By Dora Addy
‘Investing in girls is a catalyst for changing
the world… We must all do our part…’- Ban Ki Moon- UN Secretary General
In the Jasikan District, there are only 29
girls reading pure science (Chemistry, Biology and Physics) out of 855 girls in
the three Senior High Schools in the district, according to reports from the
Jasikan Education Office.
The
maceration of the mystery that science is not a field for the stronger sex is
still lingering among many females even in today’s world of advanced
technological setup. The long held hoax on the female imagination and
efforts, that science should be
rightfully reserved for males, not even
be considered among the choice courses for females, has long driven many
potential women away from the academic course, not giving any chance to explore
on their potentials in the subject.
Today, science thrives well, and many women
are at the helm of affairs, making new discoveries, while others are busily and
effectively leading a whole constellation of ventures towards fresh
applications, and unearthing some of the latest trends and in the many
diversities of science for modern human demands.
Who said science is not taxing? It is! But who
started promoting the myth that girls are too slow to learn science, let alone
make strong impacts and even world discoveries? Others have been quick to
debunk such false claims made against women, and yet others are still slow in
deciding whether women really deserve a place in science, hence, preparing
women for the future by developing the right infrastructure for shaping the
mind and even meeting other women competitors on the world stage.
While the month of February celebrates women
and girls in science, this need not be ‘once-over’ event; rather, people must
start to seriously consider the detriments of not allowing others, for gender
reasons, not to adequately have the opportunity to venture into a field where
it is possible to succeed.
THWARTED BY CUSTOMS AND CULTURE
While it has become more necessary to involve
girls in education, specifically science-driven subjects, males are fast
dominating the pace, creating an unequal ratio that is very disturbing.
Girls constitute about 54% of the 69 million
children across the world who do not go to primary school, the Ghana National
Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) reports, while the enrolment of girls
continue to dwindle dramatically from basic to tertiary levels.
Females make up about 51% of the population in
Ghana. Considering the irregular trends in development in society, which can
often be linked to the variations in education of the sexes, women and girls
have constantly been put in the background.
In Ghana, culture and superstition go a long
way to determine how far a girls and women should reach in life; a most welcome
way of life which has sustained the thinking patterns of families and leaders
for ages.
Currently, modern development is helping to
shape the minds of people, and to a large extent, girls are being offered the
chance to run the race with the boys, but still at an uneasy pace.
What is still the problem? Still some young
girls do not have the choice for the subject, but their male counterparts are
being given a good head start even from the basic levels of education.
It is not enough to mention the huge basket of
young girls in the deprived regions who cannot have access to basic education,
much less, take a decision on reading science and adopting it as a tool to explore what the future has to offer, while
creating benefits for others through discoveries and interventions.
The problem still exists where girls can have
the opportunity to experiment with the subject- the secondary level. Even at
this level, boys seem to take the pace, while girls face stringent challenges,
with only a handful advancing the science course to the tertiary levels.
The first female physicist in Ghana, Professor
Andam, says that some female representation in Pure and Applied Sciences
courses in Ghanaian universities ranges from 1% to 22% in some Departments.
While Africa needs at least 2,000 scientists per one million in population for
effective industrial development, globalization is strongly putting science in
the front for many of the world’s advancement; it is a good investment in the
long run.
THE PRESENT HELP
The interests of girls in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) must still be developed and sustained.
Presently, the girl child is being aided with
her choices. Interventions from preventing the girl-child from going and
continuing with her education have been drawn by previous governments and world
bodies, through bilateral agreements. Policies have been drawn to empower
parents to send their children to school- the School Feeding Program, Free
Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), Complimentary Basic Education
(CBE) among others, but gender-based policies that seeks to bring parity
between the sexes are few.
Under the UNESCO-HNA Partnership for Girls’
and Women’s Education to improve the quality and relevance of girls’ learning,
UNESCO is organizing a STEM-related program dubbed ‘STEM clinics’, in secondary
schools and higher levels of education in selected districts across the
country. This plan is to sensitize girls to various STEM-related careers that
would lead them into professions in teaching, medicine, laboratory work or
telecommunications.
 |
| Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Education |
Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG 3) actively
pursues the interest of education of the girl-child to a multi-dimensional
choice in studies. While Ghana is also effectively engaged in its work to bring
this goal into fruition for all girls, some successes are being made.
Governments have started to encourage Science among young girls, and at the
secondary levels, government has put up several science laboratories, while
offering scholarships to girls in pursuit of education in Science.
It is noteworthy that the new government will
still continue to build on the MDG 3 until its success.
Currently, the African Institute for
Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), is much concerned about leveling the playing
field for girls and women in Science, and wants to close the gap. Since its
existence AIMS has trained more than 960 scientists from 42 countries, of which
31% are women.
In 2015, the National Gender Policy, which is
guided by article 17 (1) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution, and guarantees
gender equality and freedom was launched. Applying this policy, it is hoped
that women are given as much opportunities as men in the field of Science, and
reducing many of the obstacles that prevents them advancing higher on the
ladder owing to their gender.
WOMEN COUNT TOO
Regina Honu is a young and enterprising woman
who has succeeded well in Technology. She is the founder of Soronko, a software
development company in Accra which is using technology across multiple channels
to help Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana to create awareness
of their brand and grow their businesses. The company also is reaching the
rural children with STEM to help confront their everyday challenges.
Yes, women are also important in determining
how better the world becomes. Today, women play critical roles in the Science
and Engineering fields which are much needed for economic and scientific
advancements.
Leaving women and girls out of Science would
equally mean, leaving out 50% of the population out of the scientific,
technological, mathematics and engineering, which would in the long run
determine the economic high turn of the country.
At this point, encouragement of young girls in
the Sciences would need to continue from the primary to basic and advanced
levels. The learning environment must be inviting and conducive to attract
girls for Science, hence, friendly for girls who wish to study the course-
having the right facilities coupled with the right attitudes from givers of
education, through encouragement and counselling.
Currently, there a quite a number of NGOs
working hard towards advancing the cause of girls and women in Science,
Education for All Ghana is one such NGO. While these civil society
organizations chart the course for females, there is still work to be done from
those policies of government.
It’s a team work, and parents are involves as
well. Encouraging girls early while providing the needed logistics through
their education to get them to the desired level in the sciences is taxing, but
a good investment in the long run.
The nation would also benefit a great deal
from the abundance of the sciences working force for economic and industrial
revolutions, which are fast happening in developed countries.
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