The government is considering opening a Creative Arts Senior High School in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, in September 2023, in a bid to boost STEM education.
Students who excel in auditions will be offered the opportunity to enrol in the new school, where science and engineering will be blended into the art curricula.
The Education Minister, Yaw Osei Adutwum, made the announcement on Thursday, June 22nd, during the STEM Road Show in Accra.
The Minister emphasised the government’s commitment to shaping students in the creative arts business and emphasised that both the backend and frontend of creative arts will help the country grow its human capital.
Dr. Yaw Adutwum asserted, “Our creative arts Senior High School in the city of Kumasi, which is currently under construction, will receive students from all over Ghana. It will be a boarding school, and admission will be based on an audition. The Ghana Education Service and Ghana TVET service, which are collaborating to secure the school’s operationalization, have told me that the institution will begin enrolling students across the country by September.”
He added, “And we will ensure the future of the country is moulded in the creative arts industry and other professionals who will do the backend of creative arts and front end of creative arts to help the nation in our search towards developing first-class human capital. It is something that will put us at the forefront of socio-economic transformation. The world went through the second industrial revolution [steam engine]”.
“We are not jumping to full steam, however, we want to make sure that art courses are integrated into our STEM schools. So that we will create a well-rounded citizenry, and not just focus on engineering and other related courses,” Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum stated.
He also revealed that the government has developed a number of STEM schools across the country.
“More of these STEM schools are under construction, and I’m very excited about STEM schools in Kumasi.”