Ministry holds panel discussion on STEM education
BDU:The FDRE Ministry of Education recently held a panel discussion on "present and future direction of STEM education in Ethiopia" at Bahir Dar University.
Dr.Getahun Mekuria ,Chairperson of the panel discussion and Deputy Scientific Director at the Addis Ababa University Institute of Technology, explained that the objective of the panel discussion was meant to elaborate on the current status of (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) education, challenges in offering STEM education and Future direction of STEM education in Ethiopia, as well as share roles and responsibilities among various stakeholders.
Among the panellists were Director of Tigray Development Association and ex-ambassador Tewlde Gebru, Director General of Higher Education Relevance and Quality Agency Dr.Tesfaye Teshome, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University President Dr.Tarekegn Tadesse,Higher Education Strategic Center Acting Director Dr.Solomon Moges and Ethiopian Academy of Sciences Representative Professor Gezahegn Yirgu.
The panellists uniformly expressed the need to improve on the quality of input, process and output in teaching STEM education and enhance language competence of students.
The panellists recommended the need to introduce national strategic document on outreach program for talented students, design a curriculum which fits the context, scale up best practices, put in place institutional set up, standardization of educational system, and introduce special benefit schemes to teachers so as to enhance their competence.
During the conference, BDU’s President Dr.Baylie Damtie and Consortium of Ethiopian Engineering Professionals Association President Dr.Frehiwot Weldehanna presented papers on the role and its significance to encourage talented students to STEM education.
Participants of the conference were drawn from public Universities,Regional Bureau of Education, Ministry of Education and other invited guests.