By Tilda Acorlor
An organization dedicated to enhancing science education in Ghana, Practical Education Network (PEN) in partnership with a philanthropist, Professor Yuan Luo has donated science training materials and practice manuals to schools and science teachers in the Agotime Districts of the Volta Region.
The donation was aimed at improving the quality of Science education in the Agotime District.
A total of 228 Lower and Upper Primary Science teachers from all the public schools in the Agotime Ziope District were beneficiaries of PEN’s Hands-On Science Teacher mini-training program.
The program provided teachers with the fundamentals of hands-on science teaching techniques, enabling them to inspire and educate learners in a more practical and fun manner.
Each teacher received a copy of the PEN Hands-On Science Teacher Resource manual to assist in the adoption of hands-on teaching and learning in the classrooms.
The Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Mr. Francis Yao Agbemadi urged teachers to adopt a practical approach to make learning easy and improve the quality of education.
“We need and encourage practical approaches to learning especially Science to improve the quality of education we give to our students,” he said.
Mr. Agbemadi also called on corporate organizations to support and emulate organizations like PEN to help improve Science education at the district level, especially the 18 districts of the Volta Region.
He added that benefits from PEN’s manual donations and free mini-trainings will strengthen both teachers and pupils in achieving quality Science education outcomes.
The Regional STEM Coordinator of GES, Rosemary Ahiadeke, expressed her appreciation to the PEN team for selecting Agotime-Ziope as the first district in Ghana to benefit from the donation and training.
Mrs. Ahiadeke disclosed that teachers need more training to enhance themselves, she is hopeful the training will be effective and impactful in teaching STEM.
“The new curriculum is out and frankly teachers need help with implementing it. We hope that this will yield more effective and impactful teaching of STEM” Mrs. Ahiadeke said.
“We especially like the use of local materials to improvise practical lessons since lab equipment can be expensive.” She added.
The Programmes Manager at PEN, Mr. Joseph Quaye Amoo, noted that the organization is committed to ensuring quality STEM education for all Ghanaian learners and is constantly exploring cost-effective ways to expand the reach of its innovative low-cost, hands-on STEM education movement across the country.
Mr. Amoo was pleased by the excitement and cooperation from the teachers during the training sessions, he said it is an assurance that the manuals will be of good use during Science lessons and will be greatly beneficial to students.
He added that the generous gesture of Prof. Yuan Luo will make a lasting impact on STEM education.
“It is indeed a shining example of how collective efforts can enhance the learning experiences of countless students and contribute to the overall development of a region”.
“His landmark donation and commitment to improving science education in this district will undoubtedly leave a profound legacy in honour of his mother.”
Professor Yuan Luo is a Professor at the Institute of Medical Devices and Imaging at the National Taiwan University in Taiwan who donated to PEN in memory of his late mother, Chinying Chiang.
ABOUT PRACTICAL EDUCATION NETWORK (PEN)
Practical Education Network (PEN) is a non-profit organization that works with educational stakeholders to improve student’s learning outcomes by building teacher capacity through training.
The teacher training program PEN provides is infused with MIT-style, learning-by-doing to enable hands-on Science and Mathematics lessons regardless of resource constraints.
The organization is on a mission to enable every African child to learn by doing with the vision of an Africa sustainably transformed by generations of problem-solvers.