefits of the entire Ghanaian populace.
He said theproject which focuses on the three areas-urban garden, cheap electricity, and clean water will help reduce the pressure on the country’s resources, especially the energy, food and water.
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According to him, Ghana’s population is growing fast and when there’s population growth, there’s so much pressure on all resources in the country; energy, water and food.
“It is time, as Ghanaians, we have to use the knowledge students have to come out with creative ideas for us to implement, or organizations to support, in order for us to be able to meet our needs in these three areas. Now, there are quite a lot of challenges, but these were the top three that we noticed”, he said.
Mr. Amoako said food has become very expensive globally because of major challenges with land use, and other environmental issues adding “we are having challenges with food security. So, we are looking at how innovative we can approach food security, integrating STEM”.
Mr. Amoako also noted that most people in urban areas don’t drink water from the tap, which means that water is becoming very expensive and there is the need to find an innovative way to treat “our water so that we can have potable water for today and then in the future”.
Touching on the successfulness of the programme, Mr. Amoako touted the demonstration of creativity and innovation by the participating schools, and therefore called for support from both the government, organizations and individuals to help invest in the projects to make it a reality.
He also urged parents to support and encourage their children who demonstrate desire for STEM education.
“If we continue as a country and also if governments or individuals or industries or organizations can support these projects, a time will come when we will not need so many resources in terms of funding for our education or our homes. We are actually going to reduce a lot of costs in our living”, he reiterated.
BY ERIC SEKYI
