The Saba Innovation Hub, Tamale has kickstarted its maiden Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Bootcamp for Basic Schools in Northern Ghana with over 80 participants. Majority of the pupils were drawn from the underserved/rural Basic community Schools from the Tolon District, Kumbungu District, Sagnarigu Municipality and the Tamale Metropolis. The best STEM pupils, one female and male each, were drawn from over 30 Basic Schools from the aforementioned districts to participate in the first STEM Bootcamp of the Innovation Hub. The rest of the participants cut across various prominent private and public Basic Schools from the Tolon District, Kumbungu District, Sagnarigu Municipality, Savelugu Municipality, and the Tamale Metropolis. This event is being organized from the 10th to 14th of August, 2026.
STEM education has been the bedrock of socio-economic development of several nations and most recently Asian countries like Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, etc. which have achieved phenomenal economic transformation partly due to massive investment in STEM education. The lack of investment in STEM education has caused African countries to fall behind the rest of the world in STEM education outputs. However, the trend in Ghana is that, most of the underprivileged communities who are schooling under trees, some without chairs, inadequate teachers and teaching materials are far behind their peers in private and city schools as far as STEM education is concerned. Promoting STEM from the grassroot has been the masterstroke of development in Asian Countries, which we need to emulate.
The First day of the Bootcamp started with the Introduction to STEM and Innovation. The learners were taken through the basics of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Innovation with practical examples on how biogas could be generated from cow dung. There were also videos about how the Asian Tigers developed astronomically through STEM education and young innovators and inventors who have grown to solve world’s technological problems like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Elon Musk etc.
The second day of the event will continue with robotics, coding, AI and technology where learners will be taken through the basics in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence in order to prepare them to face global challenges that could be solved with these technologies. Kids will have the opportunity to build and operate their own robots with our new and advanced robotic and coding kits.
Learners will be exposed to Chemistry, Physics and Biology related experiments in their syllabi and text books in order to help them appreciate Science on the third day of the event. Engineering and Mathematics practicals will follow by introducing the children to vehicle engines and how they work as well as the calculations of areas of shapes and figures, volumes, and other forms of measurements.
The last day of the event is dedicated to creative arts where experienced professionals will walk them through the basics of creative arts. There will also be an exhibition of innovative and creative prototypes created by learners. Learners with the best three prototypes are going to be awarded with prizes in order to encourage them to innovate to solve our societal problems. The programme will be climaxed with a career guidance session especially for the Junior High School pupils who are always battling with their programmes selections at the Senior High School level.
The Innovation Hub also operates the STEAMI/STEM on WHEEL Van which aims at teaching practical STEM by visiting Basic Schools especially the underserved/rural ones, to promote the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Basic Schools in our catchment area, who need practical demonstrations of basic scientific principles should contact us for our services.
The CEO of the Innovation Hub, Professor Courage Kosi Setsoafia Saba, who took the learners through introduction to STEM and Innovation is a professor at the University for Development Studies, Tamale. He is supported by Dr. Stephen Wilson Kpordze, Mr. Emmanuel Dear Akpatsu, Mr. Sayibu Sulemana Wumbei as well as the ENACTUS Team from the Nyankpla Campus of the University for Delopment Studies. Professor Saba calls on the government and other NGOs, companies, and philanthropists who are aligned with STEM to support the Saba Innovation Hub to extend the teaching of this practical STEM courses in rural schools within Northern Ghana in order to raise future leaders who will solve their own challenges and problems with STEM. The hub, he said is currently heavily dependent on loans and salary of the CEO together with the benevolence of a few friends. The Hub has so far supported and nurtured 5 startups which are at their various stages of development through our operation knowledge for riches initiative.
