It’s no news that there has been a lot of conversation around STEM education in recent years.

We know you might be trying to figure out what the hype is about.

Why is everyone suddenly interested in STEM education, or what is it all about? Well, we intend to educate, inform and enlighten you about everything that you need to know about STEM education.


The term ‘STEM’ is becoming more prominent today, especially in the educational system.

If you do proper research, you will find out that the educational system of different countries has evolved, and it’s no longer business as usual.

Hence, the infusion of STEM into the educational system.

However, STEM education in Nigeria is beginning to get the right amount of attention as more platforms such as GetBundi are being created.

This article will give you a proper insight into STEM education, its benefits and its importance. But first, you need to know what STEM education is.

What Is STEM Education?

STEM Education is an educational approach that marries Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education and its application.

As opposed to teaching these subjects individually, ‘STEM’ integrates them into a comprehensive learning pattern with real-life situations.

It explains that students would approach these subjects practically rather than the abstract way of thinking.

STEM education is created to empower students to stand tall in the business/career world.

In this educational system, the focus is on problem-solving learning.

With the evolution of the world becoming a global village, any student that is STEM literate has been proven to be more innovative.

Applying this knowledge and impacting their immediate communities comes easy to them.

Recent studies have proven that secondary school graduates with a STEM education tend to transition into the university seamlessly.

Isn’t that amazing?

In an ever-evolving world, STEM education is one of the major things every kid in Nigeria and Africa at large needs to stand out.

Why Is STEM Education Important In 2022?

Attaining a sustainable economy in any nation requires a key focus on innovation. That is what STEM education gives you.

We often say that “children are the leaders of tomorrow”. How do these children prepare for the leadership of tomorrow?

STEM education prepares every child for the future and the challenges that come with it.

The careers in STEM-related fields are increasing every day.

How else do you prepare your kids to excel in these fields? By equipping and educating them with the required materials, in this case, STEM.

However, this form of education doesn’t just revolve around the classroom or kids. It revolves around everyone (kids and adults).

Adults can also get educated in STEM.

We bet you love the sound of that. Parents can acquire STEM education along with their kids on the GetBundi platform.

Let’s get back to the importance of STEM education.

You might be wondering why STEM education is important in 2022?

Below are some of the critical reasons for this method of education and how it impacts our lives generally.

1. It encourages innovation

The recent pandemic opened our eyes to the relevance of technology. People had to embrace the virtual means of communication.

This gave rise to the emergence of several relevant apps and platforms to carry out different activities.

With the sudden rise of the tech industry in the world, it’s almost impossible to keep up with the trend these days.

However, this has helped to create more job opportunities.

Countries and companies that invested in technology have been able to improve their economy widely.

This shows that innovation in every industry is a boost for the economy.

Guess what? Innovation is the heart of technology. You can get that through the STEM education system.

When people have access to STEM education, innovation comes easy as they are taught to apply the knowledge to real-life situations.

The higher the STEM literacy, the higher the innovation in a country.

2. Creation of employment opportunities

It is proposed that in the nearest future, professions will require a deep understanding of STEM skills.

This means as modern technology gets embraced, the skills required to function are needed.

That’s where STEM education comes into the picture.

When people have the required skills, they are open to more opportunities in the market.

As the tech industry continues to grow, those with STEM skills will continue to get employed, while those without STEM skills might find it hard to stay afloat.

3. Fosters critical thinking

STEM education doesn’t just bring job opportunities, it also encourages the mindset of critical thinking when approaching any situation.

With a mindset of critical thinking, a STEM-literate can thrive and excel in any sector of the economy.

The course outline and teaching will help the student to think critically and come up with a suitable solution individually.

4. Increasing the talent pool

For companies to stay on top of their game, they need to employ the best talents. They go for talents that will help them stay relevant in the market.

Hence, several companies are investing in STEM education for their employees to help them stay relevant.

They also employ people with STEM skills. From research and development teams to engineers, web and app developers and designers, companies take out time to get the best.

As long as companies invest in STEM education, their talent pool will keep increasing. They can select their teams from a large pool of talents.

5. Development of relevant skills

Developing relevant skills is the only way to stay relevant in your career in 2022.

