BizTech: This science set company is helping create Ghana’s next generation of inventors

It is common to see schools kids in Ghana being taught electronics with a blackboard, chalk and a smattering of books. Now, they have everything they need at their disposal to build their own circuits.

Children across Ghana are able to pursue their science dreams thanks to the small kit called science sets.

The kit has 45 items that students use to perform experiments and learn science in a practical way.

Charles Ofori Antipem, 28, is the serial inventor making practical science a reality for students in Ghana and beyond. He has literally put a science lab in the hands of kids at the cost of 150 cedis.

The story of the Science Set began in 2012 when Antipem entered the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to study mechanical engineering. During school breaks, he went back home and brought children together to teach them science.

It was during these trips that Antipem wondered: “I had only the rainfall bottle. What would happen if I gave the kids better than I had?”

So in 2015, he built what would become a prototype of the Science Set in his dorm. He and his friend Michael Asante-Afrifa then worked on improving it. When he brought this kit back to the children in his home, it made a difference: “The teachers were excited, and the kids were excited to be inventing”, Antipem said.

Speaking on GhanaWeb’s BizTech programme, the director of strategic planning Caleb Fugah said Dext Technology limited has a global goal of putting a science lab on the desk of every student.

"Being able to put the sets on the desks of the students and see that glow in their eyes when they build that first electrical circuit," he says.

He told GhanaWeb’s Desmond Frimpong, “That is what keeps us going."

He believes the kit produced by Dext Technology is simply a revolutionary tool that is delivering on bridging the gap between the haves and have nots to acquire practical science education at the least possible cost imaginable.

Charles set up his company Dext Technology three years ago. The company has over ten staff and has so far sold a lot of sets to government and private schools across Ghana.

Watch the interview below: