STEMi Makers Africa partners U.S Consulate General to empower Educators in the South – East with STEM Education
Only a refined education system, properly educated workforce and entrepreneurial class will have the skills and drive to thrive as new technologies change the nature of work, leisure, the environment, and society – and to tackle Nigeria’s most pressing challenges.
On a mission to strengthen competencies, particularly in STEM and digital literacy, for students, to effectively transition from education to employment, STEMi Makers Africa partnered with the U.S Consulate General, Lagos State to train Educators from public and private schools across four states in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria.
The project commenced from the 1st of February to the 12th of February 2021, where STEMi Makers Africa visited each of the states for a 2-days intensive and hands-on training. Each of these states brought together a diverse group of Science and Technology, Education, and socio-economic empowerment stakeholders, and encouraged practical hands-on activities around improving teaching practices and learning outcomes through quality capacity building for Educators in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. Educators were exposed to design thinking, programming, Circuiting, embedded systems, prototyping, computing, STEM Pedagogy, Skills of the Future and Entrepreneurship. The program also encouraged Break-out sessions for Educators to identify existing societal problems and come up with sustainable solutions like products, applications and technology innovation.
The project also had worthy presence of the Commissioner of Science and Technology of Enugu State; Sir Obi Kama in Enugu on the 8th of February, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Abia State on the 5th of February; Sir Eze Ajuzie in Umuahia and Remy Chukwunyere, a representative of the former Chief of Staff to the Imo State Government, Uche Nwosu Ugwumba in Owerri on the 1st of February 2021.
A representative and the Strategy Lead of STEMi Makers Africa, Amanda Obidike, stated that the project is to empower Educators to raise students’ achievements in STEM so that they can excel and become more experienced for Africa’s workforce. The future economic growth of Africa depends on an aligned education and future-focused system that supports developmental efforts in generating talents needed to become self-reliant and problem-solvers using Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Innovation. To remain competitive in a growing global economy, it is imperative that we raise students’ achievement in STEM Subjects and skills. We look forward to ensuring that Educators serve as role models, career and academic supporters as they nurture the younger generation. We will be following up on the schools, Educators and their students towards ensuring they are given the adequate and technical support they need.
Key Stakeholders at the event noted that Educators are at the heart of education and foundational in preparing students for a world where they must collaborate with others, adapt quickly to change, and where success will hinge on attitudes and behavior as well as knowledge.
The project had resource partners like the U.S Consulate General; Lagos, Ministry of Science and Technology, Enugu State, the Ministry of Education, Abia State and supporting partners like the Ugwumba Leadership Academy, TheAfricanDream LLC, General Electric, Calal Global, the MAI Foundation and Global Shapers, Ozubulu. The project had a total of 289 Educators who were selected from Public, Private and Missionary secondary schools.
