A total of two hundred and fifty-second cycle institutions in the country have registered to participate in the 2023 edition of the National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Project competition dubbed “STEMNNOVATION”.
The competition officially starts with the submission of project videos from all contesting institutions nationwide from 25th to 29th September, 2023 after training staff, regional coordinators, coaches and their students, and judges from June7 to August 8, 2023.
Out of the 244 contesting institutions, 123 of them will be submitting innovative projects in urban gardening, 69 in the flexible use of electricity and 52 submitting videos on clean water projects.
Eastern and Ashanti regions submitted the highest number of contesting schools with 46 entries each, whilst Western North region registered only three entries for the competition.
Speaking to the media in Accra, on Friday, the Deputy Coordinator of the Free Senior High School Secretariat, Miss Afrah Mensah Sika, stated that the competition will see all the participating schools locking horns with their creative potential in finding solutions to challenges confronting their immediate community or the country.
She indicated that all the participating institutions are current beneficiaries of the Free Senior High Programme and would use the contest to assess what they have been learning at school, at home or outside school with their peers in their societies.
Miss Afra Sika explained that Pre-judging and shortlisting of the top 20 in each project category will be done between 2nd and 5th October, followed by online judging of the top 20 in each category from 9th to 13th October, 2023.
The Deputy Coordinator stated that after the online of the top 20, those who would qualify for the grand finale pitch camp in Accra from 24th October to prepare for the ultimate finals scheduled to take place on 26th October 2023.
She hinted that each institution would be represented by two students making the presentation of their projects, adding that this year’s edition of the event would be more competitive.
This year’s competition, which has the theme: “Future–Proofing Socio-Economic Development in Ghana through STEM Education” creates an opportunity for all Senior High Schools, as well as Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions, to showcase their prowess in innovative projects.
Last year, a total of 200 schools submitted videos of their projects meant for the contest but only 97 of the schools qualified after going through vetting by the team of experts put together for that purpose.
The Kumasi Academy Senior High School won the maiden edition of the competition after scoring 24.6 points to beat Pope John Senior High and Seminary and Worawora Senior High School with 24.4 and 23.8 points to place 1st and 2nd runner-up respectively.
For emerging winners, Kumasi Academy SHS took home a trophy, a laptop, a printer and a GH¢12,000 cash prize.
By Felix Baidoo
