Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for work to begin on the site for the country’s first ultramodern Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) academy in Accra.
The sod cutting event came off on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.
The Accra STEM Academy is part of the government’s vision to reposition the country’s educational system and produce highly skilled students to aid the technological advancement of the country.
The GHC 32 million project is expected to be completed in 24 months.
In his address at a ceremony on the premises of the National Vocational Training Institute’s Headquarters at East Legon in Accra, President Akufo-Addo iterated his government’s dedication to improving STEM education as it is key to the nation’s development.
“Indeed, our world is essentially driven by technology, energy, industry, agriculture, medicine and health, clean air and water, transportation, sanitation to use management and conservation of natural resources. The successful exploitation of all these sectors depends ultimately on the application of science and technology.
“So, it is obvious that to be a part of this modern world, science and technology must be present at every stage of the development process. A country’s evolution is a function of its ability to understand, adopt, produce and commercialised scientific and technological knowledge in ways appropriate to its culture, aspirations and level of development,” he noted.
Speaking further, he highlighted that in spite of Ghana being one of the leading centres guaranteeing access to quality on the continent, its education sector is in need of transformation to be at par with the best in the world.
“For example, we must increase our gross tertiary enrollment ratio from the current ratio of 18.4 percent to 40 percent by 2030,” he said.
The President lamented that the 6,000 engineering graduates that the country produced annually were not sufficient for the anticipated development targets of the nation.
In his view, the country should target producing 30,000 engineering graduates annually for the desired level of socio-economic transformation.
It is in this regard that government, the President said, was strategically increasing the country’s science and humanity ratio from the current one of 40 to 60 to the desirable 60 to 40 in favour of science and anchor the educational system on STEM.
“Already as part of my commitment to the advancement of STEM education in the country, government has commenced the development of 20 STEM centres and 10 model STEM senior high schools across the country, which are at various stages of completion.
“Some of these schools will be operationalised this year. These institutions and centres will be fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and laboratory to facilitate teaching and learning in all areas of study, including artificial intelligence and robots,” he said, adding that those initiatives would help improve Ghana’s numbers in terms of the production of graduates with STEM backgrounds.
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