Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister for Education, says a clear and strategic vision for transformation is essential to driving meaningful change in Ghana’s education system and the African Continent.
He said education was key to shaping the future of the continent and called for the prioritization of the educational system to achieve the needed goal of effective and efficient transformation.
The Minister for Education was speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day Policy Dialogue Forum on Integration of STEM Education and Play-Based Pedagogies in African Education in Accra.
The forum was organised as a partnership between the Ministry of Education and the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
It seeks to present research products to create awareness on the status of STEM education in Africa and foster dialogue on opportunities, challenges, and strategies for implementing integrated STEM education and learner-centered pedagogies.
Dr. Adutwum said the focus was not solely on STEM education to the exclusion of other important disciplines, and that the introduction of new courses, such as the Performing Arts, demonstrated a broader commitment to a well-rounded curriculum beyond STEM.
He said in Ghana, the focus had primarily been on solidifying STEM education before expanding to STEAM, such that while integrating the Arts into STEM was important, it was also crucial to ensure that STEM was firmly established first.
“Once STEM is fully grounded and widely understood, we can then incorporate the Arts without compromising the integrity of STEM, thus creating a robust STEAM framework,” he added.
The Minister said Ghana would be opening its first ever Creative Arts High School in Kumasi, where the future generation of actors for the entire African Continent would be educated.
“We want to be the country that produces future African talents in Arts, and we want to begin with that by educating the children here in Ghana at Kumasi,” he added.
Professor Mark Adom-Asamoah, STEM Advisor at the Ministry of Education, said ADEA was committed to advancing education that prepared the youth for the opportunities and challenges of the future.
He said education was not just a pathway to individual growth, but a fundamental driver of Africa’s sustainable development.
The STEM Advisor said today’s global economy and future job markets demanded skills in STEM fields, hence the ability to think critically, solve complex problems and innovate was essential.
“Therefore, it is imperative that we prioritise STEM education, not only at the secondary level, but also in primary schools, where a strong foundation can be built,” he added.
He said a study sponsored by ADEA and Mastercard Foundation revealed two gaps in the provision of quality STEM education: Inadequate teaching and learning resources and facilities, and the lack of teachers.
Professor Adom-Asamoah said in Ghana it was observed that since the 2010-2011 academic year to date, on the average, there was only about 12 per cent of Senior High School students reading Science, kicking the nation into action.
He said Ghana had made great strides in the STEM journey, where the Ministry had established seven STEM Academies at SHS level with an enrollment of 4750 students.
The STEM Advisor said Science labs had been provided for 180 Senior High Schools, with 10 Regional STEM centres also established.
“A new STEM curriculum for biomedical Science, Engineering Science, Aviation and Aerospace, Manufacturing and Computer Science was trialed last year and will be rolled out this year,” he added.
Professor Adom-Asamoah said the Ministry was developing a STEM policy document for the nation with the draft now prepared for review by the Cabinet and Parliament of Ghana.
