26-09-09
THE Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, has called for an effective public-private partnership in the delivery of health care in the country.
That, he said, was to complement the government’s efforts in health care.
Dr Sory made the call when he inaugurated a health facility at New Bortianor, off the Malam-Kasoa road.
The facility, Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre, provides medical services in general surgery, general medicine, radiology, dental services, obstetrics and gynaecology and assisted reproduction technology, including invitro fertilisation.
The 55-bed facility has two theatres, four consulting rooms, seven executive rooms, 14 double-bed rooms, a twin double room, a nursery, a pharmacy and a state-of-the-art embryology laboratory, among other facilities.
Dr Sory, who represented the Vice President, Mr John Mahama, said the provision of health care was very important to the citizenry, thus the need for the private sector to provide support in the provision of health care facilities to cater for the needs of the population.
He emphasised the need for quality health care, saying that “every life counts”.
Dr Sory who commended the owners of the hospital for providing such a facility, stressed the need for the staff to follow the standards and guidelines of the Ministry of Health in their operations.
“We want people to invest in the health sector. We should not wait for government to put up facilities,” he said.
He urged private health care providers to move into the areas of specialised health service to ease the pressure on government’s facilities.
The Executive Director and Co-Founder of the hospital, Mr Francis Owusu, said the facilities were put up in the area based on the frequency of accidents on the Accra-Cape Coast road.
He said there were future plans for expansion, and urged the government to grant tax exemption on the importation of health equipment.
Another co-founder of the hospital, Mrs Mary Owusu, said the aim of the owners was to provide first class independent health care for people in and outside the community.
The Clinical Director of the hospital, Mr Ellis Fleischer-Djoleto, said the services at the facility were quite affordable and urged Ghanaians to take advantage of the facility.
A former Director General of the GHS, Prof. Agyeman Badu-Akosa, who chaired the function, said the facility would help relieve the burden of overstretched hospitals and clinics in Accra.
He congratulated the management of the hospital, and indicated that it was strategically located.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Govt takes measures to address fuel shortage
Front Page
29-09-09
THE government has opened letters of credit and secured payment arrangements for the supply of crude oil to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) in two weeks, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Kwabena Donkor, has announced.
"We have opened the letters of credit and payment is guaranteed," he said.
Dr Donkor, who made this known at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said under the arrangement, the crude oil would be supplied to TOR through private sector players who were expected to buy from licensed crude oil dealers on the international market.
He said it was not only this year that the refinery had not imported crude but that the company had since September 2008 not imported crude.
He expressed the hope that once TOR took delivery of the first cargo of crude, the pressure on the other suppliers to bring in finished products would be reduced.
Over the past couple of months, TOR has been facing some serious challenges with respect to financial capacity and the procurement of crude oil.
Commenting on the issue of gasoline supply, Dr Donkor said the situation had improved tremendously and that over the weekend TOR and the Accra Plains Depot had to work overtime.
On Sunday, he said, they pumped 4.7 million litres of gasoline onto the market.
Earlier on Saturday, Dr Donkor said one million litres had been sent to the market, adding, “We have sent enough gasoline onto the market to meet demand.”
“We had a hiccup with the arrival of a vessel to bring the gasoline. A new vessel was brought in under emergency cargo which brought 4,000 metric tonnes of gasoline,” he emphasised, adding that he did not expect to have any problem.
Dr Donkor said it took a little time for tankers to get to other parts of the country and assured people in other parts of the country of supplies by the end of yesterday.
He noted that more than 10 oil marketing companies (OMCs) who owed TOR GH¢50 million would not get supplies until they regularised the payment of what they owed.
He said with regard to the TOR debt, the government wanted to do a comprehensive job to put the company in a better position to deliver.
Part of the measures taken, he said, was the appointment of transaction advisers, Ecobank Development Corporation and Ecobank Ghana Limited, to assist in restructuring the TOR debt.
He said the government inherited problems in the energy sector which it was investigating and that once it concluded investigations, it would come out with its findings.
Dr Donkor made mention of a $35 million contract given to an individual using two different companies to undertake a rural electrification programme, adding that the contract to undertake the project did not go through the right process.
On crude oil from Nigeria and Libya, he said the government was on course in getting the oil and that what people should understand was that government-to-government negotiations, even after they had been signed, had to be programmed.
“Every country producing crude oil has a programme. They know where the quantity they produce for each quarter goes. If they bring you on board, they then programme you for the next quarter,” he explained, adding that a technical team would be sent to Nigeria this week, as there were issues that bordered on the agreement.
Dr Donkor said what was left now was for the technical people to come up with the details.
In a related development, a 13-member delegation from Trinidad and Tobago is in the country to discuss ways through which that country can work with the government to develop the oil and gas industry.
Areas of co-operation they will deliberate on include technology transfer, application of modern technology, energy business development and investment in the energy sector.
Interacting with Dr Donkor in Accra on Monday, the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mrs Victoria Charles Mendez Charles, said her country was not only interested in strengthening the relationship between the two countries but also assisting Ghana to develop the oil and gas sector with the discovery of oil in the country.
She said although Trinidad and Tobago had been successful in the oil and gas industry, it had not been all that smooth.
She said the delegation was in the country to sell to Ghana how Trinidad and Tobago was able to overcome the challenges and pitfalls it faced in the sector.
She said her country valued local content in the oil and gas industry, and that "this will be a key part of discussions with officials in Ghana, since local content is very important in building the sector”.
Dr Donkor, for his part, said the country was determined to make oil and gas a blessing and would do everything to ensure that wealth was created in the industry.
"We want to see oil and gas as a blessing and we are determined to make a difference," he said, adding that the government would create the platform that would catapult the country in the area of oil and gas.
Dr Donkor said the country wanted to learn and share experiences from Trinidad and Tobago.
The delegation will be in the country for about a week.
29-09-09
THE government has opened letters of credit and secured payment arrangements for the supply of crude oil to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) in two weeks, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Kwabena Donkor, has announced.
"We have opened the letters of credit and payment is guaranteed," he said.
Dr Donkor, who made this known at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said under the arrangement, the crude oil would be supplied to TOR through private sector players who were expected to buy from licensed crude oil dealers on the international market.
He said it was not only this year that the refinery had not imported crude but that the company had since September 2008 not imported crude.
He expressed the hope that once TOR took delivery of the first cargo of crude, the pressure on the other suppliers to bring in finished products would be reduced.
Over the past couple of months, TOR has been facing some serious challenges with respect to financial capacity and the procurement of crude oil.
Commenting on the issue of gasoline supply, Dr Donkor said the situation had improved tremendously and that over the weekend TOR and the Accra Plains Depot had to work overtime.
On Sunday, he said, they pumped 4.7 million litres of gasoline onto the market.
Earlier on Saturday, Dr Donkor said one million litres had been sent to the market, adding, “We have sent enough gasoline onto the market to meet demand.”
“We had a hiccup with the arrival of a vessel to bring the gasoline. A new vessel was brought in under emergency cargo which brought 4,000 metric tonnes of gasoline,” he emphasised, adding that he did not expect to have any problem.
Dr Donkor said it took a little time for tankers to get to other parts of the country and assured people in other parts of the country of supplies by the end of yesterday.
He noted that more than 10 oil marketing companies (OMCs) who owed TOR GH¢50 million would not get supplies until they regularised the payment of what they owed.
He said with regard to the TOR debt, the government wanted to do a comprehensive job to put the company in a better position to deliver.
Part of the measures taken, he said, was the appointment of transaction advisers, Ecobank Development Corporation and Ecobank Ghana Limited, to assist in restructuring the TOR debt.
He said the government inherited problems in the energy sector which it was investigating and that once it concluded investigations, it would come out with its findings.
Dr Donkor made mention of a $35 million contract given to an individual using two different companies to undertake a rural electrification programme, adding that the contract to undertake the project did not go through the right process.
On crude oil from Nigeria and Libya, he said the government was on course in getting the oil and that what people should understand was that government-to-government negotiations, even after they had been signed, had to be programmed.
“Every country producing crude oil has a programme. They know where the quantity they produce for each quarter goes. If they bring you on board, they then programme you for the next quarter,” he explained, adding that a technical team would be sent to Nigeria this week, as there were issues that bordered on the agreement.
Dr Donkor said what was left now was for the technical people to come up with the details.
In a related development, a 13-member delegation from Trinidad and Tobago is in the country to discuss ways through which that country can work with the government to develop the oil and gas industry.
Areas of co-operation they will deliberate on include technology transfer, application of modern technology, energy business development and investment in the energy sector.
Interacting with Dr Donkor in Accra on Monday, the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mrs Victoria Charles Mendez Charles, said her country was not only interested in strengthening the relationship between the two countries but also assisting Ghana to develop the oil and gas sector with the discovery of oil in the country.