The world is now a global village. With everything almost digitalized, the only way to stay relevant in your career is to infuse digital skills into your work.

How can you achieve that without getting a STEM education? What a time to invest in the STEM education system.

Due to the fact this method of education allows detailed research, critical thinking and innovation, educating your kids will be an investment for their future.

Every parent that exposes their children to STEM education is creating a future full of opportunities for them.

Who says developing relevant skills can’t start from a very young age? This can only be done by exposing your children to STEM education early.

6. Developing management skills

When it comes to STEM education, students can earn some management skills. Do you know that the courses taken have a lot to do with practical projects?

As they embark on these projects, they learn time management, strategies and implementations.

Whether as an employer, entrepreneur or employee, these skills will help them throughout their lives.

As a team leader or employer, you can expose your employees to STEM education to build their management skills.

7. Creates opportunity for teamwork

Do you know that teamwork is one of the key drivers of success? Every organization requires teamwork to handle any project successfully.

In STEM education, the environment to foster teamwork is created. Whether, they’re in the laboratory, solving a problem or building something, the tasks require some level of collaboration to accomplish.

You can bet that the team spirit is built during these tasks.

8. Bridging the gender gap

The gender gap in the tech industry is quite obvious to everyone. Have you wondered why there are more men in the tech industry?

According to Apple, among several other big tech companies, less than 40% of females make up the employees across the world in 2021.

This data seems to be better than in previous years. Most people believe that girls are not exposed to enough opportunities to explore technology.

We believe that exposing the girl-child to STEM education early on will help bridge the gap gradually.

Once both genders are exposed to equal opportunities, the number of women in the tech industries will increase.

You can expose all your children to STEM education through logging on to GetBundi.

STEM education improves creativity and encourages a problem-solving mindset, which helps students approach problems differently.

10 Benefits of STEM Education You Never Knew

The benefits of implementing STEM education into the schooling system are beyond the pages of books.

Many people have benefitted from getting exposed to STEM education.

One thing we can tell you is that every child that gets a STEM education is built to succeed in every field.

Out of numerous benefits, here are ten main benefits of STEM education you probably never knew.

1. It enhances experimentation

Experimentation has birthed a great deal of the brilliant innovations we have today. STEM education is highly recommended because the courses encourage students to experiment.

Such STEM-literate students are not afraid of taking risks, which can potentially become an amazing innovation.

2. STEM students build resilience

Resilience requires some level of tenacity that students get introduced to when exposed to STEM education.

During some of the activities, a safe environment is created where students can make mistakes and learn from them.

This builds their confidence and makes them resilient in bringing their ideas to life in the long run.

Failure is taught to be a process that can eventually lead to success.

3. It improves creativity

Creativity is the centrepiece of STEM education. Students are encouraged to brainstorm and come up with unique ideas.

This is how some of the ground-breaking innovations came into existence.

In STEM education, ideas are never shut down, rather they are encouraged and tried.

Enrol your children in STEM education. Who knows, they might be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs.

4. Encourages the use of technology

Students of STEM education are taught the power of technology and how to use it early on. This helps them to embrace new technologies when they come in contact with them.

As the world is becoming tech-centred, you or your children are not to be left out.

STEM education creates a space where technology is embraced and encouraged widely.

5. Develops communication skills

Some people cannot communicate their ideas and strategies properly because they did not develop the skills in the early years of their lives.

Communication is an important life skill and every job requires good communication skills.

With group activities, students develop communication and other sociable skills like time management, open-mindedness, and teamwork.

6. Improves cognitive skills

Cognitive skills are brain-based skills that involve learning and the acquisition of knowledge.

With STEM education, students can develop and improve their cognitive skills engagement in subjects like coding and engineering.

They can get introduced to these subjects in as early as primary school. With this, we will be breeding geniuses.

This also improves their problem-solving skills, whereby, the students increase their speed in solving any kind of problem.

7. Promotes teamwork

Students with different abilities are put together in the same group to solve a problem, record data and make presentations.

This helps them to learn how to collaborate and work together in a team.

8. Encourages knowledge application

In STEM education, students are taught real-life situations that help them apply the knowledge acquired.

