Mrs Mawusi Nudekor Awity, Director-General, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), says children must be prepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
She said they must be introduced to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at an early stage to be prepared for the future.
Mrs Awity said this at the For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology (FIRST) LEGO League National Robotics Championship in Accra.
The programme themed: “Cargo Connect” was organised by Coderina Education and Technology Foundation (EdTech) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service with support from Caterpillar, the LEGO Foundation and FIRST.
The Championship brought together 20 Pre-schools,20 Primary and 32 Senior High School learners from the public and private schools.
Mrs Awity said everything in the world was technological, therefore, children would be well equipped to survive by the time they were at the tertiary level.
She said: “Let’s tease the minds of children to be passionate about using the brains, heart and hands, which is more in the TVET space.”
The Director- General said the country’s educational sector was undergoing transformation coupled with many innovations geared towards entrepreneurship.
“An entrepreneur is basically a problem solver, and we are saddled with lots of problems, and we need to solve them ourselves than to patronise what the Western world has done for us,” she said.
Mrs Awity said competitions provided opportunities to unearth talents for mentorship and grooming to solve societal problems.
The Director-General noted that robots were reducing workload in developed countries, hence called for support for talents in the country.
“When given support, their ideas could be translated into tangible innovations to solve problems so we could have great scientists and problem solvers,” she added.
Mr Femi Niyi, Chairman, Coderina EdTech Foundation, said humanity relied on transportation innovation to move people and goods around the world.
He underscored the need to encourage young leaners to participate in such programmes to help them develop innovation, critical thinking, and lifelong skills.
Mr Niyi said that would empower them to be the next generation of leaders and innovators to tackle the world’s toughest challenges.
Through the partnership and programmes, he said, children aged four to 18 were tasked with exploring some of the world’s most pressing problems.
He said the teams among other tasks designed, build, tested and programmed robots using LEGO® technology as well as applied real-world math and science concepts.
Miss Seyram Ablah Dzantor, a year two Science student at Wesley Girls High School said robotics involved brainstorming and the use of technology to solve problems.
She appealed to Government to utilise ideas that students developed to solve problems of the country to end importation of machines.
“Competitions are organised yearly; we receive prizes and awards, but we do not see the needed result. The products are not used, and we lose interest,” Miss Dzantor stated.
Source: Ghana News Agency
