The founder of Edgewood Academy in Durban, South Africa, Victor Yao Nyakey, has called for the establishment of more STEM schools in rural communities across Africa.
Speaking in an interview the Editor – In – Chief of News Ghana, Mr. Roger A. Agana, the South African based educational solutions consultant, urged African leaders to prioritise the allocation of more funds towards the building of science, technology, engineering and mathematics schools.
According to Mr. Victor Yao Nyakey, the lack of adequate school infrastructure, learning resources and teachers in rural schools in Africa is the cause of poor educational development on the continent.
He noted that, all pupils in the underprivileged communities have rights to quality education. He also lamented about the absence of the political will to implement quality educational policies that will enable young people to have employable skills.
Mr. Nyakey underscored the need for educators to be incentivised. He also urged parents and teachers to motivate young people to take the study of STEMS subjects seriously as a step in grooming more skilled people in order to boost the African economy.
He pointed out that land ownership plays a major role in the establishment of schools, and appealed to individual land owners, royal families and private entities to liaise with governments by providing parcels of lands that can be used for educational purposes.
He expressed fear that, if nothing positive is done to improve STEM education in Africa, the continent will continue to import skilled labour – there will be an increase in the rate of unemployment, depression and crime among young people.
However, Mr. Nyakey expressed hope that the new crop of African leaders will take steps to transform the formal education sector to make it more competitive. He mentioned that the government of Ghana is currently putting in place measures to build STEM schools across the country and called for its sustenance by practicing maintenance culture.
According to the African Development Bank, less than 25% of African higher education students pursue STEM-related career fields. STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, and it is conceivably the most important field that would drive the socio-economic development of Africa quickly. The fact that only a few young Africans choose to pursue STEM-related career fields is a big issue.
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