May 14, 2023
The submission of entries for the 2023 GSTEP Challenge closed on Friday, 28th April 2023. Between January and April this year, schools in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Ashanti regions were actively sought out to submit ideas for the Challenge. Students were encouraged to form teams of between 4 to 6 team members and develop a solution to a problem they have identified around them using Science and Technology. This year, over 1,200 entries were received which was an increase from the 844 entries received in 2022.
The Challenge is open to students in the Eastern region with the number of finalists increased from 50 last year to 100. This is to give more students the opportunity to participate in Challenge and access the resources and benefits the Challenge offers. The Challenge will run from June 2023 to January 2024 to give the finalists more time to engage with their mentors and coaches, develop their prototypes and business plans. This is to ensure that the teams obtain the maximum support and acquire more skills and knowledge in STEM.
Finalists of the Challenge will participate in a series of activities and events during the Challenge. The selected finalists will be announced in May and will proceed to be inducted in the Challenge in June. Induction events will be held in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Ashanti regions. After the Induction events, the finalists will proceed to engage in mentoring and coaching sessions during which they will be provided with technical knowledge to develop their prototype as well as knowledge in entrepreneurship, business plan development, presentation and communication skills.
The finalists will participate in industrial visits to explore various fields in STEM and see first hand applications of STEM knowledge. They will also participate in media engagements during which they will discuss their projects and what they seek to achieve during the Challenge. They will then submit their business plans and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. An exhibition will be held in January 2024 during which each team will present their prototype to the general public. Later in the day, a prestigious awards ceremony will be held to announce the winners of the Challenge and celebrate the finalists.
This year’s GSTEP Challenge is seeking to offer more Ghanaian students the opportunity to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in STEM. These skills will help develop interest in STEM subjects and careers, equip the students with the needs of the 21st century job market and also encourage them to pursue entrepreneurship. To learn more about how you can support Ghana’s youth to develop knowledge and skills in STEM visit www.gstep.org.gh.