Samantha, aged 9 from Lima, Peru, was selected to attend this year鈥檚 science programme run by UNESCO Prize for Girls鈥 and Women鈥檚 Education laureate, the Mini Academy of Science and Technology, or MaCTec.
When Peru announced that schools would remain closed for the entire 2020 school year due to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, MaCTec needed to rapidly rethink the delivery of their extra-curricular science programme for girls aged 8 to 11.
Engaging girls online
As MaCTec鈥檚 President, Johanna Johnson explains, a key concern when lockdown was announced was whether all 40 girls selected to attend this year鈥檚 programme, due to begin the following week, would be able to access the workshops if they were held online.
鈥淥nly 6% of homes in remote areas of Peru have an internet connection, compared to 40% in urban areas and 60% in Lima鈥, said Johanna based on data from Peru鈥檚 Instituto Nacional de Estad铆stica e Inform谩tica (National Institute of Statistics and Informatics). 鈥淲e were extremely fortunate that all girls this year were still able to participate despite coming from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds.鈥
As MaCTec adopted the online meeting platform Zoom, Global Education Coalition partner, to deliver its programme, a priority was to adapt the pedagogy to ensure that girls would engage with and participate in experiments and learner-led discussions.
Scientists leading the workshops created activities and experiments using basic materials easily found at home and fostered group discussions during the Zoom calls. The discussions invited girls to ask questions about what they discovered during the experiments and to develop hypotheses for the next activity, building on what they had learned the week before.
Expanding learning beyond girls
Helping the girls make sense of the current situation, focusing on understanding COVID-19 and viruses more generally was an obvious place to start. So far, activities have ranged from building paper (water-drop) microscopes and examining the effects of COVID-19 on our respiratory systems through hands-on experiments.
Samantha enjoys learning via Zoom and connecting with other girls. 鈥淚 really like learning more about the coronavirus鈥, said Samantha. 鈥淢y mother always says it is important not to believe everything we hear and to always investigate and find out the truth.鈥
For Johanna, a key part of the workshop鈥檚 success online is the support and involvement of the girls鈥 families. Parents and siblings are encouraged to participate in the experiments and in Zoom lessons as a way to not only reinforce learning but to expand learning beyond the 40 girls.
鈥淪cience education has traditionally been weak in Peru and I鈥檓 so impressed by how keen parents are to learn alongside their daughters and to ask questions鈥, said Johanna. 鈥淲e see this as such a positive outcome and are now reviewing how we can adapt our workshops and content to benefit not just girls but also their families.鈥
Seizing the opportunity to scale up
While the in-person workshops will remain a priority, MaCTec sees the current situation as a window of opportunity.
MaCTec is building on the initial success of the online workshops and is exploring how they can produce high quality material that can be made accessible both online and offline to expand their reach to more girls in Peru.
鈥淏y developing science-based activities and resources that are both gender transformative and accessible at any time, we hope to reach many more girls and their families, especially outside of Lima where there are fewer opportunities for girls to engage in science鈥, said Johanna.
She adds, 鈥渢his crisis has made us more determined than ever to share our inquiry-driven educational model to empower all girls to become critical thinkers and learners who are confident in their abilities鈥.
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At the peak of the pandemic, over 1.5 billion learners around the world have seen their education disrupted due to COVID-related school closures. Under UNESCO鈥檚 , a Gender Flagship was established to safeguard progress made on gender equality and education and promote girls鈥 and women鈥檚 empowerment in and through education.
The was created in 2015 with funding from the Government of the People鈥檚 Republic of China. It honors outstanding and innovative contributions that advance girls鈥 and women鈥檚 education.
is a laureate of the 2017 UNESCO Prize for Girls鈥 and Women鈥檚 Education. MaCTec empowers Peruvian girls through science workshops with established scientists where they can wonder, create and experiment, and then return home to their peers and community to share their experience and apply their learning.
