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FROM SPEECHES TO PRACTICE ON THE GROUND – ENHANCING SCIENCE TEACHING METHOD TO PROMOTE TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA

The role of science, the mission of science is to create technology to be used by people for better living. Understood like this, the main question is how can we teach science to achieve this goal? The pedagogy, methodology, the teaching process, the teaching equipments, the use of ICT, and the environment of science teaching are definitely the decision way on which we have to focus our synergy.

  • The abstract teaching and the simple understanding does not permit to create and innovate. Our teachers, without training, cannot bring our students to the level we want them to be. Every science lesson must be organized around manipulation. Sustainable development begins by the creation of our own technology and this cannot be done without mastering science skills and competences.  If you bring students together in a work shop group where they realize practice experimentations in which they are guided to build their skills by questioning and research, they really master each aspect of the competencies and they can implement their knowledge to develop technology.
  • The environment of science teaching is essential for mastering the competencies. Science is practice and it cannot be taught without equipments. Invest in lab equipments and teacher training is investing in sustainable development, technology and job creation. If we want to create better Africa, we have to start by creating lab equipment in every secondary school and developing training for teachers.
  • The number of student per class: it’s shown that if you have more than 30 students in your secondary classroom, you cannot perform quality teaching, as you will not have enough time for each of them. Pupils need to be aroused, stimulated and motivated to develop their capacities and teacher needs to have time to care for them. In Africa, we find it normal to have 50 or more students in a class by saying we don’t have resource. We are compromising the future of our learners and for the Continent. Each Country has to create more schools and recruit more teachers who will be trained. We have to reduce the number of students per class in Africa.
  • The curricular we generally use in Africa are not in adequacy with our need and with the level of science teaching in 21st We let student losing a lot of time doing things that will not help them. We have to review our curricular to highlight our science teaching. Technology development become easy than before and Africa has to be focus on the development of our own technology by given the best to our student as earlier as possible.

These are our commitments at OPEM and we hope this can be developed in different Countries.

 

Dr. Victor José K. AFANOU

CEO OPEM