info@synergies.edu.gh
SANKOFA MENTORSHIP HUB
THE SANKOFA MENTORSHIP HUB
About Us
The Sankofa Mentorship Hub is a non-governmental organisation which advocates for the informal and fun teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science in Ghanaian Basic and Secondary Schools. Its flagship Science and Mathematics Mentorship Academy Program under the Centre for Innovation and Professional Development (CIPD) of Synergies Institute-Ghana is the main catalyst for achieving this objective.
The academy aims at using more entertaining and relatable methods in mentoring the young generation of students between the ages of 5-18 years to develop a greater passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics through free, inclusive and educative STEM activities.
This academy is an initiative pioneered and coordinated by Miss Lois Afua Okyerewaa Damptey, an astute advocate for the change in the approaches and techniques employed in Mathematics and Science education in Ghanaian Schools. As a young girl growing up, she felt pressured to pursue a career in science by her parents because it was the path for her to take based on stereotypes.
Almost extinguishing her passion for the subject, she found it hard keeping up with Mathematics and Science in school and she generally had to devise simpler and fun ways of grasping them. Her experiences in school has driven her to help the younger ones who have not been given the opportunity to love and appreciate the science field for what it is and represents.
Lois Afua Okyerewaa Damptey is a PhD student at the Open University in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, UK. She recently completed a collaborative Masters of Philosophy program with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UG- Legon and Aston University, Birmingham, UK. She had her undergraduate studies with the University of Ghana- Legon in the aforementioned department.
She was awarded the Royal Society Leverhulme African Award to work on finding a suitable catalyst to convert Ghanaian and Tanzanian non-edible seed oils to bio fuels. Lois is a Robert Bosch Stiftung award winner for Young African Researchers, France. She is also an SCI Material Science Early Career Award winner in Belgrave square, London.
Lois recently won an academic award of excellence to support student education in the field of materials characterisation from International centre for Diffraction Data, USA. She also won the top poster prize at the 2019 Pan African Conference on Crystallography from Royal Society of Chemistry (CrystEngComm).
Lois currently has two academic publications; she is also an author and publisher of two short story books for Junior High Schools named “The Dawn” and “Morning Dew”. She is a former Vice President of the African Materials Research Society- UG chapter with the aim of bridging the gap between industries and student research as well as embarking on community outreaches to increase awareness of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) especially among girls. She is also serving as a Secretary of Vacation Initiatives in Science, Africa with the aim of teaching science in fun ways.
Lois has a strong passion for theatre arts (dance and drama) as well. Lois Afua Okyerewaa Damptey is a proud alumnus of the Labone Senior High School and very much involved with Old Students Association activities
THE SANKOFA MENTORSHIP HUB
- Organise awareness seminars to motivate and promote STEM activities.
- Build a foundation to encourage interest for STEM activities among young children below the ages of 13 years.
- Improving access to STEM manuals for all educational levels; preschool, lower primary, upper primary, high school.
- Organise training session for various stakeholders in the early child science education.
- Setup science clubs (SMH fan club) in schools (capacity building) to engage kids in fun science activities
- Encouraging more girls to pursue careers in science and maths by introducing them to influential women in science in Ghana and Africa.
- Curb the phobia of science and maths among students and help nurture the love for it
- Students are expected to leave the camp with solutions or insights to various science and maths problems based on their curricula.
- Presenting S.T.E.M as a possible career option 10. Foster socialisation and connections among students from various schools and groups
MISSION STATEMENT
Changing the narrative associated with S.T.E.M education in Ghana which has been stereotyped to be subjects of difficulty and believed to be reserved for the “geniuses” by most students among basic and junior high school.
VISION STATEMENT
To fuse science and maths education with fun by integrating activities such as drama, art, comedy and fun practical science methods to teach many of the widely regarded difficult topics, theories and principles in science and maths.
