By Prince Acquah
Abakrampa (C/R), Aug 9, GNA – CAMFED Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation championing girls’ education, has revamped the science laboratories of some 11 deprived secondary and technical schools in the Central Region with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) equipment.
This is to ensure effective teaching and learning of the sciences and provide the students, particularly girls, with the requisite practical knowledge and skills required to progress in the modern world of education and work.
The equipment includes microscopes, burette, pipette, litmus papers, magnifying glass, electrical and electronic equipment, and replicas of the human skeleton and human body among other critical items presented to the schools based on their respective needs.
The schools include Abakrampa Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Aburaman Senior High School (SHS), Asuansi Technical Institute, Nsaba Presbyterian SHS, and Kwanyako SHTS.
The rest are Mankessim, Kwegyir Aggrey, Gomoa SHTSs, Ekumfi TI Ahmadiyya, Mozano, and Methodist SHSs.
The equipped laboratories were simultaneously handed over to the schools with a symbolic tape-cutting ceremony at the Asuansi Technical Institute.
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Madam Fairuza Abdul Rasheed Safian, the National Director of CAMFED Ghana, explained that the gesture was in line with the NGO’s six-year strategic plan, which sought to provide comprehensive support to marginalised school children and drive transformation in Ghana’s education system.
It was also to offer assistance to young females to enable them to transition into successful adults, she said.
Madam Safian underscored the importance of practical learning of STEM to the future of the country and advocated adequate resourcing of the schools to make them deliver.
“If you want these young women to stand out, shine, stay and complete school successfully, the schools should be equipped with the needed resources for teaching and learning to be very effective…so they will become useful citizens in future,” she stated.
Madam Safian said CAMFED’s interventions to deprived schools with limited attention from the government were to ensure equity in education across the country.
She said the organisation had partnered with the districts and the communities, school authorities, and district education offices to monitor and ensure the labs and equipment were put to good use.
“We hope that the equipment will be put to good use so that at the end of the day, we have students completing successfully and transitioning into their choices of livelihoods in the near future,” she said.
The CAMFED Director commended their donors, Ghana Education Service (GES), partner schools and all other stakeholders for their support.
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Dr Mrs Juliette Dufie Otami, the District Director of Education, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, said countries must embrace STEM if they do not want to be left behind in the 21st Century.
Ghana’s Government, through the Ministry of Education and GES, placed a high premium on STEM education and worked to resource schools with the needed facilities to further that cause, she said.
“When you are talking about STEM without equipment, how do you go about it?” she queried, adding: “By 2030, every job that we apply for will demand knowledge in STEM education according to a UNESCO report. Now we are going by digitalisation and you do not want to be left behind,” she said.
Dr Otami entreated the students to make efficient use of the equipment and take good care of them for the next generation of students to also benefit.
Representative of the various beneficiary schools shared their experience with CAMFED and expressed gratitude for the partnership and support.
Mr Peter Anim Amoani, the Vice Principal of Asunasi Technical Institute, indicated that most courses offered by the school were science-related but they were woefully under-resourced, commending CAMFED for its partnership and intervention.
He was hopeful that the equipment would make teaching and learning more fun and efficient.
Mr Amoani, however, made an appeal to CAMFED for a girls’ dormitory to accommodate the about 600 girls of the school who currently lived in apartments designated for staff.
Mr George Ocran, the Headmaster, of Gomoa Technical Senior High School, said the support from CAMFED had relieved the school of the burden of travelling to other schools to undertake applied electricity practicals during WASSCE.
He said almost everything they needed at the science laboratory and Home Economics Department had been provided by CAMFED.
“You have saved me from thinking that will lead me to grow older than my age. God bless you and give you the needed ability to do more,” Mr Ocran said.
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“There are more girls who need the education so help us to educate more girls to become like you.”
Mr James Emmanuel Paintsil, the Senior Housemaster of Nsaba Presbyterian SHS, CAMFED’s support for young girls in the school over the past nine years had reduced teenage pregnancy and enhanced students’ retention.
GNA