BOOSTING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION (MARCH 19, 2010)

FOR majority of the people, their daily pre-occupation is the struggle for their basic needs.
This category of people is always concerned about bread and butter issues and is, therefore, not abreast of technological innovations of our time.
In this day and age, our peasant farmers continue to contend with the hoe and the machete as the main implements for food cultivation in the country. Although the authorities are aware that plantation agriculture offers the way forward in ensuring food security, not much is being done to promote mechanised agriculture.
So in our efforts to catch up with the rest of the world in science and technology, we need to put in place the necessary interventions to carry along many of our people who feel alienated from the opportunities created by technological advancement.
The advent of the cellular phone has reduced the challenges of communication to such a level that people living in hitherto under-served areas can now interact freely with others anywhere in the world.
However, the lack of access to science and technology education by many of the present generation makes it difficult for rural dwellers in particular to reap the full benefits of the cellular phone, personal computers and laptops. Whereas in other jurisdictions the people are on Facebook and the Twitter, the Internet is not accessible to many Ghanaians, even those in the urban centres.
Unfortunately, many years after the introduction of educational reform programmes, some second-cycle institutions do not even have computer laboratories, while some pupils in some parts of the country have not seen a computer before.
We urge the government and other stakeholders to desist from the refrain of ‘lack of funds’ as an excuse not to do anything to advance the cause of development in the country.
Countries that are making a head way are always at the drawing board strategising to access the resources for the betterment of their people. The resources in themselves will mean nothing to the people unless we apply our knowledge to reap the benefits.
Our efforts at development will not make the desired impact if we fail to commit resources to promote science and technology in the country.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, commends the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology for organising a national forum on Ghana’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy in Accra on Wednesday.
It is also refreshing that the government has decided to institute a scholarship scheme to stimulate students in senior high schools to study science and technology as the key drivers for the country’s socio-economic development.
We have made it a policy to become a middle-income country in the next few years but we risk losing out if we do not pursue a development agenda driven by science and technology.
The support for secondary education may not be enough to harness the potential in the science and technology sector because we need a more holistic approach to bring all the sectors on board.
Recently, we were told that fewer people were seeking admission to our universities to read agriculture because of the erroneous impression that the sector is not rewarding.
We call for special incentives to be extended to all those who promote science and technology, including tax holidays for corporate bodies that support efforts at technological growth.
The move by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology has come late in the day but we can fast-track our approach in order to catch up with the rest of the world.