Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour has charged heads of the various Senior High Schools in the region to monitor foodstuffs meant for the preparation of meals for students in their respective schools.

This, according to Mr. Darfour will help prevent persons responsible for these items from stealing them as has been reported in some schools, following the implementation of the Free SHS programme.

“Institutions are headed by management and they run with rules and regulations and they have a regional director who is directly responsible for the administrations of the schools…They must institute their own internal mechanisms to make sure that these things do not happen but being a human institution, sometimes one or two things will happen,” Mr. Darfour said.

Buipe SHS matron arrested 

There have been a number of reports of pilfering by some matrons in various schools including the Ghana Secondary Senior High School and Buipe Senior High Schools

In October 2017, the Matron of Buipe SHS in the Gonja District of the Northern Region was arrested for allegedly stealing foodstuffs belonging to the school.

The matron was arrested, together with a driver and his mate as they were transporting the food items from the school to her residence.

Small quantities of food 

The allegations of pilfering might, to some extent, account for the small quantities of food given to students in some schools.

In September 2017, first-year students of Mamfi Methodist Senior High Schools complained about the small portions of meals served them for lunch.

These complaints came days after the free SHS programme was implemented.

Aside from pilfering, the Free SHS programme has been fraught with several challenges including inadequate accommodation for students and the charging of unapproved fees by some schools.

Following these challenges, some sceptics have expressed doubts over the sustainability of the programme.

In a bid to address these challenges, President Nana Addo recently directed heads of institutions to stop the practice of charging unapproved fees.

President Nana Addo warned that any headteacher found culpable will be penalized.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Monitor Free SHS food items strictly – E/R Minister to SHS heads appeared first on Ghana News.

Teaching is not an easy job.

It’s made even harder when tutors do not have the resources they need to do the work they have been assigned to do.

A number of teachers have to improvise to get their pupils a basic understanding of the things they teach them.

One ICT teacher has literally gone back to the drawing board to teach pupils in his class how to use a computer.

In an ideal situation, students would sit behind their computers while the teacher points out the various parts of whichever programme they are currently studying.

Students write in their notebooks as Owura Kojo sketches on the board

Owura Kwadwo and his pupils, however have no such luxury.

Making do with the resources available to him and determined not to let his charges fall behind, the teacher sketched an average Microsoft Word document on the chalkboard.

The parts of the window are labelled, enabling the students to get a fair idea of the various parts of a typical Word document.

Owura Kojo posted the pictures of his class on his Facebook page

The pupils follow suit, drawing their own makeshift computer screens in their books and scribbling down every pointer he gives.

Owura, whose bio notes that he is a former student of Kumasi Academy and currently studies at the University of Education, posted the pictures of the improvised ICT lesson on his Facebook page with the caption “Teaching of ICT in Ghana’s school is very funny. ICT on the board paa. I love ma students so have to do wat will make them understand Wat am teaching.”

The photos, which were posted last Thursday, have since gone viral.

While some Facebookers have praised his ingenuity in the face of the lack of resources, others have expressed dismay at the conditions pupils in rural Ghana have to deal with in their pursuit of knowledge.

Not an isolated case

A number of schools in the country face similar challenges.

Many schools in rural Ghana, including the Gbolo Alzariya English and Arabic Primary school in the Sagnarigu district of the Northern Region are without Information Communication and Technology (ICT) laboratories and tools.

The school’s headmistress, Madam Mahama Maria, revealed to Citi News in January that the only laptop used for teaching the pupils has not been functioning since 2015.

According to her, a philanthropist donated the said laptop to the school with a population of 430 students.

“We have an ICT teacher in the school. In the past we used to have a laptop which someone gave to the school to use but it’s been spoilt for about two years now,” she said

“It is a big problem for us that we have an ICT teacher in the school and yet there is no laptop for us to use and teach the students.”

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Teacher hailed for drawing computer screen on chalkboard to teach pupils appeared first on Ghana News.

A SEND-Ghana report has revealed financial leakages in the School Feeding Programme introduced to provide one daily meal to children in primary school.

The 17-page annual report established that delay in reimbursement of funds to caterers interrupted regular feeding and strict adherence to menu.

“This is seen to be something that has the tendency to impact school attendance negatively,” SEND-Ghana said in the report.

The report suggested ways to help sustain and also prevent the financial leakages in the programme.

It indicated that inconsistencies in school enrollment data, provided by directorates, schools and caterers, made it difficult to determine the actual number of pupils that were fed and whether government paid the caterers for their services.

“This situation predisposes the programme to financial leakages,” the report said.

Although adopting the caterers’ model for service provision is a laudable, it said appropriate storage facilities and the quality of food prepared could not be guaranteed having recognized the limited supervision and monitoring by programme officials.

Against this backdrop, the report recommended that effective monitoring of the programme was key to ensuring that the food for the children is nutritious and safe for consumption.

It suggested that authorities make enough resources available for programme monitoring.

“The Ghana Education Service must also step up its monitoring activities and ensure that enrollment data captured by schools and district directorates are consistent with each other as a measure to block possible leakages and engender effective and efficient planning and budgeting,” it said.

Moreover, district desk officers should also be made to liaise with officials during monitoring, the report said.

The report called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to collaborate with the Ghana Education Service to ensure that head teachers act as first-line managers or supervisors of the programme to complement the work of zonal coordinators.

Metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies must also make provision in their annual plans and budgets to support monitoring by the school feeding desk officer to complement efforts of zonal coordinators, it added.

“The situation, if not addressed, will impact negatively on attendance and contribute to slowing Ghana’s quest towards the attainments of universal basic education for all children,” it said.

The School Feeding Programme is run by the Secretariat in partnership with international agencies like the World Bank, World Food Programme, Partnership for Child Development, UNICEF and the Canadian International Development Agency.

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Source: GNA

The post SEND-Ghana uncovers financial leakages in school feeding programme appeared first on Ghana News.

The Student’s Representative Council [SRC] of the Ghana School of Law, has called for the school’s Independent Examinations Board to be scrapped, describing it as a threat to legal education in Ghana, after only 91 of the over 500 students passed the May exams in 2017.

Protocol dictates that these students re-sit the exams, but the SRC has demanded that the results are scrapped, to allow the students to proceed with their six-month internship in March.

He added that almost 300 students are to repeat the entire course, whilst 170 students would have to be referred.

Describing the failures as “unprecedented”, Mr. Gyamfi said the demands of the Council were in service of future student batches.

“We are making this point not because we have failed. Some of us have passed. Some executives have passed. But we are doing this for posterity, for those who will come after us so that the systems are improved and corrected, and sad occurrences like this averted.”

“…in the medium term, we are of the opinion that the IEB system should be scrapped, and we are of the opinion that all students should be allowed to commence the mandatory six months internship programme from March 1 because that is the only appropriate thing to do under the circumstances.”

Lectures must set their own questions

Mr. Gyamfi further advised the school to revert to the previous system of examining students, where lecturers assessed their own students.

“Now the lecturers who teach students will set questions and mark because we have the best lecturers in Ghana, with regards to the law and the kind of courses they teach. There is no reason why lecturers should not be the once assessing the students they teach.”

“Sometimes if the person marking is the one who taught the students, it becomes really difficult evaluating the answer the student has provided in his answer booklet correctly. So it is important that they are mindful and take into consideration all these things and revert to the old system. All the best lawyers we have in the country today: Martin Amidu, Ace Ankomah, Thaddeus Sory are products of the old system,” he said.

Fight over admissions

These calls come in the midst of the tensions between students and the Ghana Legal Council over the Legal Profession Regulations LI before Parliament.

A group calling itself the Concerned Law Students, has threatened to seek redress at the Supreme Court if Parliament fails to withdraw the controversial Legal Profession Regulation.

The Association of Law Students has also petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo over the matter.

The regulation, which will determine qualifications procedure into the Ghana School of Law, has been met with fierce resistance from the law students.

The students have described the LI as a deliberate attempt by the council to frustrate them in violation of their rights.

But the General Legal Council, which oversees legal education in Ghana, has argued that the exams and interviews are to ensure higher standards in legal education.

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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Law School SRC angry after over 80% fail exams appeared first on Ghana News.

Final year SHS students will henceforth write the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in April.

Speaking today [Tuesday] at a seminar for journalists, Head of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Rev. Samuel Ollennu said the move will guarantee that the nine terms allocated to teaching and learning in second cycle schools are fully exhausted by students before the examination.

“We are here to sanitize you about the forthcoming examination, which this time around is not starting February but on April 3. Formerly, we were going to start in February but the government appealed to us not to”, he said.

In November last year, the Minister of Education announced the proposal, citing that students need adequate time for preparation, and after consultation with the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the date was reviewed.

The Ministry of Education was in talks with the West African Examination Council last year November (WAEC), to ensure that from 2018, the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) would be written in May.

Successive governments have considered various ways to aid the preparations of candidates for their final exams, including toying with the SHS duration.

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s government changed the three year SHS duration system in 2007 to four years, due to similar concerns being raised by Opoku Prempeh.

But the National Democratic Congress (NDC) reversed it back to three years, claiming the four-year duration brought undue hardships to parents.

It appears the Akufo-Addo government is seriously considering extending the length to four years again.

The Minister of Planning, Professor Gyan Baffour in September 2017 revealed that government is monitoring the three-year SHS system to inform a possible review back to four years.

“The time lost, we have to make it up. That is the first thing that we are trying to do now, and based on that, we can now use the analysis that they do after that time, to see what the public thinks and to decide on whether we move for three years or four years,” he added.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post WAEC moves WASSCE to April to aid students’ preparations appeared first on Ghana News.

Some students of the Ghana School of Law are blaming the existing curriculum of the school for the massive failure in its recent examination.

It is reported that more than 80% of students who wrote the examination in May 2017 failed, as only 91 out of the over 500 candidates passed.

The LI, if endorsed by Parliament will see the legalization of entrance examination and interview processes by the GLC for prospective law students.

The GLC insists the measures will ensure only qualified persons are admitted to produce quality lawyers in the country. However, some have suggested that the recent failure makes nonsense of the processes, and emphasizes on the need for focus to be placed on restructuring the school’s curriculum.

According to the concerned students of the school, the entrance exam administered by the GLC, must be abolished in the face of the massive failure.

In a statement signed by its leader, Ken Addor Donkor, the Concerned Students said, “the quality of teaching has deteriorated, if we have to abide by the logic of the GLC that the entrance exams helps to admit quality applicants.”

It is thus calling for the resignation of all members of the General Legal Council.

Read their full statement below:

Ghana School of Law & Matters Arising:

The mass failure recorded by the GSL this year is a testament to the call that the entrance exams be abolished as it has failed to establish that it’s a pristine source of sieving the quality applicants from the ‘chaff’.

Secondly, this results demonstrate that the present curriculum as presently modified has contributed to the deteriorating nature of the supposedly ‘quality’ students that are admitted and must be scrapped and the old formulae restored.

Thirdly, the Bar results as released points to the fact that, the quality of teaching has deteriorated if, we have to abide by the logic of the GLC that the entrance exams helps to admit quality applicants.

Lastly, the results lend credence to the proposition that of some debaters that, the GLC has crafted these examinations as a cash-cow or conduit of milking both prospective students as well as candidates for the Bar exams.

It would cost the 206 students who would have to repeat the programme in excess of Ghc5.5m without any guarantee that they will sail through when next they write the Bar exams. The present school fees per year is GHS 13,500.00

#All GLC members must resign

KENN ADDOR DONKOR LEADER OF CONCERNED LAW STUDENTS

 ‘Exam results not credible’

Meanwhile, the President of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the Ghana School of Law, Sammy Gyamfi has said that the results of the exam is not credible.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, he said, the leadership of the SRC does not believe the result is a true reflection of the performance of the candidates.

“There are fundamental flaws… something is fundamentally flawed with the entire process. All you are seeing is not all there is. If we go deeper into the issue and we allow independent credible professional examiners to remark the same scripts, we are very confident that more students will pass,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Students blame curriculum for massive law school exam failure appeared first on Ghana News.

The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the Ghana School of Law, has called for the examination scripts of the Ghana Law School students to be re-marked following the revelation that over 80 percent of persons who wrote the May 2017 exams failed.

The SRC had earlier called for the school’s Independent Examinations Board, which conducted the exams and was responsible for the marking of the scripts, to be scrapped, describing it as a threat to legal education in Ghana, after only 91 of the over 500 students passed the exams.

He stated that in order to ensure the integrity of the exams and the results which were released, the scripts have to be re-marked by “a credible and independent body.”

“Clearly this is a sad day for professional legal education for Ghana. The published results are very dispiriting and discouraging, very disappointing and clearly unacceptable. The results as we have now don’t reflect the true performance of the students. We can’t vouch for the integrity of these results, the integrity of the results is questionable,” he said.

“We believe that systems must be put in place to ensure that independent, credible and professional examiners re-mark the scripts concerned and subject this whole process to an objective assessment whether or not the right things were done under the circumstances. There were fundamental flaws; the circumstances surrounding the whole examination; the delay in the release of the results, the marking; information available to us all point to the fact that something is fundamentally flawed with the entire process. All we are seeing now is not all there is. If we go deeper into the issues and allow independent, credible and professional examiners to remark the failed scripts, we are very confident that a lot more students will pass.”

‘Illegal and unfit’

Sammy Gyamfi reiterated the SRC’s call for the Independent Examination Body to be scrapped, stating that it does not have the mandate or competence to organize examinations in the country.

He added that the Ghana Legal Council, under which the Body operates, risks ruining the futures of the students at the school if it retains the body.

“We think that it is an amorphous and illegal body which is unfit to conduct examinations for professional legal education or any examination of any form in this country. We think they are inefficient, they are ineffective and are toying with the future of innocent students at the Ghana School of Law. It’s incumbent on the GLC, which created that body in the first place to make sure that the body is totally scrapped and that, appropriate systems are put in place to ensure that sad occurrences like this are averted in the future.”

Lectures must set their own questions

Speaking to Citi News earlier, Mr. Gyamfi had advised the school to revert to the previous system of examining students, where lecturers assessed their own students.

“Now the lecturers who teach students will set questions and mark because we have the best lecturers in Ghana, with regards to the law and the kind of courses they teach. There is no reason why lecturers should not be the once assessing the students they teach.”

“Sometimes if the person marking is the one who taught the students, it becomes really difficult evaluating the answer the student has provided in his answer booklet correctly. So it is important that they are mindful and take into consideration all these things and revert to the old system. All the best lawyers we have in the country today: Martin Amidu, Ace Ankomah, Thaddeus Sory are products of the old system,” he said.

Controversy over LI 

The development comes at a time when Parliament is debating an LI brought before it by the General Legal Council (GLC); the body that oversees the legal profession and legal education in Ghana.

The LI, if endorsed by Parliament will see the legalization of entrance examination and interview processes by the GLC for prospective law students.

The GLC insists the measures will ensure only qualified persons are admitted to produce quality lawyers in the country. However, some have suggested that the recent failure makes nonsense of the processes, and emphasizes on the need for focus to be placed on restructuring the school’s curriculum.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Re-mark scripts, scrap Exams Board – Law students demand appeared first on Ghana News.

A law lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Opoku Adusei, has described as disappointing the fact that over 80% of students who sat for the final exams of the Ghana School of Law in May 2017 failed.

He attributed the mass failure to a number of factors including the one-year Ghana School of Law programme which he said leaves students with limited time to study.

Ghana Law School

“…The statistics we have point to the fact that out of the over 500 students who sat for the exams, only 91 students passed in all 10 courses,” the school’s SRC President, Samuel Gyamfi told Citi News earlier.

The SRC, which expressed anger over the issue had earlier called for the school’s Independent Examinations Board, which conducted the exams and was responsible for the marking of the scripts, to be scrapped, describing it as a threat to legal education in Ghana, after only 91 of the over 500 students passed the exams.

The law lecturer also complained that the reduction of the number of years students spent on campus from two to one, is “a travesty of justice.”

“That decision to actually transition from the two-year classroom work which was compressed to one year was a serious travesty of justice. I had occasions where when I was in the school of law Legon, acting on behalf of the dean then, in deans meeting, it came up strongly that the decision was poorly thought through by the General Legal Council because it was not serving any purpose. You finish all the academic work in one year and unleash unto the field for a couple of months to go and do what is called internship.”

“These are internships that may not really add a lot to your study. Then you come, you are called to the bar. I think that period is a wasted period and should have been added to the classroom work. They have to think of just going back to the system that existed in the past where academic year was for two years.”

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the law lecturer also blamed the leadership of the Ghana School of Law for the mass failure rate.

He also raised concerns with the setting of questions and marking of scripts by the school’s Independent Examinations Board instead of the lecturers.

“It borders on a number of issues. When we entered law school, the system that was being run was that you knew who was setting the question because they were the people who were teaching the courses. The other bit is that since they were the ones who set the questions they were the ones who marked. So you could have that level of predictability in terms of answering the questions.”

“When we were in law school, and as it existed then, we had the courses being taken in two years. There was later, a bit of transitioning into a new arrangement, where all the courses were now being taken in a year.  If you are going by it…students basically had very short period of rest in between and all the time they had to work. So those are some of the factors which I believe might have contributed to this disastrous outcome,” he added.

Controversy over LI 

The development comes at a time when Parliament is debating an LI brought before it by the General Legal Council (GLC); the body that oversees the legal profession and legal education in Ghana.

The LI, if endorsed by Parliament will see the legalization of entrance examination and interview processes by the GLC for prospective law students.

The GLC insists the measures will ensure only qualified persons are admitted to produce quality lawyers in the country. However, some have suggested that the recent failure makes nonsense of the processes, and emphasizes on the need for focus to be placed on restructuring the school’s curriculum.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Blame 1-yr law school course for mass failure – Law lecturer appeared first on Ghana News.

The Student’s Representative Council [SRC] of the Ghana School of Law, will today [Thursday] present several petitions following the failure of over 80 percent of students in examinations taken in May 2017.

Parliament and the General Legal Council will be among the recipients of the petitions according to an SRC Vice-President, Lenin Anane Adjei.

“…and also we’ll submit a petition for students who demand their scripts to be allowed to see their scripts since past experience with the IEB [Independent Examination Board] have shown that in situations where they have made such scripts available there were some errors in the tallying of marks,” Mr. Adjei added.

These petitions will follow reports that only 91 out of over 500 students passed in all 10 courses from the exams taken in May 2017.

The students have since also questioned the credibility of the school’s Independent Examination Board (IEB).

Unreasonable re-mark fee

Mr. Adjei also expressed displeasure with the GHc 3,000 fee one has to pay for remarking.

He insisted that it was not in the best interest of legal education in the country to charge 3,000 cedis for remarking.

“We are saying that the GHc 3000 per script is a figure that is on the high side and students can simply not afford it; and so there should be a reduction in that price… we think that it is unconscionable to demand GHc 3000 per script in order to grant a remark.”

“It is in excess; telling us we cannot come for remarking at all because how many people living in the country see GHc 3,000 at the end of the year,” he asserted.

Call for independent re-marking

At a press conference on Wednesday, the students demanded that General Legal Council allow independent examiners to mark the law student’s papers.

“That re-marking, ideally, should be done within thirty days,” Mr. Adjei, told Citi News.

Though no ultimatum has been given the General Legal Council, Lenin Anane Adjei said it was imperative that the students’ examination papers were given a second eye.

“If they decided to re-mark and it is going beyond the thirty days, we do not have a problem, but the bottom line is that the General Legal Council should intervene and bring in independent examiners or give our scripts to people who are not part of the IEB.”

He noted that there will be a call to the bar in October 2018 so the student’s concerns must be addressed before then.

“…The call in October demands that between now and somewhere in June or July, students should be able to have all these things remedied so that those who after going through the system would qualify, are called to the bar.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Law students to petition Parliament, Legal Council over mass failure appeared first on Ghana News.

Former Secretary of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools [CHASS], Felix Essah, has commended the West African Examination Council [WAEC], for changing the schedule of the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination [WASSCE], from February to April.

Speaking to Citi News, Felix Essah said the decision will benefit students because it will give teachers enough time to complete the syllabus.

According to him, many school heads have also complained about not having enough time to complete their syllabus, and that the decision of moving the date forward will go a long way to help both teachers and students.

Head of the West African Examination Council, Rev. Samuel Ollennu, on Tuesday announced the change in time for the exams to April 3rd, following months of deliberation with the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders.

“We are here to inform you about the forthcoming examination, which this time around is not starting n February, but on April 3. Formerly, we were going to start in February but the government appealed to us not to”, he said.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post WAEC commended for moving WASSCE from February to April appeared first on Ghana News.

The West African Examination Council [WAEC], has said it will adopt more innovative technologies to curb examination malpractices and exam leaks.

The Council believes this is  particularly important as the number of candidates keeps increasing.

At an educational seminar for the media in Accra on Tuesday, journalists were taken through WAEC’s operational procedures, trends in examination malpractices and strategies being implemented to curb the canker, the item differentia profile software and the WAEC law.

The speakers included Reverend Ollenu, Head of National Office of WAEC; J. Vanderpuije, acting Head of test Administration Division; C. K. Osafo, Acting Head, Test Development Division; W. E. Addy-Lamptey, Head of National Exams Administration Department and Reverend V. Brew.

Reverend Ollenu, head of WAEC’s national office

The Head of National Office of WAEC, Rev. Samuel Ollennu, among other things urged journalists to be educative in their reportage on exams in the country.

He also called on them to collaborate and partner WAEC to curb exam malpractices.

WAEC cancelled five papers in the 2015 BECE: the English Language 2; Religious and Moral Education; Integrated Science; Mathematics, and Social Studies.

The cancellation followed the discovery that those papers had leaked thus compromising the integrity of the exam.

The Bureau of National Investigations [BNI], also waded into the matter to bring the culprits to book. The leaked papers were subsequently re-taken on June 29 and 30, 2015.

A total of 438,030 candidates, made up of 229,724 males and 208,306 females, took part in the examination.

About 13,434 basic schools, both public and private, took part in the examination which was written at 1,546 centres across the country.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’ll improve our detection of exam leaks, cheating – WAEC appeared first on Ghana News.

Students of the Ngleshi Amanfrom Senior High School in the GA south Municipality of the Greater Accra Region are excited that they finally have decent and adequate toilet facilities.

Before the construction of the facilities by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, the over 2,800 students had access to fewer toilet facilities, which were in a very deplorable state.

The new 12-unit facility which includes a borehole water system is part of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s sanitation (GAMA) project.

The project will ensure the construction of 259 toilets for selected schools in the region.

The GAMA Sanitation and Water Project for Ghana is meant to increase access to improved sanitation and improved water supply in the region, with emphasis on low-income communities.

The project took effect in August 2014, and is expected to end in July 2018.

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By: Michael Ogbodu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ngleshi Amanfrom SHS gets decent toilet facilities appeared first on Ghana News.

Dr. Joyce Rosalind Aryee, the Founder of Salt & Light Ministries, has urged postgraduate students of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) to be agents of great change in their respective fields, in order to spur national development.

Delivering the keynote address at the third congregation of the School of Graduate Studies and Research (SoGSaR) of the GIJ, on Friday, on the theme: “Communication as a Catalyst for National Development”, Dr. Aryee said, in order to be great catalysts for development, it was important for communications professionals to be unifiers and not dissent causers.

“…To be great catalysts, you graduating students ought to remember that you are supposed to be unifiers; you’re to be unifiers rather than people who cause dissent and chaos,” she said.

She stressed the need for communicators to strive to understand people in order to help in development, adding that, communication for development from sociological point of view, involved understanding people, their beliefs and values as well as their social and cultural norms.

She said, it was only in knowing better, who people were, what they stood for, that they could create the harmony that will lead to a society strengthened by its difference and not destroyed by them.

“My opinion is that communication processes can be used to enhance people’s capacities for understanding, negotiating and making appropriate decisions and also capable of empowering individuals and communities to take actions to improve their lives,” she said.

She said GIJ had made Ghana proud by producing a considerable number of communication experts, who have put their expertise at the service of the nation to aid the country’s development.

‘The effort being made by GIJ in this regard re-echoes Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s strong and fervent beliefs in the power of communication to bring about development’, Dr. Aryee noted, adding that, the nation’s efforts towards development through communication were tied to investments in human capital through education and training of individuals.

She emphasized that, in order for Ghana to achieve further development through communication, there was the need for quality communication experts, who could properly communicate policies, decisions and plans that were consistent with international communication trends.

‘We need to sharpen our knowledge and skills on regular basis to ensure that our country does not lack the needed manpower to enhance communication meant for our development’, she said.

Professor Kwesi Anso Kyereme, the Chairman of GIJ’s Governing Council, in his opening remarks, encouraged the graduates to let their professional communication skills be their guide.

He said, success in development was contingent on how intended beneficiaries perceived themselves, adding that, if there was no communication there was not going to be any development.

‘I will encourage you to choose the self-employment option, use your own imagination, cultivated from your critical examination of ideas and sense of communication that you have studied here; that catalyses national development’ ’, he said.

Professor Kyereme urged the graduating students to sharpen their skills on regular basis by reading extensively.

The graduation ceremony conferred Masters of Arts degrees on 178 students, who were taken through 15 months postgraduate education in four communication specialties.

Sixteen students graduated in Journalism, 70 in Public Relations, 66 in Development -Communication and 26 in Media Management.

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Source: GNA

The post Be agents of change – Joyce Aryee urges GIJ students appeared first on Ghana News.

The Acting Rector of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Dr Modestus Fosu on Thursday called for financial and logistical support from the Government and other stakeholders to aid the progress of the Institute, saying it cannot survive without aid.