She said although Trinidad and Tobago had been successful in the oil and gas industry, it had not been all that smooth.
She said the delegation was in the country to sell to Ghana how Trinidad and Tobago was able to overcome the challenges and pitfalls it faced in the sector.
She said her country valued local content in the oil and gas industry, and that "this will be a key part of discussions with officials in Ghana, since local content is very important in building the sector”.
Dr Donkor, for his part, said the country was determined to make oil and gas a blessing and would do everything to ensure that wealth was created in the industry.
"We want to see oil and gas as a blessing and we are determined to make a difference," he said, adding that the government would create the platform that would catapult the country in the area of oil and gas.
Dr Donkor said the country wanted to learn and share experiences from Trinidad and Tobago.
The delegation will be in the country for about a week.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Ducth government injects more funds into school feeding programme
25-09-09
Bacp Page
THE Dutch Government has released GH¢ 12,835,473 for the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFC).
The Dutch Government has also approved the final audit report of the School Feeding Programme for the financial year 2008.
According to a letter signed by Mr Michiel Pierkens, the Head of Development Co-operation of the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, the money was for the funding of the financial year 2009.
The letter dated September 15, 2009, said the money was to be used for the purchase of locally-grown cooking commodities for the School Feeding Programme.
“I am also happy to inform you of the embassy’s transer of an amount of GH¢ 12,835,473 to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, to continue with the Ghana School Feeding Programme,” the letter addressed to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development said.
The re-opening of basic schools last week was characterised by confusion in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the then National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
While Mr Vanderpuije blamed the problem on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated, Mr Nsowah deplored the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
Bacp Page
THE Dutch Government has released GH¢ 12,835,473 for the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFC).
The Dutch Government has also approved the final audit report of the School Feeding Programme for the financial year 2008.
According to a letter signed by Mr Michiel Pierkens, the Head of Development Co-operation of the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, the money was for the funding of the financial year 2009.
The letter dated September 15, 2009, said the money was to be used for the purchase of locally-grown cooking commodities for the School Feeding Programme.
“I am also happy to inform you of the embassy’s transer of an amount of GH¢ 12,835,473 to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, to continue with the Ghana School Feeding Programme,” the letter addressed to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development said.
The re-opening of basic schools last week was characterised by confusion in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the then National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
While Mr Vanderpuije blamed the problem on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated, Mr Nsowah deplored the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
School land encroached upon
19-09-09
More than half of the land earmarked for the construction of the new site of the Christian Methodist Senior High School at Aplaku in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region has been encroached upon.
Out of the 246 acres earmarked for the school’s project, only 80 acres is left, and that is also currently being encroached upon.
This came to light when the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, and some officials of the GES paid a visit to the school yesterday.
The school authorities have, therefore, called on the Ministry of Education and the GES to expedite action to reclaim the lands encroached upon and stop developments being undertaken on the land.
At the school’s site, it was realised that private developers had put up buildings right behind the administration block and between the girls’ dormitory which was more than 100 metres away. Along the route were many buildings which were at various stages of completion.
Workers were also seen busily working on some structures at the time of the visit. One of the workers who gave his name as R.K. Wiafe, said he was not the owner of the building but executing the work for the owner who was abroad.
Briefing the Director-General and his team, the Chairman of the parent-teacher association (PTA), Mr Henry D.L. Yartey, said the land was acquired through Executive Instrument (29) of 1976 by the government for the GES and to be used as the new site for the school and the Kaneshie Secondary Technical School (KATECO).
He said shortly after the acquisition of the land, the chief of the area died, and since then, there had been conflicts there, thereby making it impossible for the government to pay compensation.
“Money could not be paid to any of the contesting parties since it was not sure who the real chief was. As a result of that the indiscriminate sale of land by other personalities and landguards began”, he said, and indicated that none of the encroachers had the proper documentation on the land.
Mr Yartey underscored the need for immediate action to be taken by the government to protect the land since it would be too late if that did not happen.
Landguards, he said, who were engaged in the sale of the land tormented the authorities of the school if they tried to stop them from their illegal activities.
Mr Yartey said apart from the construction of an administration block, classrooms, dormitories, dining hall, library, laboratory and a chapel, there were plans for the construction of pre-school and a junior high school to feed the senior high school.
The school presently, he said, did not have a playing field as a result of the encroachment.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah, for his part said, “we would go back and re-strategise by getting the sector minister informed”.
He was surprised at the turn of events and said, “action would be taken immediately to stop the new developers from completing their structures.
Later in a message to the students, he assured them of addressing the problem being faced in the school, especially with regard to land encroachment, adding that they should take advantage of the existing facilities to develop themselves.
The headmaster of the school, Mr Alfred Tackie, said the school had since the commencement of the 2009/2010 academic year been relocated from Asylum Down in Accra to Aplaku in the Ga South Municipality.
He said the girls dormitory had now been converted into classrooms for the current Form 2 and 3 students, and hinted that more than 450 students were expected to be admitted this year.
A teacher of the school, Mr Hypolite Luuse, welcomed the relocation of the school from Accra, saying that the perennial flooding of the school had been a source of worry to both students and staff.
The GES Director-General was accompanied by the Financial Controller of the GES, Mr Charles Otoo; the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Mrs Ernestina Afosah-Anim; the Ga South Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Florence Addo; the Accra Metropolitan Director of Education, Nii Okaidja Dinsey, and the acting board chairman of the school, Nana Appeadu Ammoanor I.
More than half of the land earmarked for the construction of the new site of the Christian Methodist Senior High School at Aplaku in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region has been encroached upon.
Out of the 246 acres earmarked for the school’s project, only 80 acres is left, and that is also currently being encroached upon.
This came to light when the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, and some officials of the GES paid a visit to the school yesterday.
The school authorities have, therefore, called on the Ministry of Education and the GES to expedite action to reclaim the lands encroached upon and stop developments being undertaken on the land.
At the school’s site, it was realised that private developers had put up buildings right behind the administration block and between the girls’ dormitory which was more than 100 metres away. Along the route were many buildings which were at various stages of completion.
Workers were also seen busily working on some structures at the time of the visit. One of the workers who gave his name as R.K. Wiafe, said he was not the owner of the building but executing the work for the owner who was abroad.
Briefing the Director-General and his team, the Chairman of the parent-teacher association (PTA), Mr Henry D.L. Yartey, said the land was acquired through Executive Instrument (29) of 1976 by the government for the GES and to be used as the new site for the school and the Kaneshie Secondary Technical School (KATECO).
He said shortly after the acquisition of the land, the chief of the area died, and since then, there had been conflicts there, thereby making it impossible for the government to pay compensation.
“Money could not be paid to any of the contesting parties since it was not sure who the real chief was. As a result of that the indiscriminate sale of land by other personalities and landguards began”, he said, and indicated that none of the encroachers had the proper documentation on the land.
Mr Yartey underscored the need for immediate action to be taken by the government to protect the land since it would be too late if that did not happen.
Landguards, he said, who were engaged in the sale of the land tormented the authorities of the school if they tried to stop them from their illegal activities.
Mr Yartey said apart from the construction of an administration block, classrooms, dormitories, dining hall, library, laboratory and a chapel, there were plans for the construction of pre-school and a junior high school to feed the senior high school.
The school presently, he said, did not have a playing field as a result of the encroachment.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah, for his part said, “we would go back and re-strategise by getting the sector minister informed”.
He was surprised at the turn of events and said, “action would be taken immediately to stop the new developers from completing their structures.
Later in a message to the students, he assured them of addressing the problem being faced in the school, especially with regard to land encroachment, adding that they should take advantage of the existing facilities to develop themselves.
The headmaster of the school, Mr Alfred Tackie, said the school had since the commencement of the 2009/2010 academic year been relocated from Asylum Down in Accra to Aplaku in the Ga South Municipality.
He said the girls dormitory had now been converted into classrooms for the current Form 2 and 3 students, and hinted that more than 450 students were expected to be admitted this year.
A teacher of the school, Mr Hypolite Luuse, welcomed the relocation of the school from Accra, saying that the perennial flooding of the school had been a source of worry to both students and staff.
The GES Director-General was accompanied by the Financial Controller of the GES, Mr Charles Otoo; the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Mrs Ernestina Afosah-Anim; the Ga South Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Florence Addo; the Accra Metropolitan Director of Education, Nii Okaidja Dinsey, and the acting board chairman of the school, Nana Appeadu Ammoanor I.
'Pool Resources to Publish Academic Books'
23--09-09
Spread
THE Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, has called on governments in the West African sub-region to pool resources to undertake academic publishing of books.
That, he said, was to help in addressing the cost of publishing such books.
He made the call today when he launched the fourth edition of a book titled Principles and Practice of Surgery including Pathology in the Tropics in Accra.