The ability to apply knowledge is lacking in many graduates, especially in Nigeria. This is why STEM education is needed.

People can apply the knowledge they have received and approach problems in a solution-oriented way.

9. Enhances adaptation

The ability to adapt the concepts and principles learnt to several challenges can be attained through being exposed to STEM education.

10. Builds confidence in problem-solving

STEM education goes a long way to help curious students develop the skills to tackle real-life problems by impacting them with practical knowledge.

Their self-confidence is built over time.

They know how to take the initiative to tackle any issue with a positive attitude and a problem mindset.

In STEM education, learning is more fun and practical for students.

This method of education encourages students to develop and improve their social-emotional learning (SEL) skills. SEL skills will help them impact their immediate community positively.

These skills will help them cope with daily academic, social, and professional challenges. The SEL skills include;

self-awareness,
self-management,
social awareness,
relationship skills, and
responsible decision-making.
We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity GetBundi is offering through its direct access to STEM education.

Visit our www.getbundi.com to find out more information.

Written by Olamide Ayeni

Would it really be necessary to explain what STEM Education is again? I could do a quick preview.

STEM Education is a system of four, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. And, this system is woven in such a way that they are interdependent on one another. This means that a STEM student is not just learning one phase of the programme, but is learning all four from a point or from one activity. But, why is this STEM Education really important? Why is it necessary for my child to have this orientation? What is the long term return if I invest and go into this STEM Education for my child? What makes it so different from the things they learn in school? Is it not going to be a waste of years?

You sure do have a lot of questions to ask. Because, of course, this is the life and future of your child we’re talking about here. It’s not easy to leave the normal traditional learning that you went through and that a lot of other kids around you are going through, and just start something new and different for your own child. But, I would love to douse your doubts one after the other.


Here are 5 reasons why STEM Education is important and fun!

The STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for its students.
It ensures that as the students are learning and creating and working with their hands and eyes, their minds are working too, to connect all the dots and see outside the box and thinking frame that they are used to. The students can correlate the different procedures after each step is well understood and can create a different or similar pattern to get the same result. Take for example, a child that is being taught a particular maths sum by using sticky notes number match or any other fun STEM method. He can play around with those sums and come up with an entirely different approach that even you did not see. That is the power of the brain and the mind and STEM Education is just to help harness that power

2. Cooking is also Education in STEM Education

This might sound funny but yes, cooking is also a way to educate the student when it comes to STEM. With it, the students can learn about all the properties of food and why certain foods are not given to certain people. In baking classes, the action of yeast is well elaborated to the students which also be linked to the way rockets are launched. The students can also use a thermometer to measure temperature and then learn the effect of adding things to boiling water. The students also learn how many teaspoons of ingredients will be sufficient for the food being cooked.
Take for example, we are trying to boil meat and we have 9 big chunks of meat but we are a big class of 18 students, the STEM teacher can just ask them what they think should be done so that the meat goes round for everybody. How fast the students come up with ideas will surprise you.

3. The STEM programme allows the students to dismantle and assemble things.

This is to enable them to see how that thing works. It also opens the gateway for the many questions that the student may have. It also builds resilience in the students and encourages experimentation. It allows them to see failure and setbacks as a part of the growth to being better. It also builds an outspoken child with a wider horizon of understanding and an open mind.

4. Taking Nature Walks is also part of STEM Education

You know how in our traditional system of learning, students get to visit a place or go on an excursion once or twice before leaving the school and the excursion venues are recycled year after year. Well, for STEM Education, it is believed that there is knowledge in everything and everywhere. So, a common walk in the park can make a child curious about so many things, a visit to the aquarium could make a child ask why the sea water is blue and why the fishes are of different colours while the one his mommy cooks doesn’t have colour. A visit to the tree reserve could explain oxygen and carbon dioxide and why trees are very important to society.

5. STEM Education exposes the student

This does not mean that it puts the student in harm’s way. No. It simply means that it exposes the student to important issues in the world, new and updated learning strategies, modern people to learn from, wrong ways people are doing some things too. It exposes the student but also arms him with the necessary information and strategy coupled with his expanded and cultivated ability to think outside the box, to make a difference.

