Investment in girls in STEM education, key to national development - Bono Regional Director of Education

Gabriel Antwi, the Bono Regional Director of Education has said investing in girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is key for national development.

Antwi explained women were the pivots of nation-building and that their role in society had ensured progress, stability, and long-term development, hence investing in them to take up STEM courses would accelerate national development.

‘‘There was the erroneous impression that the kitchen is the place of women, but in recent times this wrong notion has been demystified after the Beijing affirmation. The girl-child has been encouraged and inspired to venture into fields in STEM to demystify the myth that STEM was a male domain”, he stated.

Antwi was speaking at a programme to commemorate the International Day for Girls in ICT organised by the Bono Regional Directorate of Education in collaboration with the Sunyani Senior High School (SUSEC) on the theme "Equipping Girls with Digital Skills for Life through STEM Education” on Thursday in Sunyani.

More than 180 students and teachers participate from two basic schools, SUSEC Model and Sunyani Police Experimental as well as four Senior High Schools (SHSs),

SUSEC, Notre Dame Girls, Sacred Heart, and Twene Amanfo in the Sunyani and Sunyani West Municipalities participated in the event.

Antwi stressed knowledge was embedded in the bosom of good education, so without proper ICT education, especially for girls at a tender age, the acquisition of the right knowledge, digital skills, and interests in STEM could be stifled or remained a mirage.

He indicated, impacting STEM on students’ learning could be achieved when teachers were well-resourced, digitally literate, and understood how to integrate ICT into the curriculum.

Antwi said the government had made efforts to improve and provide quality education delivery in ICT through the digitalization of teaching and learning and had demonstrated commitment through programmes’ initiatives like the One Teacher, One Laptop, One Student, One Tablet) and the Ministry of Education WiFi Internet Connectivity Project.

He said the infrastructure development of those initiatives was huge and the government could not achieve that alone within the shortest possible time

Antwi, therefore, appealed to stakeholders to complement the government’s efforts in ICT development in educational institutions.

Mighty Abrah Ayidzoe, a lecturer at the Computer Science Department of the University of Energy and Natural Resources encouraged girls to develop their digital skills to enable them to have effective communication with gadgets, verify authentic information as well as connect them to businesses.

She told the participants, being digitally skilled would empower them and build their creative skills in approaching and solving problems and therefore advised them to avail themselves of that because there were numerous opportunities in STEM education.

Fosu Yaa Konadu, a third-year General Arts student of Notre Dame Girls SHS and a participant sharing her experience with the Ghana News Agency said with STEM education girls would have the ability to explore and bring out the creativity in them which in turn would enhance the socio-economic development of the country.