Closing the gender gap in tech with STEMBees | Edupreneur Talks

After graduating from Ashesi University, Nana Ama volunteered with education-focused non-profits and worked with low to middle-income private schools where she witnessed first-hand the systemic challenges these schools face in delivering quality education. In 2019, she founded Think Education to support low-cost private schools in Tamale, the Northern region of Ghana to set up robust administrative and operational systems for quality education delivery. She engages school founders and managers to address their pain points and co-design context-specific solutions such as school management and operational systems for their continuous development.Nana Ama talks about her entrepreneurial journey, reflects on the progress of Think Education in bridging the structural gaps in education delivery, and shares her commitment to creating an equitable and supportive learning environment in underserved communities.

Starting as a Montessori in her parent’s house, Abba Hughes is bridging the gap in bilingual STEM education for a holistic educational experience for children. As the only bilingual STEM education provider in the Eastern region, RoBA uploads videos of their training and student’s STEM-related work to their YouTube channel to keep parents and stakeholders informed of their work. Visit their page: https://bit.ly/RoBAYouTubeAbba talks about her entrepreneurial journey, reflects on the progress of RoBA in delivering its unique services in a relatively competitive education landscape, and shares their passion for developing a model school that deploys next-generation inventors, innovators, scientists, engineers, tech entrepreneurs, and many more!

With a passion for holistic child development, Simeon started the Child Dream Foundation (CDF) as a mentorship club to inspire learning and support the holistic educational development of children in the Northern region of Ghana. With footprints in the Volta, Oti and the Northern regions of Ghana, CDF is enhancing the reading proficiency of children in deprived communities through modern pedagogy and providing them with professional support to develop careers in STEM.In this episode, Simeon talks about how CDF provides supplemental learning for holistic child development, reflects on the progress of the Foundation in delivering its services in deprived communities, and shares their passion establish a world-class educational centre called the “Child Dream Village”.

After being one of the few women in their undergraduate STEM courses, Linda Ansong, Angela Koranteng and Lady-Omega Hammond had firsthand experience of the challenges minorities face when pursuing STEM careers. They were also aware of the advantages and opportunities STEM education provided them. So they decided to work together to close the gender gap in science and tech and founded STEMBees.STEMBees offers workshops, after-school programs, annual camp meetings and community libraries within robotics, coding, 3D design and printing, electronics, and STEM for girls between the ages of 7 and 12. All activities are rolled out with the support of teachers who serve as the focal points in the STEM clubs they establish across second-cycle schools in Ghana. In this episode, Linda talks about how STEMBees is inspiring and supporting girls in underserved communities to pursue their education and build their careers in STEM and reflects on the progress of eradicating poverty through education.

There are notable gaps in Ghana’s education system. However, the co-founder of QKnow Ghana - Senyo Mawuli Jiagge, observed an even more significant challenge which is the inadequacy of valuable educational materials that broadens students’ horizons and effectively track their performance while in school.Through QKnow, Senyo and his team aim to improve the delivery of quality education for all stakeholders in the educational sector. Thus, the Edtech company has developed software that provides quality educational content in notes, articles, quizzes, videos, and learning boxes while tracking their academic performances over some time. QKnow’s products are embedded with the core innovation attributes that ensure clear communication of the improvement of students. The products are designed to be compatible with every student’s learning mode. Currently, QKnow’s products are used by 400+ students across several schools in the Greater Accra Region. By 2023, QKnow intends to expand into the Western, Central, Volta and Ashanti regions. To hit an annual revenue of a million dollars in the next 3 years.

Being a debate enthusiast, Eric Asamoah Awuah started Speech Forces as a volunteer group to help bridge the gaps in critical thinking and public speaking among high school students in Ghana. Together with the Speech Forces team, they have built the organisation into the preferred platform to develop young people into critical thinkers and skilful public speakers. In this episode, Eric talks with guest host Diane about his entrepreneurial journey and reflects on the relevance of Speech Forces’ work in developing Ghanaian children to speak with clarity and confidence, and shares their passion for changing social and cultural norms which deter young people from public discourse and becoming active citizens.

Though being a victim of a car accident that left her with physical and cognitive limitations, Elizabeth managed to complete high school and continued her education at the University. Her journey inspired her to ensure that other people in her situation can also have equal access to education.She founded the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG) to offer academic and financial support for underprivileged girls, including applicants with special needs to reach their full potential. They offer access to contemporary learning materials and organize school literacy clubs to improve digital literacy, reading proficiency, and motivation among girls.In this episode, Elizabeth talks about how GEIG provides inclusive and quality education for underserved populations in Ghana, reflects on the cultural and systemic challenges confronting girl-child education, and shares GEIG’s ambition to build a model school to meet the educational needs of underprivileged communities.

As a bookworm, Edem founded Booksie to create an environment where children can fall in love with books while making it extremely easy for them to find beautifully illustrated books that African publishers and authors were creating. They offer storytime lessons, reading camps, and book clubs, which give children mirrors to see characters who look and sound like them.In this episode, Edem shares insights about her entrepreneurial journey and reflects on the relevance of their work and how they are nurturing children with a love for reading. She also reflects on their overarching goal of building a robust learning-to-read program in Africa. 

Many children in Ghana perform poorly in school due to their inability to read. This denies them the opportunity to make meaning of their world, and negatively affects their future.In a bid to spark a love for reading within their kids, Anyele and her husband Dr Yaw Perbi founded Perbi Cubs -  a learning community using a combination of library services, in-school programs and a digital platform. The platform offers children between age 7 and 12 access to + 10 000 e-books, along with various exciting quizzes and rewards that motivate kids to read more. In addition, Perbi Cubs does webinars and videos with motivational people to help broaden kids' viewpoint. All content is curated around the school curriculum to help children learn in an easier way, read more for pleasure and perform better in all subjects.In this episode, Anyele talks about their entrepreneurial journey - from a family affair to a growing EdTech company, reflects on the importance of reading for pleasure, and shares tips on how to move children from struggling to proficient readers.

Josephine Marie Godwyll and Martin Bruce observed that children in rural areas in Ghana have restricted access to effective teaching and learning experiences and lack digital skills. Their ed-tech social enterprise Young At Heart Ghana provides children in primary schools with digital devices and education software that helps them learn in an engaging and practical way.Their solar powered charging cart brings various digital devices in communities where there's no electricity. Their educational platform and gamified app uses African folklore stories to engage children in practical STEAM lessons and tasks, and has already been used by over 10,000 students. They envision a world where no child is left behind in this continuously evolving tech world because they are in a remote location. In this episode, Martin shares first-hand insights about the lack of access to digital learning in rural Ghana, tells the story of how he and Josephine came to create Young at Heart and gives his top 3 advice for building a successful social enterprise.