Teachers must not be left out of attempts to improve STEM education in Ghana, Dr. Ayorkor Mensah, a robotics lecturer with Ashesi University, has said.
She believes Ghana should have policies in place to ensure it has the best possible teachers to shape the minds of students.
STEM education refers to topics under the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
“How can we make it such that our best graduates want to go into teaching,” she asked on the EdTech Monday segment on the Citi Breakfast Show.
“How can we give them all the opportunities they need to help the students become curious, creative students,” she added.
Dr. Mensah noted that the way teachers are taught will also translate to the way STEM is taught to students.
“We are all a product of our backgrounds. If you learned things in a very rote manner, you are going to teach things in a rote manner, so how to break that cycle is really key.”
EdTech Monday is an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation Regional Centre for Teaching and Learning in ICT.
This edition was on “Getting to the root to strengthen STEM.”
About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organisations to enable young people in Africa and in indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. It is one of the largest private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world.
The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organisation with its own Board of Directors and management.
In Ghana, after more than a decade of working with the private sector and government to promote financial inclusion and education through its Scholars Program, the Mastercard Foundation launched Young Africa Works, a 10-year strategy to enable 3 million young Ghanaians, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Young Africa Works in Ghana aims to:
- Enable the growth of women-owned enterprises through business development services, access to finance, and access to markets.
- Enable young people to acquire skills that are needed by businesses in growing sectors of the economy, and strengthen the quality of education to prepare students for the world of work.
- Scale digital training and strengthen technology-focused employment opportunities.
EdTech Monday is one of the initiatives of the Foundation’s Regional Centre for Teaching and Learning in ICT, aimed at leveraging technology to advance teaching and learning.
