Keta District holds first STME Clinic for girls

Keta (V/R), Jan. 15, GNA- The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports is working out modalities for effective integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education. Accordingly, a policy framework has been developed to offer the needed guidelines for the implementation of the policy.

Mrs Sophia Gifty Awortwi, Director of Science Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) said this at the closing session of the first Science Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) clinic for girls in the Keta District on Thursday.

Mrs Awortwi, who is also the national co-ordinator for STME, said that a national ICT laboratory had been completed and fully equipped with computers to offer training in the effective use of ICT in education.

The Co-ordinator therefore urged girls to study hard to overcome the inferiority complex among female students in the past that science and mathematics were subjects solely preserved for males only. Mr S.K. Dewortor, Keta District Director of Education, commended the government for decentralising the STME clinic to the district level to enable more females to get into the sciences and mathematics, which in the past used to be male dominated subjects.

The District Director, however regretted that cultural biases, lack of science equipment and inadequate resources to maintain science resource centres had made the study of science related subjects increasingly difficult.

Mr Dewortor therefore expressed the hope that the STME clinic, the first to be held in the district, would ginger up the interest of the girls in science.

Mr Philip Edeckor, Keta District Co-ordinator of STME, observed that the clinic was aimed at breaking the psychological, social and cultural barriers and disabuse, the minds of girls about myths surrounding the study of science, mathematics and technology. He appealed to stakeholders of education to help sponsor STME clinics regularly so that more girls will have the opportunity to participate in the training programmes.

Over 50 girls were drawn from first and second cycle institutions throughout the district and taken through various activities. These include development and exhibition of science projects, film shows, talks and lecturers on moral education, career guidance and counselling. The rest were batik and tie and dye making, computer training, screen printing and field visits to places of scientific interest.

Some female role models invited to give talks were Mrs Lucy Agbemeseli, Keta District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Mrs Charity Dotse, Women in Technology, as well as Mrs Esther Meme deSouza of Girls Education Unit of the district.