Meet GH4STEM 100 Top Teacher: BISMARK APPERTEY, Dodowa #GH4STEM

For thirteen years, Mr Bismark Appertey has been a teacher and currently handles six hundred and thirty-nine students at Dodowa Presby Basic (B) school. As a child, his mother nicknamed him “Tetteh Fitter” because of his interest and passion for engineering that developed because he grew up living close to a fitting shop. He wanted to become an engineer when he grew up. However, the prime reason for his interest was that his father, who he looked up to, was also an engineer. 

After his secondary school education his mother asked him to go and learn ‘roadside electronics’ but he objected because he wanted to make a greater impact in the field.

At one point in his education Mr Appertey had also wanted to be a laboratory technician but fate had other plans for him. He decided to read science education instead because he felt science was a hands-on activity and practical. He graduated in 2004. In 2006, he was recruited into the Ghana Education Service and was first posted to Dodowa St. Agnes JHS where he taught for eleven years before he was transferred to another school in 2018. He later became the head teacher at Dodowa Newtown Basic ‘A’.

Mr Appertey is passionate about being a STEM educator. His inspiration is driven from the fact that he wants to mentor students who will come up with ideas and inventions that will develop the country. For this reason, he has developed quality methods in teaching his students for proper understanding and impact. Mr Appertey is also motivated by the joy it brings him in seeing his students comprehend and apply the concepts and principles he teaches them.

Mr Appertey believes that being a STEM educator benefits the country as a whole. He is convinced that the practical application of science will lead to more inventions and a boost in the production and manufacturing capacity of the country. This would in turn lead to conomic development. 

Mr Appertey joined the GAST and PEN organisations because as a science teacher, he needed to be part of a group where there was an exchange of ideas and the opportunity to  learn new methodology through other people’s presentations.

In participating in the JUNEOS challenge, Mr Appertey wants to make his teaching more practical than before. He has learned that his students better understand scientific concepts with practicals than theory. He is grateful to the JUNEOS challenge for bringing up a program to nurture the creativity of students in STEM.

Article by Kofi Dzogbewu

Kofi Dzogbewu is a Ghanaian storyteller. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Language and Literature from the University of Ghana. He is an alumnus of the Mo Issa Writing Workshops.

You can find more of his work on his blog and find him on all social media platforms with the name ‘Kofi Dzogbewu’ (@fdzogbewu).