The Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Price (GSTEP) challenge organizers have received a request from Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the minister of education, asking them to expand the program to other parts of the nation.
He claims that children in every school in Ghana are equally gifted and clever.
The minister was addressing the public-private partnership conference at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) during the GSTEP exhibition and awards ceremony in 2023.
He stated in his presentation, “You assembled a group of kids whose innovations we all saw last year. We have skills all around Ghana, so I implore the program’s sponsors to expand it to the rest of the nation as you have done this year by sending children from Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Eastern.
The government is dedicated to advancing STEM education, which has started at the senior high school level in various districts. Junior high schools are to be included in the program, and in order to accommodate pupils, building is now underway.
Therefore, when students develop their own original projects to aid in solving societal problems, Dr. Adutwum praised the GSTEP consortium for re-enforcing the STEM program through the competition.
“I really thank the GSTEP organizers for coming up with such a novel idea. We sincerely appreciate the goals you have set for junior high school pupils. You are reiterating the government’s commitment to building the STEM pipeline, and we sincerely appreciate your work.”
He also praised the participating teachers and kids for their imaginative problem-solving and inventive science and technology projects that may eventually lessen some of the environmental issues their communities are facing.
One hundred teams have displayed their fictitious concepts in anticipation of the grand award, which will go to the team with the greatest project solving societal problems. Dr. Yaw Adutwum is hopeful that there would be improvements to Ghana’s educational system given the caliber of inventions that the teams have showcased.
As a result, the Minister has urged all learners, educators, and other private citizens to take up the cause and alter the course of the country’s educational history.
The GSTEP Challenge inspires young people to use STEM to solve challenges in their communities in novel and creative ways. Schools in the Ashanti and Greater Accra areas were the first to participate last year. With the subject “Private and public partnerships forging the future of Ghana: STEM education as a stepping stone,” the Eastern Region was represented in this year’s edition.
The Chief of Staff, Frema Opare, who was invited as a special guest of honor, traditional leaders, Simone Giger, the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, and well-known STEM specialists were among the dignitaries that attended the occasion.
While imparting soft skills like communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities, the curriculum helps the students build prototypes of the concepts they have generated for the challenge.
A group headed by the DreamOval Foundation is collaborating with MEST Africa, Foundervine, Challenge Works, and DEXT Technology to execute the GSTEP program. The media partner is Joy Prime.