He said while Ghana, and indeed, Africa’s quest to be independent of aid was laudable, the same could not be said of the GIJ, which was facing acute lack of funds.

GIJ, he said, had been beset with serious challenges over the years especially, with infrastructure and personnel.

The Institute which, is now fully-fledged tertiary institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, but has a staff strength of only 24, necessitating a dependence on part time lecturers, with its associated challenges.

The Institute’s efforts to develop its new site at Okponglo in Accra have also been thwarted over the years, as successive governments have failed to honour their promises to provide the requisite resources.

He stated that except for a solitary block, without any fittings, there was currently nothing of importance on that land, as work had come to a standstill after the exhaustion of the GETFund’s allocation for the completion of the project.

“President Nana Akufo-Addo sees Ghana beyond aid. Yes to the President! Yes, Ghana and Africa can exist without aid but this cannot be said of the GIJ, which needs support to expand,” he stated.

The Institute needs support to build more lecture halls to accommodate the expansion in its programmes and courses, to build and stock a library befitting the contemporary competitive university like the GIJ and to provide hostel facilities for students, he said.

He appealed to government and education-loving individuals, bodies, agencies and institutions to come to the GIJ’s aid.

“We, the staff of GIJ, are very ambitious and committed to working hard. We have a strong determination to build and uplift this educational institution to rival the best in Ghana, Africa and beyond.”

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Source: GNA

The post GIJ can’t survive without aid – Acting Rector appeared first on Ghana News.

The President of the West African Chapter of the University of Leicester Alumni, Jonathan Teye, has called on the government to take a critical look at virtual education and its role in national development.

Mr. Teye believes government can leverage virtual or distant education to reduce the burden on physical educational infrastructure in Ghana.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Teye stated that virtual education can complement traditional education in the production of quality human capital for the country.

“I would like to encourage the government and its agencies to look at the virtual space of learning because how many physical educational structure can we put up to accommodate the high number of graduates we are churning out every year.”

Mr. Teye highlighted the role that technology can play in improving access to transformational education.

“If the government can use available technology to improve access to quality education, we will get to a time when Ghanaians will not think of entering a lecture hall to receive the education they require.”

Jonathan Teye was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the West African Alumni Chapter of the University of Leicester.

The launch, which was organized by The University of Leicester, UK, in collaboration with IDEG-GHANA and the Ghana Alumni Chapter, was used as a networking opportunity for students and alumni from the West African Sub-region.

The launch was also used as an occasion to highlight the important role that Leicester University’s distance learning program has played in producing quality human resource for the West African sub-region.

The Managing Director of the International Distance Education Centre (IDEC), the local recruitment partner for the University of Leicester in Ghana, Emmanuel Agbodzi, also called for stronger enforcement of the law to ensure that quality standards are maintained at all tertiary institutions in the country.

“The problem in Ghana is not the availability of laws, but the enforcement of same. The law enforcement agencies shouldn’t have to wait till something untoward happens.”

Ghanaian Students currently have the opportunity to study courses such as; the Leicester MBA, MSc Finance, MSc Marketing, MSc HRM & Training, MSc Occupational Psychology of Work and many others with the University of Leicester.

The University of Leicester is one of UK’s largest providers of distance learning courses with over 1,000 new distance learners joining each year.

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By: Bobbie Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Despite announcing that its Rector, Dr. Wilberforce Sefakor Dzisah is on leave, the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has advertised the position, calling on qualified persons to apply.

The Rector, according to GIJ, proceeded on a “voluntary annual leave” in December 2017, following allegations of infractions in procurement practices and other issues.

Head of Communications Department at the Institute, Dr. Modestus Fosu, was asked to serve as acting rector, whereas the acting Deputy Rector, Ebow Afful, was also asked to return to the classroom to teach and resume his role as head of department.

The Registrar of the Institute, Perry K.K OFosu, was also ordered to proceed on leave.

While it is unclear whether Dr. Dzisah has been sacked or not, GIJ has advertised three supposed vacant positions up for grabs including Rector, Deputy Rector and Deputy Registrar positions.

“GIJ seeks to employ qualified persons with the requisite academic and professional backgrounds in the key administrative positions of Rector, Deputy Rector and Deputy Registrar,” the advert in the Daily Graphic Newspaper on Monday, February, 26, 2018 added.

Meanwhile, attempts to get further details on the advertisement have proved futile.

The ad in the Daily Graphic

Dr. Wilberforce Dzisah was appointed Rector of GIJ in September 2014 succeeding David Newtown, who retired on August 31, 2014.

Before his appointment, Dr. Dzisah was the Vice-Rector of the Institute.

He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Communications and Social Science in the Institute.

EOCO invited to assist with investigations at GIJ

The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), according to the State newspaper, Daily Graphic in its February 13, 2018 publication, was invited to assist with investigations related to alleged procurement infractions by the management of GIJ under the leadership of Dr. Wilberforce Dzisah as Rector.

The newspaper said the Governing Council of GIJ, chaired by Professor Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh, invited EOCO to assist in the investigations.