The 1,446-page book is edited by Prof. Emeritus E.A. Badoe, a former Head of the Department of Surgery of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS).
The book, which treats the Basic Sciences, Surgical Pathology, General Surgery, Surgical Specialities, Orthopaedics, Trauma, among others, is a contribution of 53 experts who have had many years of surgical practice in the tropics from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Papua New Guinea.
Prof. Yankah expressed the hope that the new edition of the book had incorporated findings from new learning experiences by the writers and other scholars, "since every academic field is dynamic and is subject to changes in approach and techniques over very short periods".
"What I regret though is the relative paucity of well-recognised academic publishing houses in the area of book publishers. One indeed appreciates local medical journals such as the Ghana Medical Journal, West African Journal of Medicine, West African Journal of Anatomy, Research Letters, etc. Beyond these we need academic publishing houses for books," he said.
In address read on his behalf, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, congratulated the editors and those who contributed to the publication of the book.
"My brief perusal of this excellent production convinces me that the revision exercise has been thorough, practically sparing no section with some chapters being entirely re-written," he said, and indicated that the ministry would procure copies for government hospitals throughout the 150 districts in the country.
He said the new information on surgical infections, including hospital infections, direct observation therapy in tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS in surgical practice, leprosy, wound healing, shock, burns, surgical nutrition, among others, were "the state of the art information material here in Ghana, Africa and elsewhere".
A co-editor of the book, Prof. E.Q. Archampong, who is also a former Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School, said new concepts and trends in diagnosis and management of a wide range of conditions had been highlighted in the various fields of surgery.
He said the review process had been thorough and systematic.
The Chairman of the Book Development Committee, Prof. E.D. Yeboah, said the book embodied the spirit, philosophy, ethics, knowledge, service delivery, practice and teaching and research in surgery.
Spread
THE Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, has called on governments in the West African sub-region to pool resources to undertake academic publishing of books.
That, he said, was to help in addressing the cost of publishing such books.
He made the call today when he launched the fourth edition of a book titled Principles and Practice of Surgery including Pathology in the Tropics in Accra.
The 1,446-page book is edited by Prof. Emeritus E.A. Badoe, a former Head of the Department of Surgery of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS).
The book, which treats the Basic Sciences, Surgical Pathology, General Surgery, Surgical Specialities, Orthopaedics, Trauma, among others, is a contribution of 53 experts who have had many years of surgical practice in the tropics from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Papua New Guinea.
Prof. Yankah expressed the hope that the new edition of the book had incorporated findings from new learning experiences by the writers and other scholars, "since every academic field is dynamic and is subject to changes in approach and techniques over very short periods".
"What I regret though is the relative paucity of well-recognised academic publishing houses in the area of book publishers. One indeed appreciates local medical journals such as the Ghana Medical Journal, West African Journal of Medicine, West African Journal of Anatomy, Research Letters, etc. Beyond these we need academic publishing houses for books," he said.
In address read on his behalf, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, congratulated the editors and those who contributed to the publication of the book.
"My brief perusal of this excellent production convinces me that the revision exercise has been thorough, practically sparing no section with some chapters being entirely re-written," he said, and indicated that the ministry would procure copies for government hospitals throughout the 150 districts in the country.
He said the new information on surgical infections, including hospital infections, direct observation therapy in tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS in surgical practice, leprosy, wound healing, shock, burns, surgical nutrition, among others, were "the state of the art information material here in Ghana, Africa and elsewhere".
A co-editor of the book, Prof. E.Q. Archampong, who is also a former Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School, said new concepts and trends in diagnosis and management of a wide range of conditions had been highlighted in the various fields of surgery.
He said the review process had been thorough and systematic.
The Chairman of the Book Development Committee, Prof. E.D. Yeboah, said the book embodied the spirit, philosophy, ethics, knowledge, service delivery, practice and teaching and research in surgery.
Nsowah Removed
23-09-09
Page 31
FORMER Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Michael Nsowah, has been relieved of his appointment as the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP).
The termination of appointment took effect from yesterday, September 22, 2009.
Mr Nsowah, 63, confirmed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday.
According to him, no reason was assigned for his dismissal in his termination letter signed by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yileh Chireh.
The government has, however, explained that the termination of the appointment was to inject fresh ideas into making the implementation of the programme a success.
Mr Chireh said the fact that the contract engaging Mr Nsowah was due to expire next July did not bind the government to go by the dictates of the contract.
He believed that the GSFP had reached a stage where the abundant experiences and knowledge of other Ghanaians could be tapped and brought to bear on the running of the programme.
The termination of the contract comes two years after the dismissal of his predecessor, Dr Amoako Tuffour, following reports of financial impropriety and other allegations levelled against him by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) and investigated by the previous administration.
Mr Nsowah said the letter directed him to hand over to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, adding that the letter of termination requested him to take his annual leave, which ends on October 31, 2009.
Mr Nsowah said he was given a two-year contract,
which was supposed to end in July next year.
He said he was not sure of what led to the termination of his appointment.
The re-opening of basic schools last week was characterised by confusion in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
While Mr Vanderpuije blamed the problem on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated, Mr Nsowah deplored the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
Page 31
FORMER Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Michael Nsowah, has been relieved of his appointment as the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP).
The termination of appointment took effect from yesterday, September 22, 2009.
Mr Nsowah, 63, confirmed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday.
According to him, no reason was assigned for his dismissal in his termination letter signed by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yileh Chireh.
The government has, however, explained that the termination of the appointment was to inject fresh ideas into making the implementation of the programme a success.
Mr Chireh said the fact that the contract engaging Mr Nsowah was due to expire next July did not bind the government to go by the dictates of the contract.
He believed that the GSFP had reached a stage where the abundant experiences and knowledge of other Ghanaians could be tapped and brought to bear on the running of the programme.
The termination of the contract comes two years after the dismissal of his predecessor, Dr Amoako Tuffour, following reports of financial impropriety and other allegations levelled against him by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) and investigated by the previous administration.
Mr Nsowah said the letter directed him to hand over to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, adding that the letter of termination requested him to take his annual leave, which ends on October 31, 2009.
Mr Nsowah said he was given a two-year contract,
which was supposed to end in July next year.
He said he was not sure of what led to the termination of his appointment.
The re-opening of basic schools last week was characterised by confusion in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
While Mr Vanderpuije blamed the problem on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated, Mr Nsowah deplored the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Ghana to export palm oil to China
14-09-09
GHANA is to export 36,000 metric tonnes of palm oil to China next year following the conclusion of a $21.6 million deal between Chyuan Chya Ghana Limited and the China-Africa Economic Trade Limited.
The palm oil to be exported by Chyuan Chya Foods and Beverages Ghana Limited will be purchased from small and medium-scale palm oil producers in the country.
At a ceremony to formalise the trade agreement, the Chief Executive Officer of Chyuan Chya Foods and Beverages Company, Dr Lorinda L. Lan, said the contract would not only increase employment opportunities in the country, but also boost the income levels of local palm oil producers and address their marketing problems.
She said the 36,000 metric tonnes would be increased if the local producers were able to produce more, and stated that small and medium-scale producers had the capacity to produce 70 per cent of the 243,000 metric tonnes of palm oil produced in the country last year.
“If the local producers can produce more, we would increase the purchase order,” she said, and indicated that local producers would be assisted to produce more.
She said they had met some local producers in the Central and Eastern regions to see how possible they could work with them.
Dr Lan, who signed the contract on behalf of her company, said the immediate plan was to begin the shipment with 10,000 metric tonnes of palm oil by December 31, this year, and indicated that China had been looking for more palm oil elsewhere after importing the product from Malaysia for about 10 years.
Storage facilities for the produce, she said, would be built at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region to make shipment more convenient, adding that with the facility, the company would save $125,000 a month.
She said the two companies had already contacted the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on Palm Oil and the Ghana Export Promotions Council (GEPC) on the contract to export the palm oil.
The President of China-Africa Economic Trade Limited, Mr Liu Yang, who signed on behalf of his company, said with the agreement, the local palm oil industry would be expanded, thereby employing more people.
He also reiterated that “the produce order would increase if Ghana can produce more”.
The contract would also make provision for the importation of rice and sugar from China to complement what was produced locally.
GHANA is to export 36,000 metric tonnes of palm oil to China next year following the conclusion of a $21.6 million deal between Chyuan Chya Ghana Limited and the China-Africa Economic Trade Limited.
The palm oil to be exported by Chyuan Chya Foods and Beverages Ghana Limited will be purchased from small and medium-scale palm oil producers in the country.
At a ceremony to formalise the trade agreement, the Chief Executive Officer of Chyuan Chya Foods and Beverages Company, Dr Lorinda L. Lan, said the contract would not only increase employment opportunities in the country, but also boost the income levels of local palm oil producers and address their marketing problems.