The future of your child is not guaranteed by this traditional learning system. For further information on STEM Education or to begin today, visit www.getbundi.com

Written by Bright

Introduction

By now you’re probably familiar with the term “STEM education.” It’s becoming a hot topic for good reason. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math.

With these four areas of study serving as the building blocks of STEM education, countries, and schools all over the world are working to incorporate more STEM initiatives into their curriculums.
But as a parent, you might still be wondering what exactly is so special about this type of learning? Well, there’s a lot to learn about STEM starting with how it can benefit your kids both in school and far beyond.

Here are seven ways your child will benefit from being exposed to STEM Education:

1. STEM education builds 21st century skills

STEM education allows students to develop 21st century skills through project-based learning and inquiry. These skills include problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and creativity.

They are important because they allow students to adapt to a rapidly changing world where technology is constantly evolving.

2. STEM education prepares students for the future of work

STEM education prepares students for the future of work. STEM jobs are growing faster than other jobs, and they’re more likely to be in demand, high-paying, secure and available.

This means that a STEM degree will provide your child with an excellent opportunity to earn a good living in the future.

3. STEM education helps to develop creative thinking

STEM education teaches students how to develop creative thinking and become independent and/or collaborative learners.

In addition to these important practical skills, STEM also helps kids develop creative thinking. This means they’ll be able to look at a problem from different angles and come up with solutions that are not obvious or conventional.

STEM education encourages students to think outside the box — which is why it’s so effective at helping students become more creative thinkers!

4. STEM education encourages critical thinking and problem solving

STEM education is critical for developing problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically. These are two of the most important skills you can have as an adult in today’s world, which is why STEM education is so crucial.

STEM education teaches students how to think critical thinking skills by teaching them how to analyse information and make decisions based on evidence rather than opinion or hearsay.

For example, if you take a picture of an object under different lighting conditions using your phone camera (a STEM device), will the image look the same? You will need to conduct an experiment to find out!

You can then apply this knowledge by asking questions about other situations such as “Does playing video games make kids smarter?” or “Are there any benefits from reading books instead of surfing social media?”

In a world where jobs are becoming automated, companies are moving away from hiring employees based on their technical skills and toward those who can think critically and collaborate effectively with their colleagues to solve problems together.

5. STEM education promotes teamwork and collaboration

In today’s world, the need for collaboration is greater than ever before. STEM education promotes teamwork and collaboration in students by allowing them to work together on projects that require several skill sets — from coding to designing and building prototypes.

Students of varying levels can work together in teams to find solutions to problems, record data, write reports and presentations, build prototypes, or even conduct experiments.

This promotes effective interdisciplinary communication as well as a mindset that enables you not only to become a part of the highly qualified workforce but also to function within it.

6. STEM education encourages the use of technology

STEM education encourages the use of technology. Exposing your child to STEM education benefits them by helping to develop their minds in the best way possible. It does this by encouraging the use of technology during and after each learning process.

7. STEM careers will not only help your child earn more money but also help them to develop their minds in the best way possible!

With the many different jobs available, you don’t have to worry about your child being bored or struggling with finding a job. There are so many opportunities for them out there that they might not even know about!

Your child will be able to become an independent learner through STEM education. This means that they will be able to learn things on their own and solve problems without needing someone else’s help every time something goes wrong.

If you want your child to be prepared for the future and have more opportunities in life, then STEM education is definitely a great way to go.

It will help them develop their critical thinking skills as well as problem-solving abilities while also teaching them how they can work with others better.

By doing this, they will be able to work together more effectively which is an important part of any job today and one that doesn’t get enough focus in schools right now!

Written by Bright

The yoke of underdevelopment around Africa’s neck has not diminished its immense potential to transform its own and the global economy. The continent’s greatest asset remains its young population, the world’s largest, with over 60 percent of its entire population under 25. But to unlock this potential, education is key.

Rebecca Winthrop, Co-director, Center for Universal Education and Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, reckons that ensuring high-quality education opportunities for all Africa’s children and youth that prepare them for the 21st century world is “not only the right thing to do — children everywhere have a right to a quality education — but is also the smart thing to do”.

