Training: African database for education schemes

by Fanuel Muindi & Moytrayee Guha

 – Originally Published in Nature – 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he severe shortage of trained scientists in Africa (see go.nature.com/gio8pu) has given rise to a variety of programs and initiatives to recruit more students into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and to encourage them to complete their education. A central database that collects and analyses data from all such enterprises is urgently needed to help coordinate their efforts, increase their effectiveness, make them more visible to the public and inform sponsors’ funding decisions.

African science is also beset with systemic problems such as a lack of funding and laboratory equipment, and a pervasive lack of appreciation of the importance of science to a country’s development (see, for example, V. Irikefe et al. Nature 474, 556–559; 2011).

Remedial initiatives across the continent include the creation of science and technology institutes, online science networks, science camps, mentoring programmes, scholarships and research fellowships. The proposed database could be modelled on the US STEMconnector, which provides a comprehensive directory and analysis for more than 6,200 STEM programmes across the United States. It is in the interest of African governments, universities and companies to step up and fund this database.

Fanuel Muindi

Fanuel Muindi is a former neuroscientist turned civic science ethnographer. He is a Professor of Practice in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University where he leads the Civic Science Media Lab. Dr. Muindi received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Organismal Biology from Morehouse College and Stanford University respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training at MIT.