The Project Lead for Kids At Home Centre, Eugenia Agyeiwaa Boadi, has challenged parents to prioritize the development of their children’s interest in the technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

She made this call during the launch of her book, “I Can Be ABC For STEM,” on Friday, November 8, 2024, at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research as part of activities commemorating this year’s edition of National STEAM Day Education and Fun Fair.

“The future is here. It’s better you start raising your children to be future-ready so that when they grow up and they are looking for jobs or creating jobs themselves, they will have the necessary skill set to proceed. So start them young; you build them with all these little building blocks: the science, the maths, the technology, the engineering, and the arts. So that when they get up there, they realize that what their counterparts in the US or in China are doing, they can also do it, and our country will be better than we have it today,” she stated.

Published in three modules—coloring, activity, and reading books—I Can Be ABC For STEM exposes young readers to the various professional opportunities available in the area of STEM.

According to Eugenia Boadi, the book will go a long way to help Ghanaian schoolchildren develop an interest in STEM at an early age and help them in making a career choice.

“Technology is leading across the world, and it goes beyond computers and phones; now we have AI. So when you make STEM a part of your child’s early years, it makes it easy for them in the future when it comes to choosing a career,” she stated.

Special Guest of Honour for the event, Prof. Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, underscored the significance of STEM education to the development of the country.

She also emphasized the importance of collaboration in the area of science and research and encouraged schoolchildren to adopt the spirit of collaboration.

Chief Executive Officer of Adwinsa Publications, Kwaku Oppong-Nkrumah, publishers of I Can Be ABC For STEM, highlighted the significance of making available relevant reading materials to help the development of STEM education in the country.

“We are doing all we can to provide the basic reading materials to assist the children to understand and partake in STEM education. So the books we have come up with are self-tutorial; they are books which the children can read in their homes, they can use on their own with very little supervision. That is what the new education system is about,” he noted.

A non-governmental organization, Kids At Home Centre is an initiative created to support student learning and wellbeing. It comprises free online classes tailored to encourage creative thinking and fun interactions to help children navigate through the plethora of challenges facing their education and was established during this COVID-19 era through digital learning.