Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum – Minister of Education
Two hundred and eighty-five (285) second-cycle institutions in the country have registered to participate in the 2024 edition of the novel STEMNNOVATION competition.
This number shows an increase of 57 additional schools registering to participate, representing an increase of 24 per cent as against 228 for the previous year’s event.
Nana Afrah Sika Mensah, Deputy National Coordinator for the Free Senior High School Secretariat, who disclosed this to the media in Accra, stated that the competition which is slated to kick start on August 26 with a roadshow will be climaxed on September 24, where awards will be presented to the winners.
She explained that the institutions which are Senior High School/Senior High Technical Schools (SHTS), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institutes which have registered a total of 570 projects for the 2024 competition as against 251 the previous year, signifying a 127 per cent increase.
The Deputy National Coordinator indicated that this year’s competition has seen an additional 319 projects registered as against 251 registered last year.
This, she attributed to the rising interest in the project by the various stakeholders and the Ghanaian populace.
Project Categories
This year’s competition has projects in the areas of Food Sovereignty (89), Sustainable Energy (134), Environmental Sustainability (187) and Digital Technology (113).
Eastern Region registered a total of 105, being the highest, followed by Ashanti and Central regions with 81 and 70 schools, while Bono East and Western North recorded the lowest with seven schools each.
Nana Afrah Sika stated that the project this year focused on the use of digitalisation projects towards finding lasting solutions to challenges confronting various societies across the country.
One unique feature of this year’s event is the massive increase in the number of schools from 97 in 2022, 228 in 2023 and 285 in the 2024 competition.
Background
The STEMNNOVATION competition, an initiative of the Free Senior High School Secretariat which started in 2022, has led to students being offered the opportunity to explore and innovate with projects.