Ghanian entrepreneurs have created a Science Set to give children from poor backgrounds access to science! They hope to inspire children across the country, and to bring joy to science lessons.
In 2017, Ghanaian entrepreneurs Charles Ofori Antipem and Michael Asante Afrifa designed the Science Set. Today, it is helping over 11,000 school children to learn about science in a practical and exciting way.
The science set is a small, portable and inexpensive kit that can be used in schools that have limited resources. It costs just $15 per set, and could fit in a child’s school bag.
It contains many different electronic components, allowing students to experiment with light and magnetism, and to build circuits. It also comes with an illustrated instruction manual, to make sure that the experiments are easily accessible for all.
Inventor Charles Ofori Antipem founded Dext Technologies, the company that builds the Science Set, in 2017.
Charles had always loved science, but struggled to access basic science equipment when he was at school. He wants to change things for children today, and ensure that more children have the opportunity to learn about science.
From electricity to mobile phones, technology is becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. Because of this, it is likely that in the future, more jobs will require ‘STEM’ qualifications. ‘STEM’ refers to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
However, students attending schools with basic facilities often struggle with science. Many schools cannot afford the equipment needed to carry out experiments. So, students have to rely on textbooks and theory to understand the world around them. As a result, many students find science difficult and boring to learn.
This puts poorer students at a disadvantage in their adult lives, because they have fewer job opportunities than students with good STEM skills.
Affordable kits like The Science Set mean that more students can have access to experimental equipment. This will encourage more children to love science, and could potentially improve their future prospects.
Over 4000 Science Sets are being used in over 200 schools in Ghana and across the world. The kits are proving very popular with students.
Princess Makafui is a schoolgirl from Ghana. Princess and her friends won a regional science competition for an invention built using the Science Set. They used the kit to build a ‘light cube’, because Princess lives in a house with no electricity. Now, she and her friends sit around the light cube, each using one side of the light to do their homework in the evenings.
