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The African-Caribbean Manufacturing Limited (ACML), in collaboration with the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School (PRESEC, Legon), has embarked on an ambitious mission to produce basic science tools to address the shortfall in senior high school laboratories across the country.
The locally manufactured science tools will also be exported to cater for the needs of secondary schools in Africa and the Caribbean.
This was revealed by the Board Chairman of the ACML, Gilbert Akpabey, when he led a five-man team of experts to pay a courtesy call on the Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey.
Other members of the delegation were John Arthur, Paul Narh, Daniel Oku Adamah and John Sackey, all directors of the company.
Mr Akpabey, a past student of PRESEC, explained that ACML decided to partner with PRESEC, which is one of the leading science schools in the country, to emphasise the magnitude of the challenges facing science education.
He said an in-depth observation made by ACML in the various high schools revealed that most laboratories lacked the basic tools for teaching and learning science.
He said with funding from some foreign partners, a variety of laboratory equipment would be manufactured on a large scale with local materials to enable students to have effective practical Physics lessons.
Mr Akpabey solicited the support of Graphic Communications Group Ltd as a key media partner to ensure the success of the project.
As a first step, Mr Akpabey disclosed that the project will be officially launched at PRESEC at 10 a.m. tomorrow to mark the beginning of the transformation of science education in Ghana, Africa and the Caribbean.
A director of ACML and a former science teacher of PRESEC, Mr Arthur, said it came out during a study that students usually work in groups of at least five in the laboratories, or that a class observed activities demonstrated by their teachers due to limited materials.
He said some classes were also too large for activities to be done individually, requiring more laboratories.
“It was also found that every standard apparatus in the Physics laboratory is imported and is, therefore, very expensive.
Some items were found to be so fragile and were only preserved for demonstration and examination, such as glass blocks and lenses,” he said.
“Furthermore, the reading of instruments for measuring and application of read values are a great challenge to students,” he stated.
Mr Arthur said it was to find a workable solution to the problem that the ACML initiated the plan to produce tools that would be affordable and user-friendly.
“ACML has been producing tools for high school laboratories for the past three years, and 10 other apparatuses are in the process of being manufactured.
They are innovative, affordable, user-friendly and accessible to enhance teaching and learning.
“They are adequately manufactured without compromising standards for high school students so they can take their rightful place as astute scientists in their future careers,” he revealed.
List of tools
Some of the laboratory tools and apparatuses being manufactured by ACML for teaching and learning in SHS Physics practical lessons include optical flat pins, weight hangers with and without pointers, weights, battery box, spiral spring (rated), pendulum bob and knife-edge screen-mirror.
The rest are the Wheatstone bridge, potentiometer, adjustable lens holder, magnet, calorimeter and sonometer board.
During the visit, Mr Arthur demonstrated the functions of some of the locally manufactured tools to Mr Yartey.
Mr Arthur indicated that a similar situation of the lack of accessibility to lab tools prevailed outside the country; hence, the plan to extend their services to other African countries, the Caribbean and other parts of the world.
For his part, the Editor, Graphic, commended ACML for the initiative to improve science education and pledged the Daily Graphic’s support to achieve that objective.
