Abdul-Ghaniyu Sumaila had his primary education at Mankyia No. 4 at Sankore in the Brong Ahafo Region and proceeded to Catholic Junior High School at Garu in the Upper East Region. From there, he studied Agricultural Science at Nalerigu Senior High School in the Northern Region. Finally, he attended the Asante Mampong College of Education. He is currently studying Physics and Chemistry at the University of Cape Coast.
As a teacher, he has had four years of experience so far, and currently he is teaching one hundred and twenty students at the Douri-Guo Junior High School. Abdul had considered the medical profession for a while before settling on teaching, which he calls his passion.
Abdul cannot imagine a world without science. He says that the world revolves around science. This makes him passionate about teaching younger ones so that they can be useful participants and fit well in this technological world. Abdul-Ghaniyu likes the fact that STEM can be studied by first understanding the relevant concepts. According to him, one of the benefits of being a STEM educator is that he is constantly exposed to developments happening around him, and can understand the basis for these technological advancements. He, in turn, shares this knowledge with his students. His most affirming experience as an educator has been to see his students offering science at the SHS level.
He found out about the JUNEOS challenge through social media. He was excited about it and wanted to participate, so he got his students together and they began preparations for the experiment. He explains the inspiration behind their experiment: “Farmers need to know the properties of the soil to know the type of crop to grow. We decided to demonstrate the water holding capacity of the three types of soils in order to educate farmers about which crops to grow and in which type of soil.”
Abdul has been positively influenced by his participation in the JUNEOS Challenge. His confidence has been boosted and he has resolved to focus on practical demonstrations during his lessons in addition to theory. He has also learnt how to properly use various Teaching and Learning Materials to teach science. Furthermore, he has been exposed to other aspects of science teaching.
The other side of Abdul-Ghaniyu Sumaila, apart from his being a STEM educator is that he is a huge fan of comic actor ‘Lil Win’. He finds that watching movies starring ‘Lil Win’ makes him happy, and whenever he is down or sad, this is a sure way to lift up his spirits.
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Article by Kofi Konadu Berko.
Kofi Konadu Berko is passionate about education and youth development. He holds a B.A in Adult Education and Human Resource Studies from the University Of Ghana. His works have been published in the historic Afroyoung Adult anthology titled Waterbirds On the Lakeshore, Adabraka: Stories From the Center Of the World, Tampered Press and the Kalahari Review. He blogs at obolokofi.wordpress.com
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