Samson Wambuzi and Erin Fitzgerald, founders and co-founders of Yiya Engineering Solutions and its offline learning application, AirScience, discuss barriers to STEM education in rural Uganda and ways they can be overcome.
Aisha Schnellmann Children in the rural areas of Uganda have the opportunity to get access to high-quality STEM (science, engineering, technology, and math) training.
Samson Wambuzi: Unfortunately, the quality of STEM education in rural Uganda is abysmal. The lessons are mostly theoretical since teachers aren’t adequately trained or knowledgeable in teaching the practical subjects. They also lack access to the supplies and equipment required for science experiments. Therefore, in rural areas, the teachers instruct students on resistors and capacitors even though the majority of them haven’t seen the components they use in their daily lives.
Erin Fitzgerald: In classes comprising 40 to 60 students, it’s impossible for students to perform scientific experiments in a safe manner and with adequate supervision, thereby limiting their access to a high-quality, hands-on STEM education.
Additionally, due to personal and financial difficulties, just 35% of children from Uganda complete primary school. This means that most children are not receiving STEM education in the classroom.
AS: That’s an alarmingly high percentage of students dropping out. What do you think? Are high school students keen on STEM education?
SW The app for learning offline, AirScience, provides experiential STEM education for children living in remote Uganda. It’s delivered via an amalgamation of SMS and radio, which makes it available even in remote areas. We recently found that a large portion of teenagers who are not in school to 24 are enthusiastic AirScience users. They want access to practical STEM education that is relevant in their lives and communities. life.
The EF: This dispels the popular belief that students who quit school do not really think about their education. In reality, a lot of them have proven that they want an opportunity to learn the skills and knowledge they require.
It is crucial to recognize that students who quit school have had to face difficulties that forced them to quit. Many were unable to pay for the cost of school. Some had children and were unable to go back to school. We strive to accommodate their needs for education, too.
“This debunks the common misconception that students who drop out of school simply do not care about their education.”
As: In your opinion, What are the most essential qualities that students acquire through the STEM experience?
First Data-driven decision-making: Once they can find solutions by using data and research rather than relying solely on trials and errors, they’re better able to tackle problems faster and more efficiently. Second, creativity Learn to identify an opportunity or a solution which lies behind a problem. Thirdly, Resilience is a must: Let’s face it, they already have a lot of resilience due to the harsh conditions that they’ve faced during their childhood. But, it’s crucial that they develop the ability to be aware of their own resilience and to have the determination and strength to overcome obstacles.
SW: Last but not least Flexible problem-solving Learn that there’s many ways to solve the problem, not only one correct solution.
EF: Building these abilities can help young people develop an innate sense of autonomy. They are equipped to make a difference within their communities and help in solving global issues including climate change.
SW: They’re the future generations of innovators that can help make the world better for us all. People from marginalized communities are in particular need of quality STEM education because they will be able to tackle issues in their own communities, break out of the cycle of poverty, and cut down on the gap between them.
“Youth from underserved communities have a special need for high-quality STEM education, as it will enable them to solve problems in their local communities, break the poverty cycle, and reduce inequalities.”
AS How do you create an immersive STEM curriculum that is suitable for students who reside in rural remote villages?
EF: Each unit in our curriculum is geared towards technology that can solve a problem in the lives of young people. It could be a bike-powered phone charger or a solar-powered battery-powered washing machine. We often ask for students’ feedback throughout every unit to ensure that our instruction is efficient and relevant. We ask questions such as “What was challenging in making this prototype?”. We’re constantly collaborating on lessons with students and tweaking lessons based on feedback from students.
SW Then we ensure that the resources used for every lesson are reasonably priced and readily available to the students’ community. Since students aren’t able to access science equipment or labs, we’ve had to be flexible and resourceful in developing the curriculum.
A: How has your organisation’s efforts impacted the communities you work with?
EF: Since we deal with an array of learners, assessing our intervention’s impact and figuring out how to make it more efficient, requires more resources than are available. We’ve collaborated with a group located at Carnegie Mellon University, led by Professor Amy Ogan, which assists us in establishing the measurement and evaluation process to collect high-quality data that can inform our activities. With their assistance, we’ve conducted an analysis of the high-level aspects to find out the extent to which AirScience can benefit students, whether we’re getting our message to the right demographics, and if young people are learning and growing from our programs.
