According to the secretariat, projects from the Stemnovation competition, which challenges Senior High schools, TVET, and technical schools to address socioeconomic issues in their community, have successfully tackled a number of age-old community problems through innovative solutions.

In an interview with Citi News, the Deputy Coordinator at the Secretariat, Nana Afrah Sika Mensah, reiterated the Free SHS Secretariat’s commitment to changing the face of education and called on various head teachers in the country to empower their students to go the extra mile.

“What we actually want to change in the whole education system is that our education system is full of theories, as it is theoretically based. We want to bring something practical to the table. It’s not always that we need to memorize, recite, write, and then forget, so at the end of the day, whatever the teacher teaches you is what you reproduce during examinations. But if we have a practical educational system whereby students will read, understand, and then find innovative ways of solving problems within their community. We want to shift the education system from a theoretical base to something practical so that students will set up some of the innovations. In the past, during craft, we used to say this thing is being made by students in China, Korea, and the rest. We want to change the narrative because Ghanaian students are also capable of changing the narrative of our education system, which is full of theory, to bring something practical to the table.”

She added, “The projects that the students are developing are amazing, and it shows that Ghanaians are also on track for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are in the 21st-century skills of the education system, and we have to change the whole system from theory to something practical. We want to encourage all head teachers that it’s not always about the students memorizing or speaking fluent English or whatsoever in the school, but we need to empower these students. We have to encourage them, the can-do spirit; we need to empower them and make sure that whatever they are doing, they are capable. We should not underrate them.”

The Deputy Coordinator at the Free SHS Secretariat emphasized the need for students to be given opportunities to excel in the various fields they find themselves in.

“Ghanaian students are capable, except that we have not given them the opportunity to excel in whatever field they find themselves. I will entreat all head teachers and opinion leaders to support this whole agenda of STEM education. Because we are in the 21st-century skills of education, and we are here to change the whole education system. Most of our issues will be resolved, and the Ghanaian student is there to willingly solve any societal problem, leading to a national issue that we find ourselves in.”