Remarks by Deputy Chief of Mission C. Pat Alsup (As Prepared) Accra High School

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Good Afternoon.  Justice Gifty Dekyem, Distinguished Head Masters, and students.  What a pleasure to join you for today’s joyous occasion.  All too rare are the moments when we can share the thrill of a football game while engaging in another type of competition, such as today’s science and technology based high school competition.  I would like to thank the Accra High School for hosting today’s event, the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation, and the Advanced Information Technology Institute for their efforts in promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

I congratulate each of you for your commitment to tackling new challenges, for your teamwork, and for encouraging excellence. 

The United States is proud to partner with Ghana to support science education, and the Robotics Inspired Science Education (RISE) initiative in particular.  As we witnessed here today, RISE reached its objective to use robotics to motivate students to engage in scientific discovery, to embrace research, and to discover how exciting engineering development can be.  I hope that this competition has inspired some Ghanaians to pursue STEM education and careers. 

Not only is science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education fun, but STEM is a key component to the growth and expansion of Ghana’s economy.

Robotics is but one tool in the science and technology toolbox, but it’s a tool with wide application.  There is scarcely an economic sector that would not benefit from embracing robotics in the workplace – from medicine to agriculture, textiles to oil production and mining.

Since my arrival several months ago, I’m pleased to note that the U.S. Embassy continues to partner with Ghanaians on several initiatives encouraging youth to study science.  Just two weeks ago, we sponsored Computer Mania which encouraged hundreds of girls ages 10 to 14 to study science, and to have fun doing so.  Their teachers also learned new strategies to teach the sciences at workshops in Tamale, Kumasi and Accra.

          In September, we participated in the launch of a public-private educational partnership, “ICT for Education.”  Our USAID mission, together with partners from Vodafone, Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative, and the Ministry of Education, have been working together with Ghana Educational Service to provide internet access to senior high schools to support teaching and learning, and to improve education management. 

I want to encourage each of you to take full advantage of your science clubs.  Share the fun and excitement of this week with your fellow classmates, and challenge neighboring schools to join the competition.  

Before we close, I’d like to acknowledge the stellar work of our colleague from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.  For two years in a row, Dr. Trebi-Ollennu has shared the wonder of science and technology with you and with hundreds of your peers.   I encourage each of you to watch the livestream of tonight’s lecture when he will tell you about his current robotics work on Mars.  Please join me in expressing our appreciation to Dr. Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu for his dedication to science education and for inspiring all those he meets.   

And now, let us learn who the 2012 Accra Medal winning teams will be.