Science sets can be the game-changer in science education ………………….More lessons from MTN Heroes of Change

Science sets can be the game-changer in science education 

………………….More lessons from MTN Heroes of Change

By Doris Yaa Dartey.                 The WatchWoman Column

He is only 26 years old but is already well set to make an impact on society. He has found a niche for himself in the area of science education. At age 26, most young people who have had the privilege of graduating from a university in Ghana are struggling to figure out how to prepare curriculum vitae and to clutch on to them like weapons to distribute like roasted groundnuts to potential employers, in a wild search for non-existent jobs. 

His name is Charles Ofori Antipem. He was the overall winner of the Season Five MTN Heroes of Change held last month. He is an inventor and an entrepreneur who has provided a much needed innovation in science education. His unique invention is a science set, a tool that cracks the door wide open for school children who suffer from science- and maths-phobia to at long last, find something exciting about science.

His invention has already caught the attention of world leaders including the Prince of Wales (son of the Queen of England) and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Earlier this week, I listened to the tail end of an interview BBC radio conducted with him. I felt so proud of him.

THE SCIENCE SET INNOVATION

The motivation behind this invention goes back some years to the life of his late father, who was a science teacher somewhere in rural Accra. Charles remembers the struggles of his father to figure out how to creatively teach science for the school kids to understand. Then as if to step into his father’s tired shoes, during vacations in his university days, Charles did some school teaching himself and experienced the challenges at first hand. 

He noticed that in class, most of the pupils were not interested in science at all. For him, the reason was that the abstract methodology used did not lend itself to whipping up the interest of pupils. The kids were showed drawings or pictures of what they were being taught. The methodology used in science education at the primary and secondary school levels was devoid of any practical component. He identified this as the cause of the lack of interest toward science.  After all, science is a practical subject. It is only when children get the chance to practice what they are taught that they can appreciate things better.

If you are familiar with a math set, then you can imagine what a science set does. The science set is like a mobile science laboratory with tools including conductors, capacitors and cells, which the pupils can actually touch and use to creatively perform basic experiments with their own hands. For the kids, touching a science set is the first time they touch science. 

On the whole, Ghana struggles with STEM education. This situation weakens our national base for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is always worrying when results of basic school examinations are released, showing the below average performance and even failures of our young people in science and mathematics examinations. 

It is equally troubling to see the sheer number of students who enrol in courses in the social sciences in our tertiary institutions, and graduate with human resource management and such social disciplines. Any wonder there is a high rate of graduate unemployment!  

THIS INNOVATION CAN CHANGE DESTINIES 

Children with access to Charles Antipem’s science sets are acknowledging them as life-changers in their science education. In effect, Charles has provided an answer to an old problem: the fear of science! The science set is a dream-fulfiller for school children as it is awakening the inventiveness spirit in them. 

So far, 370 school have been reached and 9,000 science sets have been sold, providing access to several thousand pupils to actually experience the practical side of science as they are taught. 

Charles Antipem’s science set has also created jobs; about 11 people are currently employed under this project who manufacture and assemble the sets and handle marketing. The sets are wholly made in Ghana. This invention is therefore the pride of Ghana. 

About 550 teachers have been trained to use the science sets to enable them to competently handle the practical aspects of science education, making it easier to teach, and making the science classes very interesting for kids. 

Interestingly the science sets fit in well with the science syllabus of the education service. Some school children who would otherwise not have passed science at the basic school level have developed passion for science and successfully moved on to the senior high school as science students. 

I am convinced that this innovation has the potential to change generations. In just two years, about 25,000 pupils in Ghana have been reached with the science sets. This number constitutes barely one percent of the population of school-going children in Ghana. 

Now the challenge remaining is for the science set innovation to be scaled up. This good thing must get to the intended targets. We should not wait until a similar product is invented in China for a trader to import them cheaply for sale in Ghana.If the science set innovation is properly and widely diffused throughout the country, the impact will be vast. Already, by using the science set, some school children have overcome their fear of science and are confident that they can realise their dreams in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

This is where the state comes in. The Ministry of Education should not passively ignore such an innovation, but provide the much needed enabling environment that will make it possible for the innovation to diffuse to the most remote parts of the country. Even children who study in schools under trees need an exposure to science sets. The exposure will show them the exciting possibilities of science and result in changing their destinies. After all, we are all God’s children!

dorisdartey@gmail.com

Germany Chancellor, Angela Merkel, interacting with Antipem at an exhibition

The science set, showing the conductors and a manual

Life lessons from MTN Heroes of Change 

By Doris Yaa Dartey.              The WatchWoman Column

I have had the privilege of serving as a juror of MTN Heroes of Change for all the five seasons; and as the only female juror. From its inception in 2014, we set out into the raw wildness of Ghana, not having a clue on what we would find or learn about the extent of philanthropy in this country. Fortunately, during the course of the five seasons, I have had the chance to peep into the awesome heart of Ghana. I have witnessed kindness in the most unlikely people and places. The desire, eagerness and determination displayed by ordinary persons to reach out and help others is remarkable.  

