Why learners perform poorly in mathematics, sciences
Why learners perform poorly in mathematics, sciences
Why learners perform poorly in mathematics, sciences
Poor performance in science and math classes has been attributed in part to inadequate educational facilities and weak parental support.
Poor teacher pedagogical practices, a lack of STEM teachers, students’ disinterest, a lack of funding, a rigid STEM curriculum, and a lack of student mentorship are some of the obstacles impeding the success of STEM education, according to a report by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa.
The report is titled ‘Situational analysis on the status of stem education at secondary school level in Africa’ and was conducted in nine countries; Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana and Morocco.
At Headquarters, it engaged seventeen senior education officials, sixty-five principals, thirty-five education officers, and 185 secondary school instructors.
This is happening as the nation gets ready for secondary schools to start using competency-based curricula. Currently enrolled in junior secondary school, Grade 8, the first cohort of CBC students will transition to senior secondary school in 2026 for Grade 10.
Students will have to select the disciplines they want to concentrate on at that level in order to become specialists in areas they want to pursue in the future.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education revealed that it projects to have about 60 per cent of CBC learners join the STEM pathway in senior secondary school.
If actualised, this means that about 600,000 students will join the STEM pathway when CBC finally reaches Senior secondary school in 2026.
“This will enable a more productive population that will be instrumental in the achievement of our vision 2030,” said Elijah Mungai, the director of scholarships at the Ministry of Education.
School principals surveyed for the poll suggested that greater awareness of STEM education is to blame for the rise in enrolment in STEM courses. Teachers who completed the poll, however, read from a different script and noted that more students are studying STEM subjects due to an increase in student enrollment.
