Planting the seeds of sustainable science education

Education in certain African countries faces many challenges. Some schools have limited access to water and electricity, let alone updated books and educational materials. Italian chemist Michele Raggio wanted to change this and so created non-profit SeedScience, which aims to build a self-sustained science education programme in developing countries. Since its foundation in 2016 – with the support of the National Geographic Society – SeedScience has reached over 6000 students in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and has trained dozens of local science teachers.

Raggio studied chemistry, but his experience in science communication and volunteering inspired him towards a career change. He created SeedScience with an odd goal in mind – it should soon become unnecessary. ‘Ideally, we disappear after finishing our trainings, we want to create a sustainable model,’ Raggio says. However, he remains realistic: ‘Educational initiatives like ours will likely be needed for the next 10–15 years; after SeedScience grows self-sustained in one community, we will find new places to start over.’

SeedScience team identifies the most passionate science teachers and offers them the opportunity to grow professionally. ‘We select around 15 people from different schools and train them for three months,’ continues Raggio. After that, the teachers keep in touch with each other organising regular meetings, where they prepare the training plans for the next year. ‘Trainees become trainers, it’s like a good pyramid scheme,’ he jokes. According to SeedScience’s predictions, once the programme reaches half of the science teachers in an area, it becomes independent and can survive on its own. ‘Colleagues support each other, and often secure some financial support from school administrators,’ adds Raggio.