The new science lab at our partner Tarnos School in Kenya will help to close the gender gap in STEM Education

The new science lab at our partner Tarnos School in Kenya will help to close the gender gap in STEM Education

As the world marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science, on 11 February, our partner, Tarnos School, nears the completion of a new science lab.

In 2017, the Kenyan Government introduced the new Competency Based Curriculum(CBC), which is competence and skill based in response to emerging social, technological and economic demands of the workplace.

While Tarnos, our partner school in Kericho county, Kenya, already had an ICT classroom which offered ICT-enabled teaching and computer literacy, the school required the addition of a science laboratory in order to adhere to the new requirements of STEM education within Kenyan education. Tarnos is also in the process of expanding from Primary to Junior Secondary level, increasing the
enrolment potential of Tarnos School from 300 to 405 pupils. Expanded facilities and specialised classrooms will allow this potential to be realised.

In 2022, Ecologia Youth Trust received a grant from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMECHE) to fully fund the construction a new science lab at Tarnos, which is in the final stages of completion.

The addition of a Science Lab at Tarnos school will:

  • result in 30 current students in Grade 6, who will be able to access quality
    Junior Secondary level education
  • give more girls access to STEM education, allowing them greater opportunity to pursue careers in Science, Technology and Engineering
  • afford increased access to STEM education for disadvantaged rural children that emphasises gender parity

The United Nations calls gender equality, ‘the unfinished business of our time’ According to the United Nations, ‘A significant gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world. Even though women have made tremendous progress towards increasing their participation in higher education, they are still under- represented in these fields.’

We are very pleased that our new science laboratory at Tarnos School –which is near completion – will provide 13 girls access to a science education form an early age, helping to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5) which
aims to, ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.’

About Ecologia Youth Trust

Ecologia Youth Trust is a Scotland-based charity, established in 1995. To date, we have helped transform the lives of over 56,000 children, young people and families affected by poverty, inequality, disease and climate change. We work with partners in Uganda
and Kenya.

Our vision: A world where every young person thrives.

Our mission: We support children and young people to shape their futures and growstronger sustainable communities. With a holistic approach, we work alongside partners to give community and family support, quality education and the means to regenerate their environment for immediate and long-term security.

Learn more about us here

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susie Kemp

Susie has 30+ experience as a creative copywriter, editor, and proofreader, starting out as a 20-year-old copywriter in the Mad Men world of early 1990s advertising in South Africa. Ever since, she’s had a love affair with creative conceptualisation, thinking outside of the box, writing to a deadline, and being thrown in the deep end!

She took an MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University as a mature student, in 2015, and continues to keep herself busy working as a copy-editor, proofreader and copywriter in book publishing, corporate communications, and publishing project management.

Apart from her love of working with independent authors, Susie has a fondness for working in the third sector and likes to use her corporate communications and marketing experience to support projects close to her heart. She has lived and worked in the Findhorn area for 25 years, and has been involved in a number of third sector projects and organisations, and family businesses.

Working at Ecologia Youth Trust helps Susie to live in integrity with her values of supporting the next generation to be the best that they can be, and she sees it as a way to give back to Mama Africa, the beloved continent on which she was born.

Ellen Shaw

Ellen joined the Ecologia team in June 2018 as Marketing and Communications Manager. Ellen has lived in Scotland for 6 years and has worked for non-profit and charitable organisations across varied fields. She currently shares her passion for helping young people through Ecologia Youth Trust and she works as a dancer and dance teacher in her spare time.

Robyn Cooper

Robyn is the Associate Director of International Projects, having previously worked within the team as a Project Development and Marketing Officer from April 2019 until May 2021. As Associate Director, Robyn is co-leading the International side of Ecologia with Founder and Director, Liza Hollingshead, bringing a new energy into Ecologia as they look towards the future of the charity.

Liza Hollingshead

Liza is the founder of Ecologia and Director of International Projects. She was born and educated in South Africa and worked there as a high school teacher. She moved to live in the Findhorn Community in 1974. She started Ecologia in 1995 after being introduced to Dmitry Morozov, the founder of Kitezh Children’s Community in Russia, and was inspired to support the community in its mission to rescue orphaned children from institutions and give them homes, families and education in a supportive environment.

This led to projects supporting disadvantaged youth and children in South East Asia and in East Africa. TRead more about Liza’s story here.