She said the 36,000 metric tonnes would be increased if the local producers were able to produce more, and stated that small and medium-scale producers had the capacity to produce 70 per cent of the 243,000 metric tonnes of palm oil produced in the country last year.
“If the local producers can produce more, we would increase the purchase order,” she said, and indicated that local producers would be assisted to produce more.
She said they had met some local producers in the Central and Eastern regions to see how possible they could work with them.
Dr Lan, who signed the contract on behalf of her company, said the immediate plan was to begin the shipment with 10,000 metric tonnes of palm oil by December 31, this year, and indicated that China had been looking for more palm oil elsewhere after importing the product from Malaysia for about 10 years.
Storage facilities for the produce, she said, would be built at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region to make shipment more convenient, adding that with the facility, the company would save $125,000 a month.
She said the two companies had already contacted the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on Palm Oil and the Ghana Export Promotions Council (GEPC) on the contract to export the palm oil.
The President of China-Africa Economic Trade Limited, Mr Liu Yang, who signed on behalf of his company, said with the agreement, the local palm oil industry would be expanded, thereby employing more people.
He also reiterated that “the produce order would increase if Ghana can produce more”.
The contract would also make provision for the importation of rice and sugar from China to complement what was produced locally.
‘Work towards peace in Bawku’
17-09-09
THE Executive Director of the African Peacebuilding Club, Mr Salam Ramani has appealed to the people of the Bawku municipality to work towards sustaining peace in the area.
“I am appealing to all the people of Bawku, irrespective of their political, tribal and religious background to come together so that we can have lasting peace. Let’s see ourselves as brothers and sisters and work for the common good of the area,” he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
He said there was the need for the provision of adequate security in a every part of the municipality to ensure that the people went about their day-to-day activities peacefully.
Mr Ramani commended security personnel dispatched to the area, since without them, the situation would have escalated, adding that there was more to be done in terms of arresting those who ambushed people.
Regular patrols by the military and police, he said, were needed in the villages and ??various leading to the markets and communities.???
He, however, urged the personnel to do their work as professionals and arrest the perpetrators, no matter their political affiliation or tribe.
He said the integration of people in the area was of utmost importance, and that “we can’t have peace and development if we do not talk to our opponents”.
Mr Ramani indicated that the killing of people in Bawku did not speak well of the municipality, and that every single life was precious since it was through unity of purpose they could come together to develop the area.
“The Sunday, September 6, 2009 killing of Rufai Sumani was the latest in the series of attacks on innocent lives which needs to be stopped immediately,” he said.
He urged the Members of Parliament for the area to implement their campaign promises of ensuring lasting peace in area since they have a responsibility to the people.
“The MPs have a responsibility to impress upon the Government to provide logistics for the security agencies in the area. The MPs know the constituencies and have direct contact with some of the constituents who could provide vital information that could bring about peace in the area,” he said.
Mr Ramani lauded the National Peace Council for its timely intervention through the organisation of workshop on the need for the people to embrace peace and stop fighting.
“I hope that they will do well to get other civil society organisations who are into peacebuilding on board,” he said, and indicated that there was the need for sustained peace campaigns that would ensure peace in the area.
He, therefore, stressed the need for chiefs, elders, opinion leaders and religious leaders to take up the responsibility of sensitising the people, especially the youth not to allow themselves to used by persons seeking to destabilise the municipality.
Mr Ramani suggested that such sensitisation programmes be held at least three times a week in churches, schools, mosques, homes and markets, among other places so as to reach out to the majority of the people.
The African Peacebuilding Club, he said, was ever ready to work with any individual, group or organisations that were committed to ensuring total peace in Bawku and its environs.
“We as an NGO would continue to play our part to ensure peace in Bawku. We welcome support from any group in peacebuilding efforts irrespective of the political, ethnic and religious background,” he emphasised.
THE Executive Director of the African Peacebuilding Club, Mr Salam Ramani has appealed to the people of the Bawku municipality to work towards sustaining peace in the area.
“I am appealing to all the people of Bawku, irrespective of their political, tribal and religious background to come together so that we can have lasting peace. Let’s see ourselves as brothers and sisters and work for the common good of the area,” he said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
He said there was the need for the provision of adequate security in a every part of the municipality to ensure that the people went about their day-to-day activities peacefully.
Mr Ramani commended security personnel dispatched to the area, since without them, the situation would have escalated, adding that there was more to be done in terms of arresting those who ambushed people.
Regular patrols by the military and police, he said, were needed in the villages and ??various leading to the markets and communities.???
He, however, urged the personnel to do their work as professionals and arrest the perpetrators, no matter their political affiliation or tribe.
He said the integration of people in the area was of utmost importance, and that “we can’t have peace and development if we do not talk to our opponents”.
Mr Ramani indicated that the killing of people in Bawku did not speak well of the municipality, and that every single life was precious since it was through unity of purpose they could come together to develop the area.
“The Sunday, September 6, 2009 killing of Rufai Sumani was the latest in the series of attacks on innocent lives which needs to be stopped immediately,” he said.
He urged the Members of Parliament for the area to implement their campaign promises of ensuring lasting peace in area since they have a responsibility to the people.
“The MPs have a responsibility to impress upon the Government to provide logistics for the security agencies in the area. The MPs know the constituencies and have direct contact with some of the constituents who could provide vital information that could bring about peace in the area,” he said.
Mr Ramani lauded the National Peace Council for its timely intervention through the organisation of workshop on the need for the people to embrace peace and stop fighting.
“I hope that they will do well to get other civil society organisations who are into peacebuilding on board,” he said, and indicated that there was the need for sustained peace campaigns that would ensure peace in the area.
He, therefore, stressed the need for chiefs, elders, opinion leaders and religious leaders to take up the responsibility of sensitising the people, especially the youth not to allow themselves to used by persons seeking to destabilise the municipality.
Mr Ramani suggested that such sensitisation programmes be held at least three times a week in churches, schools, mosques, homes and markets, among other places so as to reach out to the majority of the people.
The African Peacebuilding Club, he said, was ever ready to work with any individual, group or organisations that were committed to ensuring total peace in Bawku and its environs.
“We as an NGO would continue to play our part to ensure peace in Bawku. We welcome support from any group in peacebuilding efforts irrespective of the political, ethnic and religious background,” he emphasised.
Nkrumah Education Legacy
Special Edition
18-09-09
DR Kwame Nkrumah, a man of many parts, contributed greatly to the development of education in the country. Himself an academician, he set up the Ghana Education Trust, under which a number of secondary schools, teacher training colleges and higher educational institutions were also established.
The legacy of Dr Nkrumah in the area of education is unmatched as the educational institutions he set up in the country have become the building blocks of Ghana’s foundation.
Right from the secondary schools to the universities, it was evident that Dr Nkrumah had a great vision for the country. His vision on education was to provide the platform, through the establishment of educational institutions, to produce the manpower or the human resource needed for the development of the country.
As a starter, Dr Nkrumah began with the establishment of the Ghana National College in Cape Coast. He named the new school "Ghana National College" and directed that the school's motto be "Pro Patria", which means "For the Honour and Glory of our Fatherland".
Dr Kwame Nkrumah, on Tuesday, July 20, 1948, delivered a keynote address to inaugurate the new school, and on that same day, he delivered a brilliant speech, portions of which have been quoted below.
"In spite of the humble conditions under which we have started, I bring you a message of hope and inspiration. I bid you shake hands with your fellows and teachers over your study table and over the blackboards.
"I look forward to the time when there will be a chain of Ghana Colleges in all the four territories which make up the Gold Coast, leading to the founding of a very high institution in this country. In the name of the people of the Gold Coast, in the name of humanity and in the name of Almighty God, I bid you speed forward till we realise a free and United Gold Coast in a United Africa," he summed up.
Following the establishment of the Ghana National College, Dr Nkrumah began expanding the frontiers of education with the establishment of the Ghana Education Trust, which was charged to open secondary schools and teacher training colleges.
The trust was under the chairmanship of Rev. S. Nimako and the secondary schools it established included Mfantsiman Secondary School, Ofori Payin Secondary School, Techiman Secondary School, the Winneba Secondary School, Swedru Secondary School, Apam Secondary School, Dormaa Secondary School, Tema Secondary School, Oda Secondary School, and the Labone Secondary School.
Indeed, students who entered those secondary schools would need teachers to impart knowledge. And in ensuring that this became a reality, the country’s First President went to initiate the setting up of teacher training colleges, about 16, of which he built. The 16 included the Atebubu Training College, Berekum Training College, Fosu Training College and the Enchi Training College. These were complemented by the teacher training colleges built by religious bodies.
Dr Nkrumah also set up universities to provide higher level education with the establishment of the University of Cape Coast in 1962 to train teachers for secondary schools, training colleges, technical institutes, among others.
