Students of salaga SHS in the Savannah region has put brilliant performance to emerge winners of the 2023 Renewable Energy Challenge competition held on Tuesday 20th June, 2023 in the Savannah Regional capital, Damongo.
This year’s competition which was under the theme: “Mechanised Small – Scale Agriculture using Renewable energy technologies” saw Salaga senior high school defeating three other schools with 67.6% of the total score to emerge victorious in the competition.
The host school, Damongo Senior High School came second with 67%, Ndewura Jakpa SHTS placed third with 65.3% and Buipe Voc/Tech senior high school ( forth ) with 55.6%.
The objective of the contest among others is to promote creative thinking and to provide mentorship to the young students in the various senior high schools to enhance local innovations to help enhance mechanised small – scale Agriculture using renewable energy technologies.
Out of eight (8) selected schools in the Savannah Region, four(4) schools took turns to explain some practical solutions to Ghana’s energy challenges with the showcase of different innovative technologies produced locally by students of the participated schools that can enhance mechanised small – scale Agriculture in the country.
Damongo senior high school, Buipe Voc/Tech SHS, Salaga SHS and Ndewura Jakpa Sec/Tech School competed in the forth edition which is the third in the Savannah Region.
The coordinator of the Senior High Schools
Renewable Energy Challenge ( SHSREC) and senior manager at the energy commission, Mr. Julius Nkansah-Nyarko in an interview with Padfm.com.gh indicated that, the Energy Commission’s Senior High School challenge was instituted in 2019 to help promote energy research in senior high schools across the country.
He said the project is aimed at minimizing the prevalent use of the chew, pour, pass and forget mechanism of students in the secondary schools and help them practicalise the theories that they learn in the classroom.
He explained that the projects that the students in the secondary schools churned out during their presentations and demonstrations are meant to be improved to help solve some of the energy challenges that are faced in the country.
Mr. Nkansah also indicated that this year’s theme focuses on mechanised small – scale agriculture using renewable energy technologies, an idea that the students can use to research and come up with projects that addresses some of the challenges faced in the agricultural sector by Ghanaian farmers.
The Senior High Schools Renewable Energy Challenge coordinator also noted that they are expecting to see from the students projects that will impact positively on how agricultural practices are carried out in the country and to also minimize the efforts of the farmer’s put in.
He remarked that the students did very well with their practical projects and that, they had very interesting projects and indicated that, the winning project projected on how fertilizers could be applied on farmlands using very little human efforts and also showed how mechanizing the spraying of farmlands with either fertilizers or insecticides.
He said there were other projects that showcased the use of wind termites to irrigate farmlands and a few others as well, adding that if the projects are further developed and enhanced, the will help improve upon agricultural practices in the local communities and in Ghana as a whole.
He also noted that, they are collaborating with CSIR to improve on some of this innovative projects that the secondary schools bring out and with the hope and vision that when they develop them further so that the projects can be commercialize, made marketable and available to the farmers so that the students who are the developers of the projects gets to reap some monetary benefit from it.
The savannah regional Director of Education, Madam Mabel Judith Micah in a key note address said the energy commission as part of it’s mandate is responsible for the development and utilisation of renewable energy resources as well as recommends and advices relevant stakeholders on the educational curriculum on the efficient use of renewable energy resources and their involved programmes for it’s mainstreaming in the educational curriculum in Ghana.
She said the Senior high schools renewable energy challenge organised by the energy commission is aimed at fostering the interest for renewable energy in students in the senior high schools and therefore urged all to have interest in the event and participate fully in it.
Madam Mabel also stated that, the Savannah Region has participated in the event since 2021 and has always competed well though not being able to get to the finals and expressed hope that this year the region will get the final stage.
She expressed her happiness on seeing the schools that have presented themselves for the competition and thanked the staff and headmaster’s of the schools for availing themselves for the event.
Madam Mabel Judith Micah was however not happy that some selected schools did not show up for the event even as their transportation and participation cost were being cartered for by the energy commission, noting that every opportunity comes but ones and therefore encouraged that when there are programmes of that sort, people should not thinking about resources so much but put in their efforts to participate.
She concluded by encouraging the participating schools to put in their best and let them know their challenges so that together they can sail through to the finals and also appealed that the participation schools bring on board projects that will be of national interest ro enable projects of the savannah region selected for the national competition and win provincially.
Source: Padfm. com. gh/Kumatey Gorden/0243531604