“The growth in the world’s labor market is in Africa. As other parts of the world begin to age, Africa will grow its population and today’s children will be the talent tomorrow’s global companies will be recruiting. In the next 30 years, it is projected that sub-Saharan Africa’s working-age population will increase more than twofold — accounting for 68 percent of the world’s total growth. Economists have shown that when controlling for other factors, increasing girls’ and boys’ years of schooling (and the skills they learn while there) has a positive effect on economic growth,” Winthrop says.

The education Africa needs can no longer be education for its own sake. Winthrop’s reference, clearly, is to “high-quality education” that prepares Africa’s children and youth “for the 21st century world”. Miranda Meents, PhD Candidate in Botany at the University of British Columbia (UBC), in a blog post “How Education Changes The World”, reckons that the goal of education shouldn’t necessarily be to achieve a “higher state of knowledge” but “we should work to equip our students with the tools they need to go out into the world and shape it for themselves”.

In other words, for Africa to produce the pool of talent it needs for its own internal development, the pool of workforce that tomorrow’s global companies will recruit, the education of the continent’s children and youth has to align with the needs of 21st-century industry. And the world has long been moving in the direction of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education to meet these growing needs.

The place of STEM education in overall development cannot be debated. Experts agree that STEM education encourages creativity, innovation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills which are very relevant in the 21st century world. It prepares developing economies to compete in the global market, create especially STEM jobs, and improve wealth. For Africa, a continent beset on all sides by innumerable challenges, STEM education should be a sine qua non.

“STEM is one critical leg for creatively developing the solutions and innovations that we need in Africa across a range of life-supporting fields — health, food production, basic infrastructure, environment, manufacturing and so forth,” says Gecci Karuri-Sebina, Associate Professor at Wits University, South Africa, who coordinates the Civic Tech Innovation Network, an African community of practice of various public interest innovators.

“Don’t see STEM as just a route to traditional professions — doctor, engineer, academic. There are many ways to leverage these technical knowledge fields, and new technologies are opening many opportunities for anyone to pick and play various roles,” she says in an interview published on Africa Renewal.

Clearly, Africa’s ability to produce a generation of young professionals who can take charge of their countries’ development lies in STEM education. The continent needs massive investment in STEM education for young people if it is to realise its potential to contain some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Currently, Africa’s STEM capabilities lag the rest of the world. Not many young Africans today are pursuing careers in STEM-related fields. The African Development Bank (AfDB) puts the figure at less than 25 percent of African higher education students. In other words, less than three out of 10 African higher education students pursue STEM-related career fields.

This less-than-desirable enrolment in STEM-related fields comes with consequences.

“It potentially means that regardless of Africa’s talent pool, public and private institutions would have to source workers in those fields from outside of the continent consequently, leading to a limited domestic STEM workforce,” argues Osita Oparaugo, the Founder of GetBundi, a STEM based educational technology platform for post-primary school based in Nigeria”.

This is not a prophecy as it is happening already. STEM jobs across the African continent today are being outsourced to countries that including China, India, and the United States of America owing to the paucity of a domestic STEM workforce. In Nigeria, as in most of Africa, railway construction is dominated by the Chinese due to China’s large pool of engineers. A case in point is the 27km Lagos Blue Line linking Okokomaiko to Marina in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital, which is being handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Kayode Yusuf, a finance professional and journalist, points to how Africa’s long-term economic prospects are being constrained by severe skills shortages in many vital sectors, including accounting and finance.

“However, one of the areas that requires immediate attention is STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). If Africa does not start building capacity in these subjects, its progress towards achieving sustainable and comprehensive growth will be severely challenged.”

Yusuf writes in a June 2018 article for the Africa edition of Accounting and Business magazine.

Without a doubt, part of the solutions to Africa’s economic and social woes lies in encouraging young Africans to pursue STEM education. Unless this is done, and urgently too, Africa will continue to be the dustbin of the developed world.

There is a recollection by Ohemaa Adjei Andoh that illustrates the role teachers should play in shaping the choices their students make:

“I remember wanting to study a different course in my secondary school but my science teacher advised my mum that I do science because he thought that would be better for me. My mum went on a school tour with me at KNUST and spoke to some lecturers before we finally decided to go with Geological Engineering. So, I did General Science before going to KNUST for my bachelor’s degree.”

