In an effort to nurture young minds in Ghana, 40 teams consisting of Junior High School students from the Ashanti region have been welcomed into the prestigious 2023 Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Prize (GSTEP) program.
The selection process involved picking a total of 100 teams from Junior High Schools across the Greater Accra, Eastern, and Ashanti regions for this year’s challenge.
The induction event, held at Kumasi Anglican Senior High School on July 27, was attended by students, teachers, mentors, coaches, officials from the Ghana Education Service, and the GSTEP consortium.
GSTEP is a competition designed to harness STEM and enterprise for societal betterment. It aims to equip young Ghanaians with knowledge, skills, and resources.
Afua Asiamah Adjei, the Executive Director of the DreamOval Foundation, commended the teams for making it through from a pool of 1,200 entries. She urged them to leverage this opportunity, work together as a team, and strive to achieve their goals.
She also expressed gratitude to the Ghana Education Service for its role in the program’s success.
During the induction, the teams participated in workshops to familiarize themselves with the GSTEP program.
These sessions covered topics such as business plan development, prototyping, team dynamics, financing, and budgeting.
To ignite their interest and confidence in STEM fields, the teams also engaged in fun STEM activities.
Mentors and coaches, who will guide the teams throughout the challenge, participated in dedicated workshops to understand their responsibilities and the students’ projects. Collaborative planning sessions were conducted to align expectations and strategies.
As the next step, the teams will work on developing prototypes based on their project ideas.
With the guidance of mentors, they will also create comprehensive business plans and receive technical guidance to construct and assemble their prototypes. At the culmination of their efforts, the teams will present their ideas and prototypes to a panel of judges.
The GSTEP Challenge serves as an innovative platform to cultivate students’ interest in STEM fields and careers, emphasizing practical applications of knowledge and skills.
The program is brought to life through a consortium led by the DreamOval Foundation, in partnership with Challenge Works, Foundervine, MEST Africa, and DEXT Technology.
