The Ministry of Education in conjunction with UNESCO is set to introduce a digital STEM mentorship programme that will ensure students continue to get mentorship services and are kept connected to STEM education.
The programme will reach over 10,000,000 secondary and primary school learners irrespective of their gender with information on STEM education and its importance in their day-to-day lives;
The objective of the programme is to keep students connected to STEM in the face of COVID-19 while inspiring their young minds through exposure to the beauty and power of science.
The Chief Administrative Secretary for Education, Ms. Mumina Bonaya asked learners who are currently at home to use their valuable time in continuous learning through use of technology.
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The Chief Administrative Secretary said learners developed unwarranted anxiety about science and math’s while they are in school, noting that this affected decision to give attention to science subjects in school.
“The ministry calls upon parents, teachers and other guardians to support the learners through these digital channels among others,” Ms Bonaya said during the launch of the programme in a Teleconference on Tuesday.
The Principal Secretary for Basic Education, Dr. Belio Kipsang said proper guidance socialized students to STEM courses early.
He said the virtual programme will also benefit boys who are at home together with their girls, noting that boys were as much uncomfortable with STEM subjects and need similar mentorship and encouragement.
Regional Director, for UNESCO, Ms. Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta said the programme will provide support to build capacity in the students to value STEM courses and link them with their career choices.
She, however, expressed the need to introduce a dual system of education like in German which has integrated school-based learning with work-based practice to expose students to industry.
Ndong-Jatta noted that dual based education helps young people to build the skills and experience in the world of work.
The Ministry, through Kenya National Commission for UNESCO, (KNATCOM)has, for the last five years, been supporting STEM mentorship camps for girls where 2,600 girls in 191 secondary schools in 41 counties have been mentored.
The objective of the activity is to keep students connected to STEM in the face of COVID-19 while inspiring their young minds through exposure to the beauty and power of science.
Specifically, it aims at sustaining the interest of students in STEM by linking them with role models in the STEM professionals through online interactions and continuous access to mentorship services from STEM role models through the call a stem mentor platform.
It will also provide students with life and survival skills to enable them overcome the gender stereotypes and negative masculinities that prohibit them from exploiting their full potential in the various STEM subjects among others.
The programme will be implemented through a close partnership with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Community media in all the counties as channels for disseminating the information to students on STEM fields. Other partners in the programme include Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), National Commission for Science, Technology & Innovation (NACOSTI), the Association of Kenya Community Radio Operators, Safaricom, and Microsoft
According Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) 2020/2021Placement Report, overall university admissions in STEM indicate that Male candidates account for 63.41 per cent (42, 267) of the students who will pursue STEM programmes, whereas 36.59 per cent (24, 394) are female.