“A letter dated February 7, 2017 signed by the GIJ Council Chairman to EOCO indicated that the council was investigating the operation of the institute from September 2014 to date. The letter stated that the EOCO was to assist, including forensic audit, in establishing any short-comings that might have caused the institute to lose property or finances and, if any, their prompt retrieval. According to the letter, the GIJ Council is principally interested in any role and actions, criminal or otherwise, some persons might have played, or indulged in, to lead to loss or wrongdoing during the period.”

According to the Daily Graphic, those mentioned in the letter were Dr. Wilberforce Dzisah, Rector, since 2013, and currently on leave, Dr. Ebo Afful, Acting Vice Rector until January 31, 2018; Perry P.K. Ofosu, Registrar, who is currently on leave; and Akwasi Sekyere Boateng, Procurement Officer who is still at post, and any other member of faculty or staff.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post GIJ advertises on-leave Rector’s position appeared first on Ghana News.

Over 100 basic school science teachers in the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly in the Central Region have attended a two-day intensive capacity building training exercise on how to simplify and improve the teaching of Science for students in the classroom.

The initiative carried out by Dr. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, a Science Lecturer and Senior Research Scientist at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute, is to help curb the seeming decline of the quality of science education in the Mfantseman Municipality.

The Central Region, once known for its academic excellence, saw its students performing poorly at the basic level in the 2017 Basic Education Certification Examination (BECE).

The development saw the Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan assemble all education directors in the region, as well as other education actors to brainstorm for solutions.

The meeting identified a significant decline in the areas of mathematics and science education with the participants suggesting steps to address it.

Dr. Nana Ama Browne Klutse bemoaned the decline of science education in schools and said, “…modern development in various areas is at a high pace mainly due to development in science and technology…”.

She told Citi News that “we are particular about science because science is going down in Ghana. So we want teachers to be cautious when they are teaching the subject. We want to help them know words to use and avoid during science lessons in order not to discourage students. When they get to know these simple approaches to the subject, students will come to terms that science is what they need to go for. So we want help these teachers to teach science in a manner that makes the subject a program of choice at the basic level”.

Dr. Nana Ama Browne Klutse. who is receiving support from the Ghanaman Education Trust, added that “teaching science well can nurture that curiosity in children, can satisfy some of that yearning to understand the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ in nature. Teachers can help change the idea in students that science is an area to avoid”.

The Mfantseman Municipal Education Director Martha Acquah expressed her appreciation for the initiative and noted that the move will go a long way to improving the fortunes of science students in their final exams.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Mfantseman: Science teachers trained in effective teaching methods appeared first on Ghana News.

The Municipal Director of Education for the Mfantseman Assembly in the Central Region, Martha Acquah, has bemoaned the cessation in the supply of government textbooks to basic schools in her municipality.

According to her, the situation is greatly impeding the student’s academic performance, especially in their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

She made the complaint when Ghanaian scientist, Dr. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, held a two-day training for science teachers at Saltpond with support from Ghanaman Education Trust to equip the teachers with skills for effective teaching.

Martha Acquah, who said the cessation in supply of the textbooks is not peculiar to her municipality, explained that “in terms of logistics, we do not have books. As for registers and notebooks and exercise books, they come but not in great quantity, especially the exercise books. But at least students can have 2 or 4 each. In terms of textbooks, we do not have them. For a long time the government has not been supplying us the textbooks. What we have in the schools are already too old and torn. So we cannot make any good use of them”.

She added that, “[with] science for example, the municipality does not have the books, just a few and it is part of the reason science is going down in the municipality and the region as a whole. We have to use the textbooks, but very often teachers have had to copy the notes on the board for them. Some of the students do not even copy the notes no matter how hard some teachers try”.

 Citi News understands that the Central Regional Minister assembled all education directors and other stakeholders in the region when results from the BECE results for 2017 painted a gloomy picture.

Mrs. Martha Acquah mentioned that the Municipal Chief Executive for Mfantseman, Kenneth Kelly Essuman, has promised to provide some funds for textbooks for the schools.

“The MCE is ready to support. How soon I cannot tell. But he has promised to do something for us. Maybe putting aside some of their Internally Generated Funds IGF to see if it can acquire some books for the schools”.

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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Mfantseman: Education director bemoans lack of text books appeared first on Ghana News.

Education Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has said that the University of Ghana risk being privatized if it fails to meet its obligations in a $64 million agreement it entered into with a private company, Africa Integras.

The Minister, who said this in an interview with Peace FM’s Kwame Sefa Kayi indicated that the University under the previous government, entered into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Africa Integras to invest US$64 million in the construction of 1,000 new students’ hostel beds for undergraduate and post-graduate students at the Legon campus.

The project was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract.

Mr. Prempeh however indicated that the school had in recent times defaulted in the payment – a situation he believes could lead to the school’s assets being seized.

“University of Ghana might be put up for sale because it entered into an agreement and the school is unable to abide by the terms and conditions of the contract. Under this contract, Legon is expected to pay 10 million dollars every year for 25 years. If Legon is unable to settle this loan, its assets will be seized,” said the Minister.

The Minister also clarified that the agreement was not signed under the current government, adding that the school failed to hold consultations with the government at the time before sealing the deal.

“They went for a $64 million loan for the construction of some hostel beds for undergraduate and post graduate students and they failed to inform government about this loan. They did not tell government anything” he claimed.

