On the 11th of May 2021, AIMS Ghana visited the Ministry of Education (MoE) to discuss issues surrounding its continuous partnership and a series of ongoing projects. The meeting involved the Minister for Education – Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, MoE Management and Technical Advisors, the AIMS Ghana Board Chair- Prof. Edward Ayensu, the Centre President – Dr. Prince K. Osei and AIMS Ghana Management.

Prof. Ayensu indicated that the main purpose of the visit was to cement the already existing relationship between AIMS and the Government of Ghana, as AIMS Ghana has acquired the status of a UNESCO Category II Centre of Excellence.

At this meeting, the Hon. Minister reiterated his support for an improvement in the STEM education agenda. He had stated earlier in the year, during the International Day of Mathematics celebration, that the MoE was on a mission to transform the teaching of Mathematics to make it more practical. Dr. Prince K. Osei drew focus to two ongoing programs at AIMS Ghana, being the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Program (GMSP) and the Master’s in Mathematical Sciences for Teachers (MMST). He highlighted how these programs seek to tackle major issues within the STEM Education sector with a concentration on equipping Ghanaian Mathematics teachers with advanced skills as well as preparing the Ghanaian girl-child to venture into the study of Mathematics.

Hon. Yaw Adutwum expressed his interest in these projects with an emphasis on how they can change the general failure rate of high school students in Mathematics and other STEM-related subjects. He also made reference to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), as having the highest population of females within the field of engineering in comparison to other tertiary institutions. Regardless of this achievement, the statistics are not encouraging as females represent only 18% of this population. Another issue of concern was the fact that so far, none of the Senior High Schools for girls in Ghana has ever won the National Science and Maths Quiz (NMSQ).

These issues prove an existing deficiency and for this reason, MoE will be collaborating with AIMS Ghana to improve these statistics.