The Ahafoman Senior High School on Wednesday surprised the country with their supremacy in innovation and technological knowhow by beating 24 other Senior High as well as Technical and Vocational education Training Institutions nationwide by scoring164 points to emerge winners of the 2023 edition of the national STEMNNOVATION competition in Accra.
The Ahafoman SHS team presented on a project on Flexible Use of Electricity, where they generate electrical power through a locally modified generator and accumulator connected to a solar panel to power a plant-based incubator.For their prize, the three contestants and their coaches would be sponsored to spend one week in Japan where they would participate in an international STEM competition next year as well as a four year full scholarship in any Engineering University in Ghana.As part their prize they also took home an amount of Gh50, 000 cash from the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), a desktop computer donated by Omega Computers, Gh20,000life insurance cover from Glidco Insurance company, medals STEM textbooks.The three female contestants who represented the Ahafoman SHS, a mixed school were also presented with “Girls Team Award” of Gh5000 from Bountiful Technologies while their coaches were presented with mobile phones from Motorola. The second-placed Wesley Grammar SHS received GHS 30,000 cash prize, a laptop and a printer; whereas,third-placed Bosomtwe Girls’ had GHS20,000 cash prize, a laptop and a printer. The second place position went to Wesley Grammar SHS with a score of 150 points whiles the Bosomtwe Girls’ STEM SHS which had 143 points placed third in the competition.For their prizes, Wesley Grammar SHS took home Gh30,000 cash, a laptop, STEM textbooks, a one year life insurancecover from Glidco, medals and a trophy while the Bosomtwe Girls STEM Academy also went home with Gh20,000 cash, one year insurance cover, STEM textbooks,medals and other, souvenir.Specific project awards URBAN GARDENING AWARD 1ST PLACE – URBAN GARDENING AWARD: WESLEY GRAMMAR SHS, 2NDPLACE – URBAN GARDENING AWARD: BOSOMTWE GIRLS STEM SHS, 3RD PLACE – URBAN GARDENING AWARD: DABOKPA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE.CLEANWATER1STPLACE – CLEAN WATER: SWEDRU SHS, 2NDPLACE – CLEAN WATER: AKUSE METHODIST SHTS, 3RD PLACE – CLEAN WATER: BOSOMTWE STEM ACADEMY.EFFECTIVEUSE OF ELECTRICITY 1ST PLACE – EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRICITY: AHAFOMAN SHS, 2ND PLACE –EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRICITY: ST LOUIS SHS, 3RD PLACE –EFFECTIVE USE OF ELECTRICITY: APPLIED TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE CORE VALUES AWARD went to KPANDO TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, ENGINEERING AWARD went to SUNTRESO SHTS, while DABOKPA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE was awarded with the BEST PRESENTATION and WESLEY GRAMMAR SHS got an award as the BEST STEM PROJECT.The Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who was so excited at the performance of the students expressed his gratitude to the judges and coaches for their guidance, headmasters/headmistresses for encouraging the children to participate in the completion.He was upbeat that the skills and innovation exhibited by the various schools attested to the fact that the education the nation’s education reforms was yielding great results.Dr Adutwum said that the government would continue to put in more effort towards engaging various stakeholders in the country towards revamping the nation’s economy through prudent education policies that stand the chance of making the nation an educational hub for the African continent.The Education Minister congratulated all the competing institutions and urged the students to continue working very hard towards becoming what they aspire to achieve in life.Dr Adutwum pledged to build anew science laboratory for the Ahafoman SHS who won the competition although they do not have a science laboratory in the school.The Deputy Coordinator of the Free Senior High School, praised all the sponsors and institutions which played various roles towards the second edition of the competition.She stated that his office would continue to work extra hard to ensure an improvement in the subsequent editions of the competition to help enhance the teaching and learning of science in the schools across the country.Background The competition organised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) provided a platform for the students to showcase STEM projects they had developed to solve societal problems.This year’s projects were grouped under three categories, namely Urban Gardening, Clean Water and Effective Use of Electricity.END
