Africanews
Girls are visibly missing in the area of science in schools throughout Ghana. This has nothing to do with girls being less intelligent than boys but everything to do with the expectations and stereotypical roles ingrained in the minds of girls by society. A Science Clinic for Girls was launched in 1986 to address the problem of encouraging girls to do sciences. At its 10th anniversary this year, the programme had doubled the number of girls doing science in schools. Despite this success, progress has been comparatively slow. |
In August this year, the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) Clinic for girls celebrated its 10th anniversary. The programme was introduced to develop and sustain girls' interest in science and technology against the background of the absence of women in careers of science throughout Ghana.
Of the 70 members of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, for instance, there are less than five women. The fact is that girls are visibly missing in physical science subjects in second cycle institutions in the country, a fact which has nothing to do with girls being less intelligent than boys. Ms Georgina Quaisie, coordinator of the STME clinic for girls says, "the basic problem is wrong attitudes on the part of society", while Professor Adzei Bekoe, President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences asserts that "girls generally lack confidence" to do science.
Both opinions are valid because science has been wrongly designated by society as the preserve of boys. Girls who pursued science and were doing well lost interest towards graduation or shifted to other fields generally believed to be for girls. Those who persisted, did so at great risk of discouragement or derision. The price Ghana has paid for this attitude is that half of the country's human resources- women- are going to waste.
The STME programme which brought together 280 girls from Senior Secondary
School (SSS) across the country, was therefore tailored to offer girls
opportunity to dispel misconception and stereotypes that have kept them out of
the field of science. Female scientists and technologists were brought to
serve as role models and to educate the girls on opportunities and advantages
available in the world of science. Visits to industries were also organized to
expose the girls to practical applications of science and technology.
Basically, this is what has been going on since the Ministry of Education
launched the STME clinic for girls in 1986.
Before its inception, out of a total of 3,241 candidates who sat for the GCE Advanced Level science examination in 1986, only 368 or 11 per cent were girls. By 1992 this figure had more than doubled to 2,200 or 23 per cent for girls out of 9,412 students who took the GCE Advanced Level science examination. Government spending for the clinic which was 5 million Cedi in 1992, rose to 19.4 million Cedi two years later. This year the figure hit 41 million Cedi.
Ten years of intervention in girls' education has not been a waste of time and resources. It has been very fruitful for girls most of whom are pursuing science at higher levels. In the famous Achimota School where the ratio of boys to girls has shot to 8:7, girls form the cream of science students. Already the STME programme is being emulated by Cote d'Ivoire.
Joseph P. O'Connor, Coordinator of the Female Education in Mathematics and Science in Africa (FEMSA) has also borrowed a leaf from the STME clinic for the girls needs to be expanded and decentralized to cover all the 10 regions of the country to enable many more girls especially in the rural areas benefit.
These efforts, however, would be meaningless if the public does not discard long held prejudices and stereotypes about what subjects and careers girls ought to or ought not to pursue.
Science and technology are not the prerogative of boys nor should they be the privilege of girls only. Both girls and boys must have unrestricted access to science education and technology literacy.
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