Andoh says in an interview with Africa Renewal. She did not only earn a Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana, but went on to join Schlumberger, an Oil and Gas Service Company, where she trained as a Simulations Engineer and later as a Cementing Engineer. Today, through Girls in Science and Technology (GIST) which she helped form, Andoh is part of a group advocating for women and girls in STEM and providing mentoring, training and internship opportunities for young women in STEM. Her academy for kids, PM STEAM Academy, focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) hands-on activities to help kids embrace their creativity and to develop their interest in STEAM at an early age.

No doubt, encouraging young Africans to pursue STEM education holds solutions to Africa’s economic and social woes. And teachers will, and do, play a big part in this regard. Of course, whether students love or hate STEM subjects, or any other subject, depends on how they are taught. This was the point Diane Sengati, Director of Digital Content and Instructional Technology Development at Rwanda Education Board, was making when she said, “Most students don’t pursue STEM subjects because they think it is very difficult, but the perceived difficulties root from how they have been taught those subjects. If you teach the subject in a friendlier way, it becomes easier and attracts more students.”

Africa has set lofty targets in STEM education through the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The Agenda lists seven aspirations for the continent by 2063, among which is that Africa’s youth should be guaranteed full access to education, training, skills and technology, and to all necessary resources to realise their full potential. It projects that by that target year Africa should be a continent where “well educated and skilled citizens, underpinned by science, technology, and innovation for a knowledgeable society is the norm and no child misses school due to poverty”.

These aspirations are achievable, clearly. However, for that to happen, there should be a recognition of the centrality of teachers, and emphasis must be placed on putting them at the forefront. Part of the challenges so far has been acute teacher shortage, with sub-Saharan Africa alone needing an estimated 15 million more teachers, according to Rebecca Winthrop, Co-director, Center for Universal Education and Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development.

One of the strategies that would aid in stepping up Africa’s STEM education is to better equip teachers. As Adefunke Ekine, Associate Professor of Childhood Education, Tai Solarin University of Education, and Ayotola Aremu, Professor of Educational Technology, University of Ibadan, put it, “African policymakers must prioritize building the capacity of teachers and STEM teachers in particular. They need to be intentionally equipped with strategies that encourage collaboration rather than competition, peer teaching, hands-on activities, mentoring by role models — whether online or in person. More specifically, teachers need to be trained in using tools like learning packages, simulations, games, and storytelling to more effectively engage learners. These curriculum resources, including textbooks, should come with content that showcase females in various fields.”

Osita Oparaugo, the Founder of GetBundi, a STEM based educational platform for post-primary school, has said that their resources can be used by secondary schools as teacher’s aid, a resource platform for students’ assignment, individual or group study guide, home learning for in school and out of school students, and as a guide for competitive external examinations.

The Government of Rwanda is already prioritising teacher training. The country boasts of an education policy that emphasises training of teachers in enhanced teaching pedagogy on lesson delivery that connects classroom learning with the local environment. It has set up capacity-building frameworks to address the barriers hindering STEM uptake in the country. Through this means, it can address the limited number of qualified STEM teachers and STEM teachers’ inability to localise STEM teaching. With a curriculum framework that incorporates building of teachers’ capacity, with continuous professional development in school leadership, management, improvement planning, coaching, and mentoring, these measures are reported to have improved STEM education uptake in Rwanda.

But the task ahead is not for governments alone. African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), with a vision to lead the transformation of Africa through innovative scientific training, technical advances and breakthrough discoveries, recognises this. It also acknowledges that this transformation will only come when Africa’s youth are enabled to shape the continent’s future through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, public engagement and research. AIMS reckons that investing in training well-rounded teachers and improving their pedagogy is the best way to improve learning outcomes for secondary school students and increase the transition of African youth to tertiary STEM education. It is therefore executing some programmes to empower teachers, support them, and equip them with the right skills and resources to teach boys and girls the right way.

