The Centre for Gender, Research Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has held a mentorship programme for students of the Academy of Christ the King SHS to commemorate the 8th International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
The mentorship program for the second and third-year Science and Home Economics students of the Cape Coast-based School was to enlighten them mainly on the Science related programmes they can pursue in the University and the career opportunities they come with.
Speaking exclusively to ATL FM NEWS after the programme, one of the facilitators at the programme who is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at UCC, Dr. Ama Kyeraa Thomford mentioned the need to commend the current government and past governments for promoting STEM education in the country.
She added saying the inclusion of Innovation and Architecture in the STEM stream has also become an important topic for discussion saying it was highlighted to enable young ladies to understand the several career paths they can take therein.
She commended CEDGRAD for taking the initiative to meet up with the students to enlighten them on STEM education.
“We are grateful to CEGRAD for allowing us to meet up with the students of Academy of Christ the King Senior High School, particularly their Science and Home Economics students. And we were glad that they even let the male students also join in to be agents of change while supporting the young ladies in their chosen areas of study,” she said.
The Headmistress of the Academy of Christ the King SHS, Madam Florence Offei was glad the mentorship programme had a link with the subjects the students were studying and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She expressed her satisfaction with the impact it was going to have on the students.
“Since they are targeted at the SDG goals, I feel that it’s very, very good for our students. The students, in the sense that for what the facilitators have presented to them, it’s kind of opened up their minds to the many opportunities out there that for the programs that they are reading, they can also move ahead.”
Some student mentees who spoke to the news team were grateful to be part of the mentorship programme.
One student said, “certain rumors were going around that you can’t get a job after reading a certain course but after this program, I’ve got to know that it’s not true; rather there are courses when you offer Home Economics you can do aside from always being a nurse.”
Another also said “this program has helped me clarify some doubts that I had earlier about my future career. I had wanted to be an Electrical Engineer, but now with this programme, I know that I can also do Computer Science, which initially I thought was impossible.”
The mentorship programme was under the global theme for the day celebration “bringing everyone forward for sustainable and equitable development.”
Read also: Ghanaians urged to encourage girl-child participation in STEM related programs
Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