Often, the content of the daily news grind at the national level, which is characterized by much drama of wastefulness and corruption, is disappointing and depressing. But viewed against the kindness and impressive work being done by ordinary well-meaning people in various parts of Ghana lightens up one’s mood and gives hope for the future. 

Altruistic reasons appear to underlie the motivations of the nominees unearthed through Heroes of Change. In the just-ended fifth season, I observed some commonalities in the stories and projects of the winners. They all started small. Their projects were extensions of their lived experiences, which were scaled up to make impressive impacts on people. This week, I will share the stories of three of the winners. Next week, I will bring you the stories of the other four winners.

LOUISA ENYONAM ANSAH

Louisa Ansah was the toast of the award event. She danced and danced and danced! She successfully changed the mood of what is usually a sombre event. Typically, over the past four seasons, the Heroes of Change award event was just a typical award event. But thanks to Madam Enyonam, the season five event was a super-fun evening.

Born 56 years ago without arms, Louisa’s life has been marked by people staring at her—because she has no arms! I recall that her childhood made the national news as people did not know what to make of a person without arms. The extent to which she literally set the tone for the award event gave a clear message: Ghana must accept people who have various forms of disabilities! The disabled have the same rights as all other Ghanaians. It was very touching to see her in defiance of public stares and boldly moving on with her life. For how long can anyone stare at a person who is steeled against stares? Her posture is that of a winner!

Enyonam Ansah won the education award. Yes, despite her visible physical disability, she uses her life to empower and make an impact on others who have similar disabilities. 

Without a doubt, she has personally experienced the very difficult, cruel and often crude quality of life people living with disabilities in Ghana experience. You think life is tough? Try becoming disabled! The uniqueness of Enyonam’s story is that she has truly defied all the odds. She does not withdraw into herself. Rather, she has opened both her heart and home to physically challenged children. For several years, she has lived with some of the children and continues to provide them with both formal education and life training. 

She recognizes the challenges physically disabled persons face in our regular schools. For that reason, she had acquired land to construct a disability-friendly school as a way of providing a safe space to educate physically disabled children who may otherwise not get a formal education in our mostly disability-unfriendly schools. 

Enyonam had extended herself even further. She knows from experience the challenges the parents of the disabled go through. After all, when she was born, and her biological father set eyes on her, his response was to flee. The cowardly run-away father never returned to take responsibility for the child who had been born to him. Enyonam therefore grew up without a father. 

So as part of her role in educating children with physical disabilities, she reaches out to parents in her community (and beyond) who have children with disabilities. She counsels and provides them with emotional support to save them from living with depression. Through her interventions, she eases the societal stress on parents and helps to cure the stigma they face. She even finds money to help some struggling mothers of disabled children. 

As if all that were not enough, she took notice of the deplorable condition of water sources in the Otoase and neighbouring communities. She intervened by widening and extending the wells in the area. 

Having known of her early years at the Orthopaedic Training Centre in Nsawam/Adoagyiri, I consider it amazing to find out all that Enyonam has done with her life. Without a doubt, Enyonam will never be silent and go into hiding. For a long time to come, she will be a force to reckon with among disabled persons in Ghana. She is very bold and will speak her mind to anyone, to push for the issues of the disabled. With such a powerful voice, she is a true heroin! 

AFIA POKUA 

Afia Pokua (popularly known as Vim Lady), won the special award for media. Afia is a well-known radio personality who used the platform graced to her to do good deeds. Using her media influence, she rallies around young volunteers, and raises money to fund the construction of decent structures and libraries for rural schools. Through her leadership, a full classroom block was constructed for the use of school pupils of Amenam in the Birim District of the Eastern Region. The pupils had hitherto sat on the bare floor to write on concrete blocks. She is undertaking similar projects in other villages—and none of these villages is her hometown!

She mentors young people, mostly in rural and deprived areas through forming reading clubs and giving talks to motivate them. Her potential to impact other lives is vast. She is a down-to-earth person who publicly discloses her lowly origins, and uses her privileged position to motivate herself to touch other people’s lives. More “vim” to Afia!

DERICK OMARI

Derick Omari won the special youth award. He has set himself apart as an outstanding young social entrepreneur, who is an excellent role model for other young people. He led a team of university students to impact the lives of over 800 persons living with disabilities across the country to enable them have access to quality and inclusive education as a way of increasing their chances of acquiring gainful employment. 

He accomplished these impressive feats through the use of technology to build the capacity of the youth to mobilize and train visually impaired persons at different educational levels to use laptops and smartphones to learn. Specifically, his team works with children with autism and cerebral palsy. The team organizes skill development programs that trains the disabled in robotics, 3D modeling, IT and programming. They also organize academic assistance programs. What a fine young man!

dorisdartey@gmail.com

Even without arms, Louisa Enyonam Ansah has accomplished a lot

Do hotels sleep off and die? Then what? By Doris Yaa Dartey. The WatchWoman column

Do hotels sleep off and die? Then what?

By Doris Yaa Dartey.                 The WatchWoman column

Businesses may just be like living beings: born today, dead someday! Humans can thrive, and they can also decay. Similarly, businesses can prosper but they can also decline and even collapse. In the past month, I have visited two hotels that used to thrive beyond measure, but which appear to have now fallen on their knees. 

