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Guyana leads the way in Micro-science Experiments Initiative
Nowadays everything is going ‘micro’, which of course means ‘small’. This micro fever ranges from computers and hi-tech equipment to laboratory equipment. Micro-gadgets have become more and more affordable. They are easy to carry and easy to store.
In schools all over the world, micro-equipment is invading the classrooms and changing the way of teaching and learning. John Bradley, a chemistry professor at the University of Witwatersrand, was searching for a way to bring the experience of chemistry lab work to students in South Africa’s black schools. He developed portable kits which use extremely small amounts of chemicals with miniature pieces of apparatus that teachers could use in the classroom.
Displaying science project
Guyana is now in the lead once again with the Ministry of Education led implementation of the Microscience Experiments Project. Guyana embraced the implementation of the Global Microscience Experiments initiative with initial technical and financial support from UNESCO in 2011.
Guyana was selected by the UNESCO Kingston cluster office to pilot this initiative following discussions on ways to improve science education. Microscience teachers’ and students manuals were developed to accompany the kits for biology, chemistry and physics. They work well for the hinterland schools.
The pilot commenced with 15 secondary schools and has now been expanded to 28 secondary schools with more kits on their way for further expansion in the new academic year. Approximately 120 teachers were trained in the use of these kits.
The Global Microscience Programme was launched by UNESCO and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 1996. The micro-science approach has been introduced into over 80 countries, many of them in Africa. Guyana now leads in this initiative in the Caribbean.
The Ministry of Education through a Steering Committee which included staff members from the University of Guyana reviewed the materials for biology, chemistry and physics and matched them with the respective CSEC syllabus requirements.
These materials were selected from UNESCO’s website and are free for all types of adaptations and modifications. These materials were used to prepare the Microscience student and teachers’ manuals.
The benefits of using these kits include; Provision of resources for the School Based Assessment (SBA) component for the sciences in secondary schools; Providing students with exposure to a wider range of experimental skills; Ideal for schools which have limited amounts of chemicals and equipment; elevate the level of interest among young people in science and technology; Promote capacity building for science education and enhance development of scientific thinking and experimentation for students.
In Guyana, the kits offer the Ministry the opportunity to make the quest for equality of service real. These kits can be used in hinterland and other schools where large labs may not have been catered for in initial designs many years ago.
These kits were part of the national prize package for the 12 national winners in the recently concluded Sagicor Visionaries Challenge Competition. The Sagicor Visionaries Challenge competition was one initiative to promote STEM education. Since the distribution of these kits, the number of entries in the single sciences has also gone up.
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