In Cameroon and Rwanda, for instance, AIMS, through a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is running a five-year Teacher Training Program (TTP) whose goal is to build a sustainable pipeline of home-grown STEM talent in Africa. AIMS is raising the quality of teaching and learning Mathematics through professional development courses, high-quality classroom resources and technology-driven Smart Classrooms. These programmes have so far trained over 5,000 teachers. In South Africa, AIMS is providing outstanding professional development courses to Mathematics teachers, subject advisers, and field trainers through the AIMS Schools Enrichment Centre (AIMSSEC), which uses a blended learning approach to improve subject knowledge and empower teachers from disadvantaged rural and township communities. Also in Ghana, AIMS Master of Mathematical Sciences for Teachers (MMST) launched in November 2020 equips teachers with the requisite skills to understand and address the specific learning needs of female and male learners at the secondary level. The the programme is delivered in a hybrid model, with 30 percent residential and 70 percent online.

These efforts are a mere drop in the ocean, given the huge gap between Africa and the rest of the world in STEM education. The continent urgently needs to invest in STEM education for its young people if it is to turn its youthful population, the world’s largest with over 60 percent currently under 25, into a goldmine. A key place to start is equipping the teachers who are at the forefront of, firstly, making Africa’s youth to take up STEM and, secondly, imparting this all-important STEM knowledge. The time is now for countries in Africa, public and private institutions, non-governmental organisations, and all stakeholders to put heads together and give this idea a real push. Africa’s immense potential to improve its economy and that of the world cannot forever remain a potential.

It has been said time and again that Africa has immense potential to transform its economy and that of the world, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has a huge role to play in this regard. Over the next decade, STEM job openings requiring STEM literacy are expected to increase by the thousands, according to thestempedia.com, and Africa, whose labour force is projected to surpass that of India and China by 2040, stands to benefit the most. But to derive these benefits, Africa’s burgeoning young population will have to be equipped with requisite skills for the 21st century economy hinged on STEM education.

The continent currently lags behind the rest of the world in STEM education, with less than 25 percent of African higher education students pursuing STEM-related career fields and more students pursuing social sciences and humanities, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).

To make quality STEM education available, accessible and cost-effective across Africa is possible. However, the burden cannot be borne by government alone. It requires collaborations through public private partnerships with global agencies, NGOs, Ministries of Education across Africa, multinational corporations, financial institutions and telecommunication companies. This is where Wings of Justice Africa, has stepped in to create impact through its product, GetBundi having realised the criticality of STEM education to Africa’s future.

Indeed, as Adefunke Ekine, Associate Professor of Childhood Education at Tai Solarin University of Education, and Ayotola Aremu, Professor of Educational Technology at University of Ibadan, have observed,

“Without a huge investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, Africa will not achieve the goals the African Union has laid out in her 2063 agenda.”

To be clear, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, a long-term framework intended to transform the African continent over a 50-year period, aspires for inclusive growth and sustainable education programmes that can ensure skills revolution emphasising innovation, science, and technology. The Agenda 2063 projects that by 2063 Africa should be a continent where “well educated and skilled citizens, underpinned by science, technology, and innovation for a knowledgeable society is the norm and no child misses school due to poverty”.

High quality, STEM-based secondary education that is accessible to all will, no doubt, prepare youths to enter the workforce, improve productivity, and spur economic transformation, unlocking a virtuous cycle of both human and economic development. However, STEM education in Africa is bogged down by issues around cost, access, quality, and teachers’ welfare.

Mr. Osita Oparaugo is of the strong view that Africa must embrace and prepare its populace for a future driven by technology, ensuring that the continent emerges as a global competitor.

Indeed, EdTech has the capacity to contribute so much in turning Africa’s fortunes around. With the right support, EdTech may begin the journey towards reversing the current trend where a continent that boasts 60 percent of the world’s arable lands, 30 percent of the world’s reserve of minerals, and the world’s youngest population, ironically, produces only “3 percent of global GDP, accounts for less than 3 percent of international trade (mainly primary commodities and natural resources), and shoulders 25 percent of the global disease burden”.

The number of school-age African children who are out of school has increased over the past year, worsened by the COVID-19 which led to lengthy school closures.