The two hotels are the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel and Coconut Grove Regency Hotel. They are both located in Accra. La Palm is a 4-star hotel at a prime beach-front location; whilst Coconut Grove is a 3-star hotel tucked in the centre of Accra within the general business district. 

From what I had witnessed, it is painful to even remember and acknowledge that these hotels used to be bustling with customers. Today, it appears as if the two hotels have sleep-walked their way into a state of retrogression. 

Some enduring questions: Did the managers/owners of these hotels see the degeneration coming? Did the waning of their high patronage happen suddenly? Are the managers in shock over the new reality of affairs? What did they do wrong to have resulted in this substantial deterioration of their affairs? But most importantly, will these hotels ever come back to their former glory amidst the ever increasing competition, or they are just dying off before our eyes?

LA PALM BEACH HOTEL IS DOSING OFF

The La Palm Beach Hotel is our national bright and shining star! It is one of our national prides! It is imposing; it commands respect; it is located by the mighty Atlantic Ocean. It has infrastructure that competes very well with that of other world-class hotels anywhere in the world. It has welcomed guests from across the world. So what could have gone wrong?  

A month ago, when I spent a full day on a Saturday at La Palm and noticed a certain emptiness, it struck me as very abnormal. I was with a group for a workshop. With the exception of a white couple, we were the only people in the hotel. It felt eerie. If you had been to La Palm in its days of glory, you will not miss the present unsettling feeling of emptiness. You may be tempted to scream out a question: “Hello, where have all the people gone?”; and your voice might echo back at you because you might be alone.

My shock was when I took a walk by the magnificent swimming pools with clean blue waters. Around mid-day, there was not a single soul there for a very long time. I spotted three workers seated around, idle. It was not until later in the afternoon (after 3 pm) that some guests arrived to use the swimming pools.

During lunch time, what used to be a very busy restaurant, was empty—with the exception of my workshop group. In the course of the day, I had side conversations with some of the staff. They whispered, “Hmm, these days, people don’t come ooh!” Why has the La Palm shine faded away? Ghana cannot own such a magnificent facility and watch it to be empty. That constitutes a waste of a very valuable national resource.

COCONUT GROVE REGENCY HOTEL 

For several years, I have dreaded going to the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel owing to the difficulty with finding a car parking spot. The few and woefully inadequate parking spaces inside the hotel premises filled up quickly. So one had to hope and pray that space along the narrow roadside will be available for you to squeeze in your vehicle. You would think that the hotel owners did not factor in the likelihood of customers driving to visit the facility! As if people would walk there! So to resolve the challenge of parking, I often resorted to going to Coconut Grove by taxi. 

Then I got the surprise! Two weeks ago, I had a commitment at Coconut Grove for two days. As usual, I left home dreading where I will park. As I approached the entrance, the spaces by the roadside stared at me, welcoming me with open arms. So with relief, I pulled up and parked in one of several spots available and beckoning me. As I crossed the street to enter the reception, I noticed that the hotel’s own parking spots inside were mostly empty. So innocently, I expressed my surprise to the security folks. They smiled politely!

As I walked towards the conference room area, I noticed that only the conference room allocated to my session was occupied. The usual busy flow of people out-flowing onto different floors, and the hectic movements at the staircase that used to be so full of life with people, was visibly absent. 

During lunchtime, the near emptiness of the restaurant was profound. Over the years, I have had lunch on numerous occasions at Coconut Grove. The restaurant was always packed and the guest overflows were served in an adjoining section. But during my recent visit, the restaurant was so unoccupied. The only people present were the six of us in my group. For a hotel restaurant that used to cater for crowds at lunchtime, watching half-a-dozen of us go for our food as if we were orphans, just broke my heart. Three European colleagues of mine who stayed at the hotel as guests, remarked that they were very alone on their floor.

So clearly, something had happened to Coconut Grove. And that something is not good for business. That something seems to have placed the hotel in a difficult state.  

WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING TO THE SLEEPY HOTELS?

What does it really mean for two of our busiest hotels in Accra to be sleeping off? As matters currently stand, it is as if the famous La Palm Beach and Coconut Grove hotels are on life support. I dread to think that someday soon, someone will pull whatever remaining plugs that are keeping them alive and with that, declare their deaths. 

These hotels need to be revived. They must take their pride of place in Accra. They have both seen good times and it is heart-breaking to think that the good days might have ended. 

It is worth pondering over some critical questions: Are other major hotels in Ghana also collapsing, similar to the situation in the banking and microfinance sectors? Can there be a point at which it could be said that a city has too many hotels? Whose responsibility is it to caution would-be investors and entrepreneurs that the space and opportunities in the hotel/hospitality sector may be choked so they will be saved from investing to build hotels that may not be patronized because there is a glut, rendering it difficult to succeed? A hotel requires a large outlay of investment in infrastructure. 

And there are the human beings who work in various areas to provide the needed hospitality. So when well-established hotels like La Palm and Coconut Grove go to sleep, many jobs are lost and livelihoods suffer.

dorisdartey@gmail.com