September 7, 2022
The Ghana Science and Tech Explorer Prize Challenge (GSTEP) has successfully completed the application stage. During this phase, entries were submitted from schools in the Greater Accra region and Ashanti region. With a total of about 700 entries, the second phase of the activities for Year 2 in the GSTEP program is being rolled out.
Prior to the submission of entries by interested participants, the DreamOval Foundation undertook a massive outreach program. Teams of coordinators went to various schools in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions of Ghana to educate both students and teachers on the need to take this opportunity and upgrade their skills and knowledge of STEM education. This outreach program piqued the interest of a lot of students and teachers who submitted their entries through the guidance of the DreamOval Foundation team.
In the assessment stage of the competition, a team of expert judges has been indulged to critically assess the entries they have received. Out of the many entries that have come through, only fifty (50) of the entries – twenty five(25) each from both the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions – that have met the criteria would be selected for the finalist phase of the competition.
The Finalist induction ceremony has been slated for the 20th of September 2022 in the Greater Accra region and on the 23rd of September for the Ashanti region. During this event, the selected finalists would be taken through their roles in the competition and what they need to achieve before the Award Ceremony in December 2022.
The consortium namely Challenge Works, MEST Africa, DEXT Technology, and Foundervine would give presentations that would guide the finalists during their last stage of the competition. The finalists would also be presented with all the resources they would need to develop their ideas and build prototypes for their final presentations. During the course of this stage, they would also undergo masterclasses and mentorship sessions to fully equip them with the skills and technical know-how for the development of their submitted ideas.
The GSTEP Challenge is an initiative that has taken into consideration the future of children and education in Ghana, paring with developed countries. It is known that developed countries have taken STEM education seriously as it is helping the youth find footing in their various capacities and abilities. The advancement of technology cannot be undermined in the present day, and no one would want to be left behind. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are courses beginning to become the threshold on which education systems around the world rely.
With the future of the youth of Ghana in mind, DreamOval Foundation is leaving no stone unturned. It is refreshing to know that the foundation is here to stay and to help improve the education system in Ghana.