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