President Akufo-Addo being briefed by Mr Samuel Antwi (2nd from left), the architect on the project. With them is Dr Yaw Adutwum (left), the Minister of Education.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given the assurance that as part of his government’s commitment to advancing the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), some 20 STEM centres and 10 model STEM Senior High Schools are being constructed across the country.
The President made this disclosure yesterday when he cut sod for the construction of a STEM Academy at East Legon in Accra.
The Academy, which will be constructed within the next 24 months, will be completed from kindergarten to high school, with an expected population of some 2,000 students.
It will have a number of state-of-the-art facilities, including a four-storey classroom block, science laboratories, a sickbay, administrative area, staff common room, library, washrooms, canteen, and a 1,500 capacity multi-purpose hall.
“In addition, the Accra STEM Academy will be a place where learners in junior high school will be provided with the options of learning basic engineering, manufacturing, and global studies to help them make informed decisions on their preferred programmes of choice at senior high school level,” he said.
Describing the occasion as very historic in the delivery of education in Ghana, he said he was delighted that the STEM Academy is being built under his presidency.
Importance of STEM
President Akufo-Addo said no country had been able to rid itself of the shackles of poverty with an illiterate population. He added that his government therefore thought it wise to introduce the Free SHS some five years ago with the aim of widening access to secondary school education for the citizenry.
According to President Akufo-Addo, government attaches equal importance to the teaching of STEM at all levels of the nations educational system.
“This is in recognition of the centrality of the STEM education capability in our employment of science and technology towards our nation’s development,” he said.
The President said, with the world essentially driven by technology, energy, industry, agriculture, medicine and health, water, the successful exploitation of these sectors depends ultimately on the application of science and technology.
Developmental process
President Akufo-Addo further said science and technology must be present at every stage of the development process.
“A country’s evolution is its ability to understand, adapt, produce, commercialise scientific and technological knowledge in ways appropriate to its culture, it’s aspirations and level of developmental,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo bemoaned the fact that despite Ghana’s status as one of the countries on the continent that guarantee access to quality education, “Ghana’s education sector still requires some significant transformation to compete with the best in the world”.
He noted that to address this, Ghana must increase her Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (GTER) from the current 18.84 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030.
“In accordance with Government’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP), targeted at increasing our science to humanities ratio from the current one of forty to sixty (40:60) to the desired sixty to forty (60:40) in favour of science, Government is repositioning our education system, anchored on STEM Education,” he said.
“Ghana has been blessed with the best and brightest on the continent who can unleash our potential and make us an active participant in the fourth industrial revolution. The time has come for us to reorient our educational system to equip students with the right technological skills needed to succeed in the 21st century,” he added.
Inadequate
President Akufo-Addo also expressed concerns about the inadequate number of engineering graduates who are churned out annually in the country. According to him, compared to a country like Vietnam, Ghana must progress from the total number of 6,000 annual engineering graduates to at least 30,000 engineers.
He reiterated government’s commitment to tweaking the educational system for the desired level of socio-economic transformation.
“I expect parents and students to take advantage of this facility’s opportunities, and enroll in this STEM Academy. Government is committed to accelerating STEM education in Ghana, to train students with cutting-edge 21st century skills. God-willing, within the next twenty-four (24) months, we will all be back here to witness the commissioning of the Accra STEM Academy,” he added.
Gov’t seeks to produce 30,000 engineers annually through STEM education
By Nana Yaw Dwamena
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given the assurance that as part of his government’s commitment to advancing the learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), some 20 STEM centres and 10 model STEM Senior High Schools are being constructed across the country.
The President made this disclosure yesterday when he cut sod for the construction of a STEM Academy at East Legon in Accra.
The Academy, which will be constructed within the next 24 months, will be completed from kindergarten to high school, with an expected population of some 2,000 students.
It will have a number of state-of-the-art facilities, including a four-storey classroom block, science laboratories, a sickbay, administrative area, staff common room, library, washrooms, canteen, and a 1,500 capacity multi-purpose hall.
“In addition, the Accra STEM Academy will be a place where learners in junior high school will be provided with the options of learning basic engineering, manufacturing, and global studies to help them make informed decisions on their preferred programmes of choice at senior high school level,” he said.
Describing the occasion as very historic in the delivery of education in Ghana, he said he was delighted that the STEM Academy is being built under his presidency.
Importance of STEM
President Akufo-Addo said no country had been able to rid itself of the shackles of poverty with an illiterate population. He added that his government therefore thought it wise to introduce the Free SHS some five years ago with the aim of widening access to secondary school education for the citizenry.
According to President Akufo-Addo, government attaches equal importance to the teaching of STEM at all levels of the nations educational system.
“This is in recognition of the centrality of the STEM education capability in our employment of science and technology towards our nation’s development,” he said.
The President said, with the world essentially driven by technology, energy, industry, agriculture, medicine and health, water, the successful exploitation of these sectors depends ultimately on the application of science and technology.
Developmental process
President Akufo-Addo further said science and technology must be present at every stage of the development process.
“A country’s evolution is its ability to understand, adapt, produce, commercialise scientific and technological knowledge in ways appropriate to its culture, it’s aspirations and level of developmental,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo bemoaned the fact that despite Ghana’s status as one of the countries on the continent that guarantee access to quality education, “Ghana’s education sector still requires some significant transformation to compete with the best in the world”.
He noted that to address this, Ghana must increase her Gross Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (GTER) from the current 18.84 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030.
“In accordance with Government’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP), targeted at increasing our science to humanities ratio from the current one of forty to sixty (40:60) to the desired sixty to forty (60:40) in favour of science, Government is repositioning our education system, anchored on STEM Education,” he said.
“Ghana has been blessed with the best and brightest on the continent who can unleash our potential and make us an active participant in the fourth industrial revolution. The time has come for us to reorient our educational system to equip students with the right technological skills needed to succeed in the 21st century,” he added.
Inadequate
President Akufo-Addo also expressed concerns about the inadequate number of engineering graduates who are churned out annually in the country. According to him, compared to a country like Vietnam, Ghana must progress from the total number of 6,000 annual engineering graduates to at least 30,000 engineers.
He reiterated government’s commitment to tweaking the educational system for the desired level of socio-economic transformation.
“I expect parents and students to take advantage of this facility’s opportunities, and enroll in this STEM Academy. Government is committed to accelerating STEM education in Ghana, to train students with cutting-edge 21st century skills. God-willing, within the next twenty-four (24) months, we will all be back here to witness the commissioning of the Accra STEM Academy,” he added.
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