Breaking Barriers in Education: A Case of Olive B Academy in Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education for Girls in Sierra Leone.

By OliveB Academy | August 22, 2024

By Christian Bassie Kamara: Education and Social Development Enthusiast, Researcher and Human Rights Advocate.

More girls are enrolled in school today than ever before, thanks to frantic efforts by the United Nations, its specialized agencies, NGOs, philanthropists, governments and communities across the globe. However, irrespective of the significant progress that has been made over the past decades, girls continue to be held back by biases, gender stereotypes and social norms, which have adversely affected the type and quality of education they receive and created gender disparity in the education sector.

Girls are particularly under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, which underpins the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this regard, leaving out girls in STEM education is a loss for all. According to the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO 2017), about 35% of female STEM students are in higher education globally and less than 30% of female researchers are employed in research and development. Women held only 25% of Science, Engineering and ICT jobs in 2022 (UNESCO 2024). This gender disparity is alarming and continues to limit women and girls from contributing to innovation, inclusive growth and sustainable development. It has equally retarded the attainment of Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 4 (Inclusive Education) of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and consequently all the other goals because of the cross-cutting impact of education and gender equality.

In Sierra Leone, girls who want to access educational opportunities have been encountering enormous challenges and their enrollment in STEM courses falls down the pecking order when compared to their male counterpart. Notwithstanding the strides made by Government and NGOs which have evidently yielded some positive results, there seem to be a long way to go. Girls who are enrolled in school are often not motivated to pursue careers in STEM due to range of factors including negative stereotypes about girls’ intellectual capability to do well in Mathematics and other science subjects than boys, lack of the requisite technological infrastructure, social norms and expectations, domestic pressure, early marriage, teenage pregnancy and poverty.

In the midst of the above-mentioned challenges, a beacon of hope has been found in Olive B Academy (OBA), an academic institution equipped to drive and accelerate the transformation in STEM education for girls in Sierra Leone and the African continent as a whole. Inspired by Mrs. Olive Favor Kallon Baimba, a visionary educator, business enthusiast and girl-child advocate, OBA is the first all girls academic institution in Sierra Leone focusing on STEM education. With an internationally recognized standard of education, a state of the art technological infrastructure, experienced and qualified educators and a student centred approach, Olive B. Academy is dedicated to the technological and academical empowerment of girls, while engaging them in project based learning to be able to contribute and at the same time, compete in a rapidly changing and complex global society. As an all girls boarding school targeting both the less privileged and affluent, OBA strives to address a notable challenge facing the african girl-child: lack of time to focus on studies and other academic activities as a result of routine engagement with domestic work, a role society has deliberately ascribed to them because of their gender.

Innumerable challenges exist and gender inequalities in STEM education in Sierra Leone remains stark. Nonetheless, the landscape of STEM education for girls in Sierra Leone is indeed witnessing a whirlwind of change with the establishment of OBA. Serving as a breeding ground for the next generation of female innovators and leaders in Sierra Leone and beyond, OBA will not only complement the government’s free quality education agenda but equally play an instrumental role in human capital development, bridge the gender gap that exists between girls and boys in STEM education, promote equalization of opportunities for girls and create a platform for girls to actualize their full potential.

References:
Global Education Gender Monitoring Report: Technology on her Terms; UNESCO 2024

Cracking the Code: Girls’ and Women’s Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); UNESCO 2017

Closing the Gender Gap in STEM Education in Africa; Shona Bezanson

Promoting Girls’ Education in Sierra Leone; Joseph Kebbie, 2016.

Supporting Girls to Pursue Careers in Stem; Intercommunity Girls Space Empowerment – Sierra Leone

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