He set up the {Kwame Nkrumah University} of Science and Technology in 1952 and the Kwadaso College of Education to produce middle level manpower for the agriculture sector, and the School of Languages, Ajumako, among others. Indeed, before he was overthrown, Dr Nkrumah secured a parcel of land to put up a College of Agriculture at Somanya in the Greater Accra Region.
He was instrumental in the transformation of the University College of the Gold Coast to the University of Ghana. In the 1960-61 academic year, the College Council made a request to the Government of Ghana for legislation to constitute the University College into a university with the power to award its own degrees. The Government appointed an International Commission to examine the problem. On the recommendations of that Commission, the University of Ghana was set up by an Act of Parliament on October 1, 1961 (Act 79). The then President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, became the first Chancellor of the university.
Dr Nkrumah attached great importance to the delivery and access to education in the country as a result of his rich educational background.
In 1961, he introduced free education for primary and middle schools to ensure that every child of school age had education. It must be noted that the Education Act of 1961 (Act 87), under the tenure of Dr Nkrumah, was reviewed only last year and replaced with the current education act.
The visionary did not only end there, but introduced a policy to supply free textbooks to schoolchildren in 1963.
He attended the Government Training College (which became part of Achimota College) in Accra in 1927 and obtained Teacher’s Certificate from the college in 1930. He became a teacher in 1931 and was later promoted to be a head teacher at Catholic School Axim. In 1935, he studied at Lincoln University, USA, and obtained Bachelor of Arts (BA Arts) in 1939 and BA Theology in 1942.
In 1942, he received a Master of Science degree (Msc. in Education) from the University of Pennsylvania. He again received another Master’s degree, this time, in a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from the University of Pennsylvania in February 1943. He was also awarded a doctoral degree in law at Lincoln University and the most outstanding professor of the year by the Lincolonian in 1945.
18-09-09
DR Kwame Nkrumah, a man of many parts, contributed greatly to the development of education in the country. Himself an academician, he set up the Ghana Education Trust, under which a number of secondary schools, teacher training colleges and higher educational institutions were also established.
The legacy of Dr Nkrumah in the area of education is unmatched as the educational institutions he set up in the country have become the building blocks of Ghana’s foundation.
Right from the secondary schools to the universities, it was evident that Dr Nkrumah had a great vision for the country. His vision on education was to provide the platform, through the establishment of educational institutions, to produce the manpower or the human resource needed for the development of the country.
As a starter, Dr Nkrumah began with the establishment of the Ghana National College in Cape Coast. He named the new school "Ghana National College" and directed that the school's motto be "Pro Patria", which means "For the Honour and Glory of our Fatherland".
Dr Kwame Nkrumah, on Tuesday, July 20, 1948, delivered a keynote address to inaugurate the new school, and on that same day, he delivered a brilliant speech, portions of which have been quoted below.
"In spite of the humble conditions under which we have started, I bring you a message of hope and inspiration. I bid you shake hands with your fellows and teachers over your study table and over the blackboards.
"I look forward to the time when there will be a chain of Ghana Colleges in all the four territories which make up the Gold Coast, leading to the founding of a very high institution in this country. In the name of the people of the Gold Coast, in the name of humanity and in the name of Almighty God, I bid you speed forward till we realise a free and United Gold Coast in a United Africa," he summed up.
Following the establishment of the Ghana National College, Dr Nkrumah began expanding the frontiers of education with the establishment of the Ghana Education Trust, which was charged to open secondary schools and teacher training colleges.
The trust was under the chairmanship of Rev. S. Nimako and the secondary schools it established included Mfantsiman Secondary School, Ofori Payin Secondary School, Techiman Secondary School, the Winneba Secondary School, Swedru Secondary School, Apam Secondary School, Dormaa Secondary School, Tema Secondary School, Oda Secondary School, and the Labone Secondary School.
Indeed, students who entered those secondary schools would need teachers to impart knowledge. And in ensuring that this became a reality, the country’s First President went to initiate the setting up of teacher training colleges, about 16, of which he built. The 16 included the Atebubu Training College, Berekum Training College, Fosu Training College and the Enchi Training College. These were complemented by the teacher training colleges built by religious bodies.
Dr Nkrumah also set up universities to provide higher level education with the establishment of the University of Cape Coast in 1962 to train teachers for secondary schools, training colleges, technical institutes, among others.
He set up the {Kwame Nkrumah University} of Science and Technology in 1952 and the Kwadaso College of Education to produce middle level manpower for the agriculture sector, and the School of Languages, Ajumako, among others. Indeed, before he was overthrown, Dr Nkrumah secured a parcel of land to put up a College of Agriculture at Somanya in the Greater Accra Region.
He was instrumental in the transformation of the University College of the Gold Coast to the University of Ghana. In the 1960-61 academic year, the College Council made a request to the Government of Ghana for legislation to constitute the University College into a university with the power to award its own degrees. The Government appointed an International Commission to examine the problem. On the recommendations of that Commission, the University of Ghana was set up by an Act of Parliament on October 1, 1961 (Act 79). The then President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, became the first Chancellor of the university.
Dr Nkrumah attached great importance to the delivery and access to education in the country as a result of his rich educational background.
In 1961, he introduced free education for primary and middle schools to ensure that every child of school age had education. It must be noted that the Education Act of 1961 (Act 87), under the tenure of Dr Nkrumah, was reviewed only last year and replaced with the current education act.
The visionary did not only end there, but introduced a policy to supply free textbooks to schoolchildren in 1963.
He attended the Government Training College (which became part of Achimota College) in Accra in 1927 and obtained Teacher’s Certificate from the college in 1930. He became a teacher in 1931 and was later promoted to be a head teacher at Catholic School Axim. In 1935, he studied at Lincoln University, USA, and obtained Bachelor of Arts (BA Arts) in 1939 and BA Theology in 1942.
In 1942, he received a Master of Science degree (Msc. in Education) from the University of Pennsylvania. He again received another Master’s degree, this time, in a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from the University of Pennsylvania in February 1943. He was also awarded a doctoral degree in law at Lincoln University and the most outstanding professor of the year by the Lincolonian in 1945.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Govt takes steps to pay TOR debts
Spread
10-09-09
THE government has appointed a transaction adviser to help raise funds to pay half of the $600 million owed the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) by the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to enable the bank to provide Letters of Credit for the purchase of crude oil for the refinery.
The Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, who made this known, said the GCB had indicated its readiness to issue Letters of Credit for the importation of crude oil provided TOR could make a part payment of $300 million of its indebtedness to it.
He said this at a staff durbar yesterday when he visited the refinery to familiarise himself with its present state of operations.
He said the inability of the refinery to get crude oil was as a result of its indebtedness, adding that the refinery was indebted to the tune of GH¢1.2 billion.
Dr Oteng-Adjei said apart from owing the GCB, the refinery was indebted to bulk traders to the tune of $240 million. Among them are the Volta River Authority, Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) and the Electricity Company of Ghana.
He said the immediate priority now was to clear the balance sheet, since nobody or no bank would issue Letters of Credit if it saw it.
He said the refinery's debt was not the doing of the current government and asked the workers to bear with as it took steps to get Letters of Credit to import crude oil soon.
On the TOR Recovery Levy, Dr Oteng-Adjei said the government had created a special account for the levy to enable a proper monitoring. The levy was initially deposited in the Consolidated Fund, and this the minister said made it difficult to monitor how the account was used.
Dr Oteng-Adjei said aside TOR's debt, a lot of people were indebted to the refinery to the tune of GH¢311 million, describing it as unacceptable, especially when an entity owed the refinery GH¢104 billion.
In view of the refinery's indebtedness, he said, he had directed that allowances for Board of Directors be frozen till the financial status improved.
"We would not mind they taking T and T if they come for meeting," he said, adding that TOR had been asked not to pay the former MD until things were positive.
He gave the assurance that the government would restructure TOR for the better, and that it would expand the refinery's current capacity of 45,000 barrels to 145,000.
Dr Oteng-Adjei warned that the government would not spare anyone, no matter the status, who tried to sabotage or thwart the efforts being made to improve the state of the refinery.
He said with agitation for wage increase in the face of overstaffing, the prudent thing to do was to cut down o the number of staff. He, however, asked the management and the union to work on how to address the issue.
Dr Oteng-Adjei commended the staff for their hard work that brought the premix crisis to an end.
The acting Managing Director of TOR, Dr Kwame Ampofo, said the company had responsible workers and leadership, and that they would work with the government to improve its status.
He denied that the current board had approved new allowances for its members, stressing that the current allowances were the same as those paid to the previous board about three years ago.
The Chairman of the TOR Workers Union, Mr Albert Pinto, said TOR workers were hardworking and that once crude oil was provided, the refinery would be able to pay its debt.
