Students of Kumbosgo Junior High School in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East Region have developed locally made whiteboards and dusters from recycled waste materials as part of efforts to promote practical STEM education.
The innovation, led by the school’s STEM coordinator, Alebgesoore Solomon, was inspired by Ghana’s new curriculum, which emphasizes practical learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Solomon said the idea emerged during a classroom lesson on solutions and mixtures when students discovered that styrofoam could dissolve in petrol to form a sticky substance that could be used as glue.
“We realized that petrol can dissolve styrofoam and after leaving it for some time, it became sticky like glue. That inspired us to use it in producing dusters,” he said.
According to him, students combined the dissolved styrofoam with discarded materials collected from the environment to produce dusters and whiteboards for classroom use.
He said Kumbosgo JHS has won the district STEM competition for the past two years and continues to encourage students to use practical knowledge to solve community challenges.
The innovation has already attracted attention from other schools, with Afiaga Junior High School placing orders for the locally produced whiteboards and dusters.
Solomon appealed to government agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders to support the school with STEM equipment and logistics to expand production.
The Public Relations Officer for the Bolgatanga East District Education Office, Joris Atia, praised the school for setting standards in STEM education despite the district being newly created.
“At Kumbosgo Junior High, they are always setting the pace. We are proud of them because they have embraced STEM education strongly and are using waste materials to create useful products,” he said.
Atia described the innovation as significant not only for the school but also for the entire district and the Upper East Region.
He noted that the products come at a lower cost compared to similar items sold on the market and could benefit schools transitioning from blackboards to whiteboards.
Atia further called for support from organizations and individuals to help the school acquire equipment and increase production to meet growing demand from schools within and beyond the district.
