American Peace Corps to focus on STEM education
The United States (U S) Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Stephanie Sullivan, has hinted that 150 American Peace Corps will arrive in Ghana in September, this year, to support the nation’s development and transformation agenda.
She explained that most of the Peace Corps, upon their arrival, would be focusing on the teaching and development of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) which held the key to the transformation of the country and the rest of the world.
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Ms Sullivan announced this when she paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, in Accra last Tuesday.
The US withdrew all its Peace Corps from the country last year following the outbreak of COVID-19.
Commendation
She lauded the Government of Ghana for the effort it was making towards poverty reduction through education.
The Ambassador stated that the US was currently assisting the country in various forms through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which was the main implementer of many of such projects.
She mentioned the Early Grade Reading for pupils in basic schools which targeted more than 250,000 pupils in the country and the Ghana Learning radio programme as some examples of projects it was supporting.
Ms Sullivan pledged the US government’s readiness to partner the ministry, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and all other agencies to help improve the lives of the people in the country.
Appreciation
Dr Adutwum, for his part, lauded the US for its unflinching support to Ghana over the years, which had brought much development to the nation.
He assured the Ambassador that the government would continue to do more to ensure that both countries benefitted from the relationship.
Dr Adutwum said, “let us be proud that someday, we will be able to tell the world that we were part of the transformation of the country through education”.
He stated that the government would continue to put in place measures that stood the chance of transforming the fortunes of the country to enhance the standard of living of the people in the country.
Dr Adutwum mentioned for instance that the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy led to increased enrolment from 800,000 to 1.2 million students in the country’s senior high schools.
He mentioned increased access, equity and easing the burden of parents, whether they had money or not, as being the main reasons for the introduction of the Free SHS initiative in the country.
Background
Ghana became the first country in the world to receive American Peace Corps Volunteers in 1961, and the programme has been running uninterrupted for more than 50 years.
This has brought lots of development to the country in diverse ways, especially in the rural areas where most of the volunteers are usually posted to.
Most volunteers who came to the country in the past were posted to support the health, agriculture and education sectors, among others.
The Education Minister and the Ambassador used the occasion to exchange gifts as a sign of appreciation to each other for the roles they were playing for their respective countries.