He blamed politicians for the current state of affairs of the refinery, pointing out that the refinery was a viable entity that needed to be supported to enable it to deliver.
10-09-09
THE government has appointed a transaction adviser to help raise funds to pay half of the $600 million owed the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) by the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to enable the bank to provide Letters of Credit for the purchase of crude oil for the refinery.
The Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, who made this known, said the GCB had indicated its readiness to issue Letters of Credit for the importation of crude oil provided TOR could make a part payment of $300 million of its indebtedness to it.
He said this at a staff durbar yesterday when he visited the refinery to familiarise himself with its present state of operations.
He said the inability of the refinery to get crude oil was as a result of its indebtedness, adding that the refinery was indebted to the tune of GH¢1.2 billion.
Dr Oteng-Adjei said apart from owing the GCB, the refinery was indebted to bulk traders to the tune of $240 million. Among them are the Volta River Authority, Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) and the Electricity Company of Ghana.
He said the immediate priority now was to clear the balance sheet, since nobody or no bank would issue Letters of Credit if it saw it.
He said the refinery's debt was not the doing of the current government and asked the workers to bear with as it took steps to get Letters of Credit to import crude oil soon.
On the TOR Recovery Levy, Dr Oteng-Adjei said the government had created a special account for the levy to enable a proper monitoring. The levy was initially deposited in the Consolidated Fund, and this the minister said made it difficult to monitor how the account was used.
Dr Oteng-Adjei said aside TOR's debt, a lot of people were indebted to the refinery to the tune of GH¢311 million, describing it as unacceptable, especially when an entity owed the refinery GH¢104 billion.
In view of the refinery's indebtedness, he said, he had directed that allowances for Board of Directors be frozen till the financial status improved.
"We would not mind they taking T and T if they come for meeting," he said, adding that TOR had been asked not to pay the former MD until things were positive.
He gave the assurance that the government would restructure TOR for the better, and that it would expand the refinery's current capacity of 45,000 barrels to 145,000.
Dr Oteng-Adjei warned that the government would not spare anyone, no matter the status, who tried to sabotage or thwart the efforts being made to improve the state of the refinery.
He said with agitation for wage increase in the face of overstaffing, the prudent thing to do was to cut down o the number of staff. He, however, asked the management and the union to work on how to address the issue.
Dr Oteng-Adjei commended the staff for their hard work that brought the premix crisis to an end.
The acting Managing Director of TOR, Dr Kwame Ampofo, said the company had responsible workers and leadership, and that they would work with the government to improve its status.
He denied that the current board had approved new allowances for its members, stressing that the current allowances were the same as those paid to the previous board about three years ago.
The Chairman of the TOR Workers Union, Mr Albert Pinto, said TOR workers were hardworking and that once crude oil was provided, the refinery would be able to pay its debt.
He blamed politicians for the current state of affairs of the refinery, pointing out that the refinery was a viable entity that needed to be supported to enable it to deliver.
University graduates trained in employment opportunities
14-09-09
Page 11
A TWO-DAY training programme to equip graduates of tertiary institutions with the requisite skills that will enable them to secure employment opportunities has been held in Accra.
The event was to adequately prepare the graduates through the provision of skills for the creation of job opportunities for themselves and on how to apply for jobs and handle interviews, among other things.
It was organised by an industrial consultancy firm; Shelley’s Investments Management Limited.
Addressing participants during the opening ceremony of the fourth event, the Chief Executive Officer of Shelley’s Investment Management Limited, Mr Shelly Amos, said it was difficult to understand why qualified graduates found it hard to get jobs.
On the issue of career development, he said everything was worth taking seriously, adding that one of the major challenges for graduates in search of jobs was their approach to job interviews.
“Every step in career development is sensitive and must be taken seriously. We want to create more opportunities for graduates to pass their interviews,” he stated.
Mr Amos said the dream of the organisation was wealth creation by 2020 through the expansion of job creation networks.
The fourth event was on training in the banking career and it was to help identify fraud in banking operations, recruitment and selling, he disclosed, and said “we want to help the graduates to be attractive for the competitive job market”.
He said about 250 people had so far benefited from the training, which was held every month.
Page 11
A TWO-DAY training programme to equip graduates of tertiary institutions with the requisite skills that will enable them to secure employment opportunities has been held in Accra.
The event was to adequately prepare the graduates through the provision of skills for the creation of job opportunities for themselves and on how to apply for jobs and handle interviews, among other things.
It was organised by an industrial consultancy firm; Shelley’s Investments Management Limited.
Addressing participants during the opening ceremony of the fourth event, the Chief Executive Officer of Shelley’s Investment Management Limited, Mr Shelly Amos, said it was difficult to understand why qualified graduates found it hard to get jobs.
On the issue of career development, he said everything was worth taking seriously, adding that one of the major challenges for graduates in search of jobs was their approach to job interviews.
“Every step in career development is sensitive and must be taken seriously. We want to create more opportunities for graduates to pass their interviews,” he stated.
Mr Amos said the dream of the organisation was wealth creation by 2020 through the expansion of job creation networks.
The fourth event was on training in the banking career and it was to help identify fraud in banking operations, recruitment and selling, he disclosed, and said “we want to help the graduates to be attractive for the competitive job market”.
He said about 250 people had so far benefited from the training, which was held every month.
Teachers must be part of school reforms
12-09-09
A FORMER General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr Paul Osei-Mensah, has underscored the need for teachers to be actively involved in the formulation of policies on education.
That, he said, would ensure a better implementation of such policies since they would have had a perfect understanding of the policies.
“Teachers should not see themselves as mere implementers of ideologies of others, but should be part of the process of reforms, through their professional bodies”, he said at the third Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Greater Accra Regional GNAT in Accra.
It was held on the theme: “The Role of The Teacher in The New Education Reform”.
Mr Osei-Mensah underscored the need for bodies such as the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council, the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), Council for Technical and Vocational Education (COTVET) and the councils of the various universities and polytechnics to determine the curricula and duration of courses at those levels.
The problem the country had, he said, was that “we do not allow national institutions to perform their statutory duties”, adding that policies such as free textbooks, Capitation Grant and free school uniforms should be modified to allow only the poor to benefit.
According to him, “there should be positive discrimination in favour of the poor.
Mr Osei-Mensah, who is also a member of the National Labour Commission (NLC), said the government should rank teachers among the list of its top public servants and reward them adequately, and that they (teachers) should be provided with certain basic educational inputs to be able to perform.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, who opened the conference, said motivating teachers was the key to improving the quality, accessibility and relevance of education.
“The government is committed to investing in people and I can assure you that teachers would be given the needed motivation to enable them to play their defined roles towards attainment of this goal,” he said.
He stressed the need for teachers to operate within a peaceful industrial climate and choose dialogue to settle industrial disputes instead of resorting to strikes which would create unnecessary tension.
Nii Ashiety said the government would continue to collaborate with district assemblies to upgrade basic school infrastructure throughout the country.
He called on parents not to shirk their responsibilities so that together “we can have a holistic development of the child in a congenial atmosphere of partnership and solidarity”.
A FORMER General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr Paul Osei-Mensah, has underscored the need for teachers to be actively involved in the formulation of policies on education.
That, he said, would ensure a better implementation of such policies since they would have had a perfect understanding of the policies.
“Teachers should not see themselves as mere implementers of ideologies of others, but should be part of the process of reforms, through their professional bodies”, he said at the third Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Greater Accra Regional GNAT in Accra.
It was held on the theme: “The Role of The Teacher in The New Education Reform”.
Mr Osei-Mensah underscored the need for bodies such as the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council, the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), Council for Technical and Vocational Education (COTVET) and the councils of the various universities and polytechnics to determine the curricula and duration of courses at those levels.
The problem the country had, he said, was that “we do not allow national institutions to perform their statutory duties”, adding that policies such as free textbooks, Capitation Grant and free school uniforms should be modified to allow only the poor to benefit.
According to him, “there should be positive discrimination in favour of the poor.
Mr Osei-Mensah, who is also a member of the National Labour Commission (NLC), said the government should rank teachers among the list of its top public servants and reward them adequately, and that they (teachers) should be provided with certain basic educational inputs to be able to perform.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, who opened the conference, said motivating teachers was the key to improving the quality, accessibility and relevance of education.
“The government is committed to investing in people and I can assure you that teachers would be given the needed motivation to enable them to play their defined roles towards attainment of this goal,” he said.
He stressed the need for teachers to operate within a peaceful industrial climate and choose dialogue to settle industrial disputes instead of resorting to strikes which would create unnecessary tension.
Nii Ashiety said the government would continue to collaborate with district assemblies to upgrade basic school infrastructure throughout the country.
He called on parents not to shirk their responsibilities so that together “we can have a holistic development of the child in a congenial atmosphere of partnership and solidarity”.
