Twenty-four Senior High, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions have qualified for the grand finale of this year’s National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Project competition dubbed ‘STEMMNNOVATION’.
All the qualified schools are currently preparing to showcase their unique projects between 14th and 15th November, 2023 which centres on their creative potential in finding solutions to challenges confronting their immediate community or the country.
The Deputy Coordinator at the Free Senior High School Secretariat, Ms Afra Sika Mensah, told the media on Friday that this year’s edition is unique and she was upbeat that it would create an opportunity for the students to showcase their talents, teamwork and other skills they have been taught at school and other places.
She indicated that all the participants who are beneficiaries of the Free Senior High Programme have been challenged to develop STEM projects on topics in the areas of urban gardening, clean water and flexible use of electricity.
Ms Afra stated that frantic effort was being made to ensure that the contestants would have a congenial atmosphere at the Cedi Conference Centre at the University of Ghana, the venue for the two-day ultimate contest so they could compete without any hiccup.
She announced that the ultimate winner and all award winners would be offered juicy cash prizes, laptops and other accessories as well as other souvenirs provided by the sponsors of the event.
The Deputy Coordinator praised the Education Ministry and all other institutions supporting the project to help the youth towards helping them to develop the country.
Background
This year’s competition which was launched on July 3rd saw 249 schools applying but only 116 schools were shortlisted after their projects were vetted and selected to begin the regional contest leading to 24 of them qualifying for the grand finale.
One distinctive feature about this year’s event is that the contestants have been meeting the judges face to face unlike last where some of the contests took place through virtual mode and this could not get them the right feedback.
By Felix Baidoo
