The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has commissioned the first Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) facility at the Accra High School.

The centre will train both basic and second-cycle school learners in the use of modern equipment to promote Science and Arts education.

The inauguration of the STEAM centre last Wednesday makes it the first out of 20 STEAM facilities expected to be built across the country.

Dr Adutwum, who commended Robogroup for its commitment to the project and overseeing its successful completion, stated that STEM education was the best way to transform the country.

That, he said, was why the government, under the leadership of President Nana Akufo-Addo, was investing in STEM education.

He said Ghanaians were seen to be unique as they excelled in many competitions and academics all over the world and in order to sustain that uniqueness, Ghanaians needed to pull themselves together, understand and believe in themselves that they would be able to change the course of history of the nation.

“We can become a developed nation but it is going to emanate from how well we focus ourselves, how we remain determined and focused in the midst of challenges and say to ourselves we can.

“I believe where there are challenges, therein lies your opportunity,” the Minister of Education stated.

Girls in STEM

Dr Adutwum stated that due to the government’s commitment to increase girls in STEM education, the first STEM senior high school for girls had been built at Bosomtwe in the Ashanti Region and that it had three out of seven Science laboratories completed.

In addition to that, he revealed that three more STEM schools for girls would be built in Kumasi, Kpone Katamanso and Weija.

“Only 12 per cent of students enrolled in Engineering are girls at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and that is not good enough and so we want to provide that opportunity for girls to participate fully in STEM,” the minister said.

School within school project

“We also want to make sure our students are doing Engineering as their career pathway just like other students who do Science,” Dr Adutwum stated.

The acting Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah, stated that the government, through the Ministry of Education, had been pursuing reforms in the educational system to equip learners with 21st century skills to participate fully in the fourth industrial revolution.

The fourth industrial revolution, he stated, was characterised by technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, three- and four-dimensional (3D and 4D) printing, nanotechnology, the Internet of Things and so on.

He intimated that since the country missed out on the first, second and third revolutions, taking advantage of the fourth industrial revolution, which was STEM education, was non-negotiable, hence the government’s emphasis on STEM.

“GES, as an implementing agency, remains committed to pursuing STEM in our schools for the socioeconomic transformation of our country,” Dr Nkansah said.

The Chief Executive Officer of Robogroup, Yoram Doitch, expressed excitement about the completion of the Accra High STEAM centre and said it was going to impact into the learners 21st century skills.

The centre will help transform STEAM education at the Accra High School and other schools within the region.

It will be managed by 12 STEM coordinators and teachers specially trained in Israel.

The STEAM pedagogical centre managers have been equipped to effectively handle the 20 STEAM centres being sited in all the regions across the country.

SOURCE: GRAPHIC ONLINE