Strengthen STEM education – GSA
THE Ghana Science Association (GSA) has appealed to the Government to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education at the basic school level with increased investment to establish a stronger foundation for higher education and development.
The Association acknowledged significant efforts by successive governments to promote STEM education but observed that the approach had been lopsided, leaving basic schools to struggle.
Dr Benjamin Aboagye, the President of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Branch of the Association, said the basic school level had been largely neglected with most schools lacking basic resources, which helped to make STEM education more practical, easier and fun.
Dr Aboagye made the call when the UCC branch of the Association held a capacity building workshop for 51 STEM teachers selected from 51 basic schools across the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District.
Facilitators from UCC took the teachers through pedagogical strategies for teaching STEM subjects to make it more interesting and practical.
The facilitators also sharpened focus on Electronics, a topic most of the participants found difficult to teach.
Dr Aboagye, therefore, entreated government to establish STEM resource centres for basic schools across the various districts where students could go and have practical experience of the curriculum to whip up their interest in reading science at the higher level.
“The government should move down from the second cycle to the basic level so that they, too, will have the practical knowledge and understanding of the science subjects so that when they get to the secondary level, they will know exactly what they are doing,” he said.
Dr Aboagye explained that the training, held annually, was intended to discourage rote learning and encourage 21st Century teaching methods, which were more practical and engaging.
Mr Mawuena Kofi Abotsi, the STEM coordinator, Ajumako District, said though the district was not doing badly in STEM, it was plagued with the challenges including the lack of resources and inadequate qualified teachers.
He noted that the practice of posting teachers without recourse to their areas of specialisation in relation to the needs of the respective schools was a major challenge affecting STEM education in the district.
Credit: GNA
