STEM: Population Of Science Students In SHS To Go Up By 24% – Akufo-Addo | General News

“The percentage of Science students, this year, has risen to some fifteen percent (15%), and it is expected to increase even further to some twenty-four percent (24%) in 2024” says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

This according to him, is due to the “creation of a STEM pipeline to increase STEM enrolment at tertiary education level, through pre-engineering programmes, which will target Senior High School Graduates in General Arts, Visual Arts and Business”

In a post on his Facebook page, he wrote:

On Saturday, I attended the 85th anniversary celebration of Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, Legon. PRESEC has become, for me and for many Ghanaians, one of the best senior high schools, if not the best, in Ghana. The credit for this goes to past and present management, teaching and non-teaching staff, alumni and students.

In order to attain our objective of building an industrialised nation, Government is increasing its emphasis on science and technology education and technical and vocational training. We intend to put science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM) education in its central, relevant place.

Training students with 21st century skills is essential in preparing our future workforce for the 4th Industrial Revolution through STEM education. The percentage of General Science students in our schools has been some twelve percent (12%) for some time. The percentage of Science students, this year, has risen to some fifteen percent (15%), and it is expected to increase even further to some twenty-four percent (24%) in 2024.

This is being made possible through

(1) the creation of a STEM pipeline to increase STEM enrolment at tertiary education level, through pre-engineering programmes, which will target Senior High School Graduates in General Arts, Visual Arts and Business;

(2) the operationalisation of four (4) newly constructed STEM Model Schools, and the conversion of three

(3) existing schools into STEM Model Schools. There are some two thousand, four hundred (2,400) students enrolled to study General Science and STEM in the seven (7) schools; (3) the completion of ten (10) regional STEM Centres to train a complete STEM pipeline from primary through JHS to SHS;

(4) the construction of Model Junior High Schools to replace clusters of basic schools and equipping the existing schools for STEM programmes; and

(5) the retooling of science laboratories (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) of one hundred and eighty (180) selected Senior High Schools, including Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School.