Feb 21, 2012

Science And Technology Education, A Viable Strategy For Economic Transformation

By Benjamin Nortey, BSc. Computer Science Candidate CEO, Metro Inst. of Technology

Benjamin Nortey
Benjamin Nortey
“….There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation many never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountains? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” -- President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962, at Rice University, Houston, Texas

“The purpose of education is to teach one to think intensely and critically. Intelligence plus character; that is the true goal of education.”  --Martin Luther King

President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) awoke on April 12, 1961, to the news that the Soviet Union had won the race to put a man into space. Kennedy immediately met with Vice President Lyndon Johnson in the White House to discuss the embarrassment of the Soviets beating America again. “Can we put a man on the moon before them?” Kennedy asked. A few weeks later, Kennedy challenged the nation to commit itself to “achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” Kennedy challenged Congress and the imaginations of all Americans a few weeks later, when, on May 25, in a special Joint Session of Congress, he proposed a Moon Exploration Programme.  In a speech outlining defense and foreign policy needs to make the US secure and safe against threats from Soviet communism, or any other nation or faction, Kennedy spoke openly about the space race that had been waged since October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union became the first nation on Earth to orbit an artificial satellite, Sputnik. In this quest, Kennedy laid out the reasons America needed strong science research programmes funded by the Federal Government, and strong science educational achievement in all of American schools.

I choose to start with the two quotes because they inspired me to write this article, what I believe is very crucial for us all (Ghana and Africa) at this moment to rethink and remake our social structures. I was stunned for the first time to learn, according to an International Air Transport Association (IATA) report that Africa contributes only 2% to the wealth in the aviation industry in the world. It almost seems like we are not participating in the making of world history.

The last decade has been marked with tremendous advances in science and technology innovations, which were considered impossible years ago. From Nano technology which allows molecular level development, to Robotic Space Exploration which allows robots to explore the surface of the planet. Many of the things men thought were impossible have been made possible today.  And this has changed the way we relate with our world today. Social interaction with different races, cultures, ages, and gender has become possible, breaking all the barriers that hamper communication. Facebook, a social networking website, has changed politics, business, commerce and entertainment. YouTube, a video sharing website, has changed the idea of visual interaction, that also having an impact on our economy today. The internet has made our lives even much easier when it comes to information research. Advancement in science and technology has undisputedly transformed human relations, transportation, communication and many areas of human endeavor.

In Ghana, science and technology education are found mainly in the classroom. There is the need to popularize science and technology at all levels of mainstream human endeavours.

A robot is an electro-mechanical device which is built from basic parts (some metallic, some plastic), including some basic computer – a microcontroller – with components of memory and auxiliary micro-devices on a circuit board, giving it the capability for programming and making it function according to a human-desired behaviour or logic. Like all computers, robots are passive devices. But when integrated with sensory devices, they can be programmed to affect certain actuators or interact with their environments through emitted control signals when the embedded programmes are executed on the microcontrollers. Robotics is therefore the discipline of constructing and programming robots, and as a field. It entails logical reasoning, problem analysis, proofing concepts, validating algorithmic processes or thoughts, and it involves basic to advanced knowledge of physics, mathematics, engineering, computing, and other technologies.

The introduction of Robotics into the educational system (from basic school to tertiary) will help inculcate computational thinking in students and nurture them into becoming future scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians with the entrepreneurial spirit. It affords students a life-time experience in using robots to test not only their analytical skills but also their capabilities in mapping design concepts into mathematical, engineering and technological frameworks. Its introduction will help students find their niche and define areas of academic and professional pursuits in the broader areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Students can learn better with their hands by creating and building. They will be able to broaden their ideas of what’s possible. An educational system that thrives on this concept will certainly inspire young people to be science-and-technology-oriented in their thinking. One cannot argue that students who study robotics master 21st century aptitudes that translate into workforce skill sets. To achieve the science and technology height Ghana dreams of, we have to put in place a curricula model and instructional system that will transition young students from a point of simply reproducing information into mapping intentions into real life practical solutions. In fact, we need to make it a culture; science and technology must be on a commercial scale.

I grew up in the Central region of Ghana in a small town called ‘Brofoyedru’ (transliterated as English is heavy) with my grandmother. I had the opportunity to start schooling very early because my grandmother was a career teacher in the basic school and she would always take me along. I was thought to be a smart student by my teachers; and by that, during promotion at the end of every third term, the headmistress would recommend I jumped over one class. By age five I was promoted to class four (In fact I was running way ahead of my age). As a little boy I could remember my teacher writing with white chalk on a black board. The teacher had a long ‘cane’ and would apply heavy dosage at your back if you dared answer a question which did not match exactly what he taught. So I went through that system knowing how to commit information into memory without knowing how to apply any of the information I knew of.

I never saw and experienced a science lab or a computer till I got to high school. As a science student in the high school, my first exposure to lab work was in the Chemistry lab, so eager to know and experience the chemicals I read in the Periodic Table. By the time I was through with my science education I had enough of acid and base in my belly as a result of titration experiments. My first training and real exposure to computers was in College. Unbelievable! Whilst my other colleagues in China and Japan were using modern software and technologies to study, I had to wait till college. My story is not different from what is still being experienced today by many. The reality of studying under trees still exists. I have seen this in Yendi, Navrongo and even in the capital city, Accra. We have to rise up and start competing with the world.

The Ghanaian situation is not any different from the developed and powerful nations years ago. I believe in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy. We need to take bold steps to advance policies that will see Ghana compete with China and the US in the next decade. It will take strong leadership character and a belief in ourselves to become a first world country. What will keep our economy growing stronger and stronger is our skill and character.

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