Review policy of resitting BECE
14-09-09
Page 11
A LECTURER at the University of Cape Coast, Mr Kingsley Adjei, has called for a review of the current policy of re-sitting the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
He noted that the current re-sit policy under which a candidate who did not perform well was supposed to re-write all the papers he/she wrote, including those he/she passed in and go back to his/her former school to re-sit the examination was a disincentive to candidates.
“It is time the current policy is reviewed to make candidates re-write only subjects they did not perform in and re-write those papers not necessarily in their former schools,” he told the Daily Graphic.
For instance, he said under the current re-sit policy it would be difficult for candidates whose parents have relocated or have been transferred to go back to their former schools to re-sit the examination, adding that the stigma attached to going back to one’s former school to re-write was not good enough for children.
With the current re-sit policy, if a candidate scores one in all subjects and scores six in any of the core subjects; Mathematics, English, Science or Social Studies, he/she is not qualified for placement into senior high school and technical institute under the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
Under the guidelines for placement a candidate has to get a minimum score of grade five in all the core subjects, namely English, Mathematics, General Science and Social Studies, and in any two best subjects. This should give a candidate a minimum of aggregate 30 to get placement.
However, if a candidate scores grade six in any or both of the two best subjects, the candidate should have a grade better than five in any of the core subjects to qualify for placement.
Mr Adjei said with the continuous assessment records of candidates already available from the first sitting, a new system should be adopted to enable the students to re-write only subjects or papers they did not do well in and be made to re-write in any school of their choice.
Mr Adjei said it should also be possible to have a private BECE examination similar to that of the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) November-December private candidates examination.
He blamed the poor performance of candidates at the BECE level on parental or family neglect, poor supervision, the lack of teachers and the lack of motivation for teachers, among other things.
He explained that the failure of parents and guardians to pay attention to the academic activities of their children and wards did not encourage them (children and wards) to take their studies seriously.
Mr Adjei said some parents did not only fail to show up at their children’s school to find out from teachers how their children were performing, saying that the parents did not attend parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings and other meetings, and then in the end blamed teachers for the inability of their children to pass.
Teachers too, he said, shared in the blame as some of them idled about as a result of poor supervision on the part of Ghana Education Service (GES) officials.
The inadequacy of teachers in the rural areas, he said, was also another contributory factor to the poor performance of candidates, and stressed the need for more qualified teachers to be sent to such areas.
Mr Adjei called for what he termed a comprehensive rural development programme under which deprived areas would not only be provided with teaching and learning materials, but school infrastructure, roads, water and electricity to encourage teachers to go to those areas.
“Conditions of service of teachers should not only be about salaries. It should be about the provision of facilities that would enable them to deliver,” he said.
He expressed concern about the shortcut to riches and indicated that the practice had resulted in students engaging in cyberfraud, known locally also as sakawa, to get rich quick to the detriment of their education.
Mr Adjei indicated that some students no longer took their education seriously, especially having realised that some non-educated or semi-literate persons were rich.
Page 11
A LECTURER at the University of Cape Coast, Mr Kingsley Adjei, has called for a review of the current policy of re-sitting the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
He noted that the current re-sit policy under which a candidate who did not perform well was supposed to re-write all the papers he/she wrote, including those he/she passed in and go back to his/her former school to re-sit the examination was a disincentive to candidates.
“It is time the current policy is reviewed to make candidates re-write only subjects they did not perform in and re-write those papers not necessarily in their former schools,” he told the Daily Graphic.
For instance, he said under the current re-sit policy it would be difficult for candidates whose parents have relocated or have been transferred to go back to their former schools to re-sit the examination, adding that the stigma attached to going back to one’s former school to re-write was not good enough for children.
With the current re-sit policy, if a candidate scores one in all subjects and scores six in any of the core subjects; Mathematics, English, Science or Social Studies, he/she is not qualified for placement into senior high school and technical institute under the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
Under the guidelines for placement a candidate has to get a minimum score of grade five in all the core subjects, namely English, Mathematics, General Science and Social Studies, and in any two best subjects. This should give a candidate a minimum of aggregate 30 to get placement.
However, if a candidate scores grade six in any or both of the two best subjects, the candidate should have a grade better than five in any of the core subjects to qualify for placement.
Mr Adjei said with the continuous assessment records of candidates already available from the first sitting, a new system should be adopted to enable the students to re-write only subjects or papers they did not do well in and be made to re-write in any school of their choice.
Mr Adjei said it should also be possible to have a private BECE examination similar to that of the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) November-December private candidates examination.
He blamed the poor performance of candidates at the BECE level on parental or family neglect, poor supervision, the lack of teachers and the lack of motivation for teachers, among other things.
He explained that the failure of parents and guardians to pay attention to the academic activities of their children and wards did not encourage them (children and wards) to take their studies seriously.
Mr Adjei said some parents did not only fail to show up at their children’s school to find out from teachers how their children were performing, saying that the parents did not attend parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings and other meetings, and then in the end blamed teachers for the inability of their children to pass.
Teachers too, he said, shared in the blame as some of them idled about as a result of poor supervision on the part of Ghana Education Service (GES) officials.
The inadequacy of teachers in the rural areas, he said, was also another contributory factor to the poor performance of candidates, and stressed the need for more qualified teachers to be sent to such areas.
Mr Adjei called for what he termed a comprehensive rural development programme under which deprived areas would not only be provided with teaching and learning materials, but school infrastructure, roads, water and electricity to encourage teachers to go to those areas.
“Conditions of service of teachers should not only be about salaries. It should be about the provision of facilities that would enable them to deliver,” he said.
He expressed concern about the shortcut to riches and indicated that the practice had resulted in students engaging in cyberfraud, known locally also as sakawa, to get rich quick to the detriment of their education.
Mr Adjei indicated that some students no longer took their education seriously, especially having realised that some non-educated or semi-literate persons were rich.
TEWU, Poly Rectors on collision course
15-09-09
THE Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) is on a collision course with the Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics (CORP) over the stalled negotiations on the review of the union’s unified conditions of service.
According to TEWU, its unified conditions of service expired in December 2007 and that efforts to address the problem had not been successful.
The General Secretary of TEWU, Mr Dan Ayim Antwi, told the Daily Graphic that a 14-day ultimatum given to the CORP for the re-opening of negotiations expired last Friday.
Consequently, he said, the union would write to the National Labour Commission (NLC) to direct the Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics (CORPs) to re-open negotiations for the review of its unified conditions of service.
He said the union had all along adopted the process of dialogue to ensure industrial harmony and would continue to use that strategy.
Mr Antwi said the CORP on July 16, 2009, promised the union that it would intensify its efforts to secure a mandate for negotiations, saying that “regrettably five weeks have elapsed without the two sides returning to the negotiation table”.
Following the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum given TEWU, the CORP in a letter dated August 31, 2009, pleaded for more time from the union to seek a mandate from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare.
“The Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics appreciate your patience on this matter and plead that you give us more time to seek mandate from the ministries for negotiation,” a letter signed by Dr F. Addo-Yobo, for the Chairman of CORP to the General Secretary of TEWU said.
Mr Antwi expressed the hope that the NLC would intervene in the matter to ensure peace on the campuses of the various polytechnics.
He said the last time TEWU met the CORP was on October 23 at which TEWU requested for deferment of negotiations on all items submitted except overtime, warm clothing, furniture loan, salary advance and medical care.
He said the TEWU would continue to use the process of dialogue, hence its decision to go to the NLC.
THE Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) is on a collision course with the Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics (CORP) over the stalled negotiations on the review of the union’s unified conditions of service.
According to TEWU, its unified conditions of service expired in December 2007 and that efforts to address the problem had not been successful.
The General Secretary of TEWU, Mr Dan Ayim Antwi, told the Daily Graphic that a 14-day ultimatum given to the CORP for the re-opening of negotiations expired last Friday.
Consequently, he said, the union would write to the National Labour Commission (NLC) to direct the Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics (CORPs) to re-open negotiations for the review of its unified conditions of service.
He said the union had all along adopted the process of dialogue to ensure industrial harmony and would continue to use that strategy.
Mr Antwi said the CORP on July 16, 2009, promised the union that it would intensify its efforts to secure a mandate for negotiations, saying that “regrettably five weeks have elapsed without the two sides returning to the negotiation table”.
Following the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum given TEWU, the CORP in a letter dated August 31, 2009, pleaded for more time from the union to seek a mandate from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare.
“The Conference of Rectors of Polytechnics appreciate your patience on this matter and plead that you give us more time to seek mandate from the ministries for negotiation,” a letter signed by Dr F. Addo-Yobo, for the Chairman of CORP to the General Secretary of TEWU said.
Mr Antwi expressed the hope that the NLC would intervene in the matter to ensure peace on the campuses of the various polytechnics.