UTAG defends UG’s move

Also speaking on Point Blank, the Local President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Henry Agbanu, disagreed with the Minister’s position, explaining that once the school was not receiving financial support from government, it had no option than resort to loan agreements from external sources.

“We know that because of the infrastructure challenges facing the University, and the University has been struggling to find ways to solve problem. Remember that the University is a public institution which should be funded by government but over the years government funding to the universities have dwindled.”

“So far, all that government does is to pay emoluments of workers. No capital investment; no administrative cost, nothing; and so universities are left to struggle and cope with the problems they have. At a point at the University of Ghana, there were about six, seven students in a room and it was an eyesore when you came to the campus and you went to the students’ room, you will never want your child to be educated in such an environment so the University in its wisdom thought it will be necessary to build hostels for students to occupy.”

Mr. Agbanu further indicated that the school is holding talks with key stakeholders to find viable means of meeting requirements for the agreement. He therefore slammed the Education Minister, saying it was inappropriate for him to take up a matter that is being discussed behind closed-doors to the media.

In his view, the Minister appears to be interested in scoring political points with a rather sensitive issue.

Former UG Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aryeetey

Prof. Aryeetey denies fraud claims in $64m UG deal

In 2017, this same agreement came up for discussion after the former Vice Chancellor of UG, Prof Aryeetey, was accused of failing to do due diligence when the deal was signed under his tenure.

He however rubbished these claims, explaining that UG had gone through all the right procedures before signing the agreement with the company.

Professor Aryeetey insisted the processes leading up to the signing of the agreement with Integras were transparent, with all relevant stakeholders being kept informed of all developments.

“There is no scandal at all in relation to the $64.4 million contract. Africa Integras signed an agreement that they were supposed to spend that money. As far as I know, by the time the project stopped, they had spent about $28 million. How does a phony company come and spend $28 million? You can see the buildings coming up and yet it has been written that I have signed an agreement with a phony company. We haven’t spent any money ourselves, it’s the ‘phony’ company that’s spending the money; how does a phony company put up buildings?,” Professor Aryeetey asked.

He also dismissed assertions that that he had received financial inducements to allow the project to proceed.

“I can assure the public that nothing untoward took place. The processes that were followed were very transparent. It’s being suggested that there was something corrupt, but there’s no such thing. I was never offered any money by any of the persons we dealt with. I have never asked for anything nor have I taken money from anybody in relation to this or any other project. Any suggestions of wrongdoing will be completely misplaced.”

The project was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post UG could be ‘auctioned’ over $64m deal – NAPO warns appeared first on Ghana News.

A 14-member governing board to steer the affairs of the Tanyigbe Senior High School in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region has been inaugurated at a ceremony that took place at the school.

The board, chaired by Dr. Kenneth Fafa Egbadzor, a pioneer student and a researcher of plant genetics has a three-year tenure, and among others, it would oversee the running of the school and the implementation of policies and other developmental plans.

Members of the board include Rev. John Ahorgah, Mr. Francis Yao Agbavitor, Mr. Mathias Tengey and Ms. Barbara Wutor.

Others are Mr Yao Xetor, Mr James Lebene, Ms. Diana-Ross Akoi, Mr. Paul Kwami Dorgbetor and Mr. Mawuli Gbortsu, with a representative each from the municipal and regional directorate of education.

Tanyigbe-new-board inauguration

The Paramount Chief of the traditional area, Togbe Kodi Adiko VI, who graced the occasion with his sub-chiefs and elders, encouraged the new board to work hard and build on the efforts of previous boards to bring about sustainable transformation to the school.

He urged the board to endeavour to address the perennial water problem as it is one of the very pressing needs of the school. He pledged his unflinching support to the board and wished them well.

Speaking on behalf of the board, Dr. Egbadzor thanked the school authorities and the chiefs and elders of the town for their vote of confidence in them, and expressed their readiness to do their best for the development of the school.

He said the board would count on the support of the people towards a successful tenure, adding that they would draw inspiration from the people.

The headmistress of the school, Madam Diana-Ross Akoi, said the school has seen a steady improvement over the years, saying the 2017 WASSCCE result is a confirmation, as the school attained 100% passes with good grades in various subjects.

Tanyigbe-new-board

She recalled that the school started in 1991 through the tireless efforts of Togbe Kwasi Adiko V, then Paramount Chief of Tanyigbe. She said in spite of the great progress over the years, the school faces some challenges such as limited staff bungalows, administration block, lack of ultra-modern science laboratory, inadequate classroom blocks, unavailability of water storage system, inadequate boarding facilities and lack of school fence among others.

Moving forward, the headmistress said she is hopeful that the numerous challenges would be appropriately dealt with.

The outgoing board chairman, Mr. Victor Akude, said he was convinced that the new team would work hard to complete ongoing projects on schedule and have time to initiate new ones.

He also appealed to the GETFUND to speed up on-going projects to bring relief to the school to promote quality teaching and learning.

In a statement read on his behalf, the acting Volta Regional Director of Education commended the school authorities for putting the board together.

He encouraged the members to have time and be committed to the school, and also have a right disposition to die a little for a genuine course.

Senior citizens of Tanyigbe were also present to give their support as has been the case over the years. At the ceremony was Major General Henry K Anyidoho (Rtd), the Development Chief of Tanyigbe and Professor Kofi Anyidoho.

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By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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