By:A news Desk Report
The Ahafoman Senior HighSchool on Wednesday surprised the country with their supremacy in innovation andtechnological knowhow by beating 24 other Senior High as well asTechnical and Vocational education Training Institutions nationwide by scoring164 points to emerge winners of the 2023 edition of the national STEMNNOVATION competitionin Accra.The Ahafoman SHS team presentedon a project on Flexible Use of Electricity, where they generate electricalpower through a locally modified generator and accumulator connected to a solarpanel to power a plant-based incubator.For their prize, the three contestantsand their coaches would be sponsored to spend one week in Japan where theywould participate in an international STEM competition next year as well as afour year full scholarship in any Engineering University in Ghana.
As part their prize they alsotook home an amount of Gh50, 000 cash from the National Entrepreneurship andInnovation Programme (NEIP), a desktop computer donated by Omega Computers, Gh20,000life insurance cover from Glidco Insurance company, medals STEM textbooks.
Dr Adutwum presenťing an award to Ahafoman SHS for emerging winners of the 2023 edition of STEMNNOVATION
The three female contestantswho represented the Ahafoman SHS, a mixed school were also presented with “GirlsTeam Award” of Gh5000 from Bountiful Technologies while their coaches were presented with mobile phones from Motorola.
The second-placed WesleyGrammar SHS received GHS 30,000 cash prize, a laptop and a printer; whereas,third-placed Bosomtwe Girls’ had GHS20,000 cash prize, a laptop and a printer.
The second place position wentto Wesley Grammar SHS with a score of 150 points whiles the Bosomtwe Girls’ STEMSHS which had 143 points placed third in the competition.For their prizes, Wesley GrammarSHS took home Gh30,000 cash, a laptop, STEM textbooks, a one year life insurancecover from Glidco, medals and a trophy while the Bosomtwe Girls STEM Academy also went home with Gh20,000 cash, one year insurance cover, STEM textbooks,medals and other, souvenir.Specific project awards URBANGARDENING AWARD1STPLACE – URBAN GARDENING AWARD: WESLEY GRAMMAR SHS, 2NDPLACE – URBAN GARDENING AWARD: BOSOMTWEGIRLS STEM SHS, 3RD PLACE – URBAN GARDENING AWARD: DABOKPA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE.CLEANWATER1STPLACE – CLEAN WATER: SWEDRU SHS, 2NDPLACE – CLEAN WATER: AKUSE METHODISTSHTS, 3RD PLACE – CLEAN WATER: BOSOMTWE STEM ACADEMY.EFFECTIVEUSE OF ELECTRICITY1STPLACE – EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRICITY: AHAFOMANSHS, 2ND PLACE –EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRICITY: ST LOUISSHS, 3RD PLACE –EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRICITY: APPLIEDTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTECOREVALUES AWARD went to KPANDO TECHNICALINSTITUTE, ENGINEERING AWARD went to SUNTRESO SHTS, while DABOKPA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE was awarded with the BESTPRESENTATION and WESLEY GRAMMAR SHS gotan award as the BEST STEM PROJECT
.The Education Minister Dr YawOsei Adutwum, who was so excited at the performance of the students expressed hisgratitude to the judges and coaches for their guidance, headmasters/headmistressesfor encouraging the children to participate in the completion.
He was upbeat that the skillsand innovation exhibited by the various schools attested to the fact that theeducation the nation’s education reforms was yielding great results.
Dr Adutwum said that thegovernment would continue to put in more effort towards engaging variousstakeholders in the country towards revamping the nation’s economy throughprudent education policies that stand the chance of making the nation an educational hub for the African continent.
The Education Minister congratulatedall the competing institutions and urged the students to continue working veryhard towards becoming what they aspire to achieve in life.Dr Adutwum pledged to build anew science laboratory for the Ahafoman SHS who won the competition although they do not have a science laboratory in the school.
The Deputy Coordinator of theFree Senior High School, praised all the sponsors and institutions which playedvarious roles towards the second edition of the competition.
She stated that his officewould continue to work extra hard to ensure an improvement in the subsequent editionsof the competition to help enhance the teaching and learning of science in the schools across the country.
Background
The competition organised bythe Ministry of Education in collaboration with the National Entrepreneurshipand Innovation Plan (NEIP) provided a platform for the students to showcaseSTEM projects they had developed to solve societal problems
.This year’s projects weregrouped under three categories, namely Urban Gardening, Clean Water andEffective Use of Electricity.
