Rejoinder: Open Letter to the Education Minister

The attention of the Ministry of Education has been drawn to an Open letter addressed to the Minister of Education, by Prof Rose Emma Mamaa Entsua-Mensah.

The President of Ghana commitment to STEM Education emanates from the critical role STEM education could play in our National Transformation Agenda. For the understanding and appreciation of the general public, we want to focus on some of the measures taken so far to mainstream STEM education in the country.

Why STEM?

The 4th Industrial Revolution requires that we create a versatile education system that will equip the vast majority of our children for the world of work. Currently, only about 12% of SHS students are enrolled in STEM studies. This level of Science enrolment will not enable us to create the pipeline of students required to meet our 60:40 science-humanities ratio and to educate a critical mass of our population for Science related jobs which defines their future employability.

Again, Ghana's weak performance in global rankings is well known and this sounds like a clarion call for a change of the education system. The new transformation agenda being championed by the Ministry of Education is meant to address the poor state of STEM education in the country. It provides the opportunity for Ghanaian children to be equipped in disciplines such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Coding. This will be made possible through the operationalization of 10 new STEM boarding Schools currently being built around the country (e.g. Abomosu, Diasu, Kpesempe, Awaso, Akrodie etc.). These Boarding Schools situated in diverse communities will attract children from all parts of the country.

In addition, 10 out of 20 STEM Centres programmed, are being built in existing Senior High Schools to benefit both JHS and SHS Students (e.g. Koase, Sefwi-Wiawso SHS etc.). 4 E-Blocks will be fully equipped in 2022 with Science and Computer Laboratories to make implementation of STEM Currilculum.

Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2030

The STEM program being implemented by the Ministry of Education is in direct alignment with the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2030. The ESP clearly outlines Ghana's vision and goals for the education sector, as well as detailed strategies for how these goals will be achieved. One key policy objective in the ESP is to improve the quality of teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at all levels. To achieve this, the Ministry has been leveraging the best practices from around the world including the USA.

According to the Centre for Excellence in Education (CEE) 2021 Index of Excellence in STEM Education, analysing data over the last twenty (20) years, ranked the USA among the top three in the world. Indeed, to suggest that USA is not a worthy reference point is simplistic and unfounded.

Need for New Schools

The Free SHS Policy has increased the school population exponentially. In fact, in 2013, SHS 1 enrolment was 261,598 and by 2020, 425,397 were enrolled in SHS 1. There is, therefore, the need to build new Secondary Schools to accommodate our growing population. The Ministry of Education considers more strategic, based on the ESP to establish STEM schools in every region. The primary reason is that Ghana must be competitive in the 4th Industrial Revolution and Ghana needs students with 21st century STEM skills to power our socio-economic growth. The policy of building stand-alone STEM institutions at the secondary and tertiary levels is an international best practice that is currently being carried out with great success in countries like India, China, the USA, and Singapore.

TVET Education

The Ministry of Education is vigorously pursuing TVET education contrary to claims that TVET is neglected. The government has created, inaugurated, and resourced a new TVET Commission and TVET Service with a Director-Generals. This arrangement re-aligns all TVET institutions previously under 17 different Ministries, to the Ministry of Education, to provide high-level teaching and learning in technical and vocational education at the secondary level and to harmonize policy. This marks a new beginning and cannot be said to be all talk without functional and concrete action. Under this arrangement, 139 non-GES/TVET schools have been captured under the Free SHS programme. In addition, the following projects are being implemented under TVET:

• Ghana - China Project on the rehabilitation and upgrade of 24 Technical Universities and Technical Institutions

• Upgrade and modernization of TVET Systems and Infrastructure and training of 700 Trainer of Trainers (ToT) in 34 NVTI Centers as well as setting up 2 Centers for Foundry.

• 32 ultra-modern TVET Centres of Excellence at Anyinam, Pakyi No. 2 etc.

Equal Opportunity for all Students in STEM

The standard-based and common core curricula provide equal opportunity in STEM for all students. In these curricula, STEM is embedded in all programmes thereby demystifying the study of STEM.

In addition, the budget has provided for the construction of 35 new STEM schools across all 16 regions. Our goal is to ensure that all Senior High Schools receive a major facelift in their laboratories to deliver quality STEM Education. Laboratory equipment have already been supplied to at least 165 schools and teachers have been trained to use this equipment.

As part of the on-going STEM program, 470 Science Laboratories and 700 Computer Laboratories will be built with Belgium Government funding facilitated by Televic as well as World Bank Funding under the e-transform program.

The Ministry through the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) has deployed iBoxes which are Offline Learning Management Systems with virtual labs embedded to facilitate the study of STEM in schools across the country. The iBox has been installed in 237 Senior High Schools across all 16 regions of Ghana. The Ministry is working with UNICEF and other stakeholders in implementing the Learning Passport Platform (similar content like the iBox) which will focus on KG to JHS learners. The Ministry has also partnered with the Open University UK, through their Open STEM Africa programme to provide virtual laboratories for the teaching of STEM in Ghana. The 2022 budget also provides for the construction of 5 New STEM Universities which will benefit students from all socio-economic and ethic backgrounds.

Training of STEM Teachers

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has been training teachers across the country for the purposes of teaching STEM at the Secondary School level. A case in point is the recent training of about 68 science teachers and Lab Technicians drawn from 17 Senior High Schools. The GES has also recently recruited about 600 Information Technology Coordinators, all in a bid to promote the study of STEM through integration of technology.

Stakeholder Consultation

The MoE and its Agencies take the issue of engagement with identifiable groups seriously. For example, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) is engaging organisations such as Vice Chancellors Ghana (VCG), Vice-Chancellors Technical Universities Ghana (VCTUG), Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOF), Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Ghana Employers Association (GEA), etc., on the secondary curriculum.

The Honourable Minister for Education consults various Stakeholders in Education in all matters. In fact, he has met all former Ministers of Education, Professional Associations, Chiefs, Community leaders, University Professors, Technocrats, Civil Society Organisations, etc., and these engagements are still ongoing.

It is clear from the submissions above that the Ministry of Education is treating STEM education with all the seriousness it deserves. Prof Entsua- Mensah suggests that STEM education be diffused so that all Ghanaian children will be beneficiaries. We want to draw her attention to fact that the government has already initiated Basic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (BSTEM) programme for all basic schools for which the pilot has already been completed.

The National Digital Literacy (POSITIVO) Programme has been initiated to provide 700 rural/urban schools across the country with tablets to support teaching and learning.

National Standard Test (NST)

The NST was conducted for Public Schools implementing the Ghanaian Curriculum. This year’s NST shall include Public schools and Private Schools that implement the Ghanaian Curriculum.

We want to assure Prof. Entsua-Mensah and like-minded persons that all the human resources and talents available in the areas of STEM would be tapped to ensure that we develop and provide STEM education that will be competitive globally but effectively and functionally efficient to meet the development challenges of our country and equal to the demands of the 21st Century and beyond.

Read also: Open letter to Education Minister