Last week I had the honour of being invited back to ASA to talk to this year’s cohort. As I am neither a teacher or a scientist, I have been keen to interact with the students informally and to use their own experiences (as well as my own) to find areas where we could relate to each other and hopefully, where I could find points of motivation for them.
Education in Ghana
Despite the progress Ghana has made as a developing nation in the 61 years since gaining independence from British colonial rule, a UN study in 2014 revealed that although 90% of Ghanaian children start primary school, by the time they reach secondary age, less than 50% actually have an opportunity to go onto gain a secondary school education. Poverty tends to be the determining factor that denies children the financial means to attend school.
African Science Academy
The ASA has been set up by its founder, Tom Ilube who I met in January 2017. I had heard about the great work Tom has been doing in the education sector in Africa and wanted to learn from him. By sheer coincidence, Tom’s first Academy (ASA) has also been set up in Ghana – the country of focus for the CamBotsio Foundation.