Zimbabwean science teacher Nkosana Butholenkosi Masuku has won the 2023 prestigious Cisco Youth Leadership Award, with a prize of US$250 000, reported TimesLive.
Masuku founded Phenomtech-Sciency to make science, technology and engineering (STEM) accessible to rural learners.
In his speech, as he accepted the award in New York this week, Masuku, who is an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, said:
Sciency was started because when I was teaching in rural areas, I realised it was difficult for learners to comprehend practical science subjects. This was due to a lack of [study] aid materials.
The advantage of teaching them practicals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is that it enables learners to retain their knowledge thereby reducing the dropout rates.
Fran Katsoudas, a representative of Cisco, said:
Stem education is critical for opening doors of opportunity and Nkosana’s vital work utilising innovative technology to offer STEM learning to rural schools across Zimbabwe is transformative.
Investing in education reaps a lifetime of benefits, not only for children but also for their communities.
The work of young leaders like Nkosana is helping to usher in a more inclusive future by empowering youth in Africa and around the world to thrive in the digital economy.
On its website, the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award said:
Nkosana is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teacher with three years of experience at a rural school.
Nkosana created Sciency learning in reaction to shortage of resources for teaching STEM subjects in rural schools.
Sciency’s ecosystem goal is to offer applied/practical STEM education to pupils across Zimbabwe at a low cost, which would help in decreasing dropout rates and advancing STEM development in poor communities.
Nkosana is also an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship and an award-winning entrepreneur.
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