According to UNESCO, school closures have affected around 250 million students in sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to the 100 million children who were not in school before the pandemic. The reopening of schools across Africa brought forth the reality that millions of students will not return. In South Africa, 400,000 to 500,000 students dropped out of school between
March 2020 and July 2021, UNICEF data show. In Uganda, which had the longest school closures in the world, many girls did not resume classes when schools reopened on January 10, 2021, according to Edith Mutethya in an article, “COVID worsens Africa’s education crisis”. The girls had either got married, become pregnant, or given birth during the period of school closure. Some students had also used the period to work and earn so money and so were less interested in classes. The situation is not so different across many parts of Africa.

To mitigate its out-of-school challenge, experts say Africa must find innovative ways to ensure continuous learning among its teeming youth. Africa’s youth population is expected to nearly double to1 billion by 2050 and by 2075, almost half of the world’s young people will be African. This implies that the global workforce will increasingly be African. This is a blessing if African youth are equipped with the right education and skills. The reverse will be the case if they are not. As Dr Edward K. Brown, Senior Director of Research, Policy and Programs at the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), affirms, “With the right education and training, Africa’s youth population will provide the region with an unparalleled comparative advantage in labour and human resources — and will accelerate Africa’s economic transformation at the same time. Consider that each additional year of schooling in Africa raises individual earnings by 11 percent for males and 14 percent for females.”

There is a convergence of opinions pointing to the need for Africa to focus on secondary education, given that secondary education will be the last schooling most young Africans will receive before they enter the labour market. Rebecca Winthrop, Co-director, Center for Universal Education and
Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, argues that in sub-Saharan Africa before the pandemic, of the 98 percent of children who enrol in primary school, only 9 percent make it to tertiary education and only 6 percent graduate. “University preparation is important, but the main focus should be on flexible secondary education pathways that prepare young people for work,” she says. As such, Africa needs secondary education that provides students with the right skills and knowledge needed to be prepared
for the new world of work.

Demand for secondary education is on the rise in Africa, and in sub-Saharan Africa, the demand is expected to nearly double by 2030, requiring increased supply and quality. But this demand is not being met. Strong progress in boosting primary enrolment has not been complemented with broad access to secondary education. Key hurdles have included a scarcity of schools, teacher shortage, inadequate infrastructure, poverty, limited teaching time due to high teacher absenteeism, unwieldy class sizes, and gender inequities. The pandemic worsened the shortage of teachers. Many teachers, especially those employed by private schools, left the teaching profession during the pandemic and sought other means of livelihood because their salaries were suspended while the closures lasted. The Education Commission, a major global initiative engaging world leaders, policymakers, and researchers to develop a renewed and compelling investment case and financing pathway for achieving equal educational opportunity for children and young people, estimates that sub Saharan Africa needs to invest $175 billion per year through 2050 to support
secondary education for all.

But the difficulty in accessing a quality, traditional secondary education can be mitigated through e-learning. The rise of the internet and new technologies has radically changed the concept of traditional education and being physically present in a classroom is no longer the only learning option, writes Gemma Josep, Content Manager for Classgap, an online platform whose purpose is to facilitate communication between teachers and students, in a January 2022 article. In countries with poor infrastructure, online education enables students to learn from their own homes.

This is the whole idea behind GetBundi developed by Wings of Justice Africa Limited — to make quality education, especially STEM, available, accessible and cost-effective across Africa.


“Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), as well as English Language, must be of great focus to achieve an Africa beyond aid. Creating a knowledge-based economy through STEM education is a lifeline for the continent, ensuring the growth of a STEM capable citizenry. Massification of STEM education as a countermeasure will enable Africa to meet and exceed global competition and prepare for the future,”

Osita Oparaugo, GetBundi Founder says.

Cognizant of the challenges that lack of internet access poses, Wings of Justice has agreed in principle with telecommunications and satellite internet service companies across Africa for partnership to ensure that GetBundi permeates the continent, reaching the targets regardless of their location.

Yet, it is incumbent on governments in Africa to work on expanding the coverage of broadband internet and technology infrastructure in areas that lack them to better enable distance learning.

As Paul Prinsloo, a research professor at the University of South Africa, said in a March 2014 article, “There is no doubt that ODeL [open distance and e-learning] has huge potential to contribute to economic growth, erase inter-generational poverty and address societal injustices and inequalities on the African continent.”