He said the last time TEWU met the CORP was on October 23 at which TEWU requested for deferment of negotiations on all items submitted except overtime, warm clothing, furniture loan, salary advance and medical care.
He said the TEWU would continue to use the process of dialogue, hence its decision to go to the NLC.
CHILD'S RIGHTS, WAEC IN ROW
Page 1 Lead
15-09-09
THE publication of names and pictures of students who are alleged to have engaged in examination malpractices has caused the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to be pitted against some groups in the country who are concerned with child rights issues.
In separate interactions with the Daily Graphic, Child Rights International (CRI) and another group which described itself as concerned citizens condemned the publication of the pictures of the students, claiming it violated their rights.
“On Friday, September 4, 2009, we were shocked by the publication in the Daily Graphic of the names and pictures of some students who were reported to have engaged in examination malpractices”, a statement jointly signed by Nana Prempeh Agyemang, Akuba Amponsah and Michael Omari-Wadie on behalf of the concerned citizens, said in a statement to Graphic.
For its part, the CRI said the action of WAEC would not augur well for the development and future of the affected students.
But WAEC says it stands by the practice and would not stop as long as candidates continued to cheat in examination.
The acting Head of Test Administration of WAEC, Mr Kweku Nyamekye-Aidoo, told the Daily Graphic that the previous sanctions such as the cancellation of papers were not working, adding that the WAEC Law (Act 719), which criminalised copying in examination, did not make provision for age.
“Did those who passed the law not know that it was going to affect children?” he asked, and called on all parents, teachers and the society at large to join in the fight against examination malpractice.
The concerned group argued that it was ironic that in the said publication, WAEC stated that the names and not pictures of such candidates should be published.
They said much as they did not condone examination malpractice, they also believed that cancelling the examination papers of the candidates, banning them from taking part in examinations for a year and also publishing their names in the dailies were enough punishment.
“The publication of the pictures must have traumatised the candidates,” they contended.
The concerned citizens said everybody needed a second chance to reform and a first offender should be spared such an ordeal.
“Publishing the picture of a student just because he/she sent a mobile phone into the examination room is like comparing him or her to a convicted rapist, an armed robber or a drug peddler. Even those who commit such crimes have some rights to be protected,” they argued.
The concerned citizens, therefore, appealed to WAEC on behalf of the affected students to render an unqualified apology to the students for the trauma they had put them through.
The Executive Director of Child’s Rights International, Mr Bright Appiah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, deplored the WAEC action and noted that “WAEC needs to review the current practice as it was against the maintenance and rehabilitation of the candidates”.
However, WAEC has defended its decision to publish the names and photographs, saying examination malpractice was getting sophisticated day by day.
One way to stop such practice, the council said, was to adopt measures that were stringent enough to make candidates desist from such a malpractice.
Mr Appiah said he sanctioned the measures of suspending the candidates from writing the examination for a certain periods, withholding of results and cancellation of papers, among other things, since they were enough punishments for the candidates.
“The practice of publishing the names and photographs is not the best,” he emphasised, pointing out that it would undermine the process of their rehabilitation.
Mr Appiah said Article 28, Section 1 (b) of the 1992 Constitution talked about children and persons receiving protection against exposure to physical and moral hazards.
In addition, he said, under the Welfare Principle of the Children’s Act, the best interest of the child had to be the primary consideration of any court, person, institution or body in any matter concerning the child.
Aside that, he said, Article 29 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child indicated that state parties should take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of the child victim, among other things.
WAEC had over the last couple of days published the names and photographs of candidates said to have cheated in some of its examinations.
15-09-09
THE publication of names and pictures of students who are alleged to have engaged in examination malpractices has caused the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to be pitted against some groups in the country who are concerned with child rights issues.
In separate interactions with the Daily Graphic, Child Rights International (CRI) and another group which described itself as concerned citizens condemned the publication of the pictures of the students, claiming it violated their rights.
“On Friday, September 4, 2009, we were shocked by the publication in the Daily Graphic of the names and pictures of some students who were reported to have engaged in examination malpractices”, a statement jointly signed by Nana Prempeh Agyemang, Akuba Amponsah and Michael Omari-Wadie on behalf of the concerned citizens, said in a statement to Graphic.
For its part, the CRI said the action of WAEC would not augur well for the development and future of the affected students.
But WAEC says it stands by the practice and would not stop as long as candidates continued to cheat in examination.
The acting Head of Test Administration of WAEC, Mr Kweku Nyamekye-Aidoo, told the Daily Graphic that the previous sanctions such as the cancellation of papers were not working, adding that the WAEC Law (Act 719), which criminalised copying in examination, did not make provision for age.
“Did those who passed the law not know that it was going to affect children?” he asked, and called on all parents, teachers and the society at large to join in the fight against examination malpractice.
The concerned group argued that it was ironic that in the said publication, WAEC stated that the names and not pictures of such candidates should be published.
They said much as they did not condone examination malpractice, they also believed that cancelling the examination papers of the candidates, banning them from taking part in examinations for a year and also publishing their names in the dailies were enough punishment.
“The publication of the pictures must have traumatised the candidates,” they contended.
The concerned citizens said everybody needed a second chance to reform and a first offender should be spared such an ordeal.
“Publishing the picture of a student just because he/she sent a mobile phone into the examination room is like comparing him or her to a convicted rapist, an armed robber or a drug peddler. Even those who commit such crimes have some rights to be protected,” they argued.
The concerned citizens, therefore, appealed to WAEC on behalf of the affected students to render an unqualified apology to the students for the trauma they had put them through.
The Executive Director of Child’s Rights International, Mr Bright Appiah, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, deplored the WAEC action and noted that “WAEC needs to review the current practice as it was against the maintenance and rehabilitation of the candidates”.
However, WAEC has defended its decision to publish the names and photographs, saying examination malpractice was getting sophisticated day by day.
One way to stop such practice, the council said, was to adopt measures that were stringent enough to make candidates desist from such a malpractice.
Mr Appiah said he sanctioned the measures of suspending the candidates from writing the examination for a certain periods, withholding of results and cancellation of papers, among other things, since they were enough punishments for the candidates.
“The practice of publishing the names and photographs is not the best,” he emphasised, pointing out that it would undermine the process of their rehabilitation.
Mr Appiah said Article 28, Section 1 (b) of the 1992 Constitution talked about children and persons receiving protection against exposure to physical and moral hazards.
In addition, he said, under the Welfare Principle of the Children’s Act, the best interest of the child had to be the primary consideration of any court, person, institution or body in any matter concerning the child.
Aside that, he said, Article 29 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child indicated that state parties should take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of the child victim, among other things.
WAEC had over the last couple of days published the names and photographs of candidates said to have cheated in some of its examinations.
Govt to abolish shift system
Page 1
16-09-09
THE government will abolish the shift system currently being run in basic schools in the country, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has disclosed.
The minister, who expressed shock that the system was still being run after 10 years, indicated that the shift system is not the best and will be abolished once infrastructure and other facilities are put in place.
Mr Tettey-Enyo made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, when he visited some basic schools in Accra for the “My First Day at School” programme to welcome fresh pupils to basic school.
“I thought the shift system had been dealt with 10 years ago. It is not right and would be abolished in due course,” he said when he was told by heads of schools that the system was in operation as a result of inadequate classrooms and other facilities.
According to him, more classrooms and other educational facilities would be provided to cater for the increase in the number of students.
Mr Tettey-Enyo expressed disappointment at the low attendance of pupils on the first day at school, and indicated that the matter would be looked into to see how best to improve attendance.
He believed that school enrolment would improve as the days went by. Heads of schools, however, expressed the hope that attendance would go up as school went into full session.
The schools visited were the Kanda Estate 1 and 4 Primary, The Nima Cluster of Schools, the Kizito RC Primary School and the Five Garrison Schools at Burma Camp.
In an interaction with teachers at the Nima Cluster of Schools, Mr Tettey-Enyo reminded the teachers of their responsibility for ensuring that the children entrusted into their care were given the best of education.
He said the success or failure of the children would depend on the teachers, and appealed to them to give their best as the government took steps to motivate them.
Addressing the media later, he said the free uniform policy was on course while contracts had been awarded for the free exercise books to be delivered to schools sooner or later.
Commenting on the School Feeding Programme, the minister said the contract between the Government of Ghana and the Dutch Government was expected to elapse in April next year, saying that “before it elapses we would try to expand it so that many deprived schools would benefit from it”.
“We hope that by April next year we would find solution to the expansion, since it boosts enrolment,” he said, and stated that the Government would put in place the right strategy to improve the delivery of education in the country.
There was excitement on the part of the pupils as the minister, who was accompanied by the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah; the Director of the Basic and Secondary Division of the GES, Mr Stephen Adu, and other officials of the Ministry of Education and the GES distributed caps, crayons and other educational materials to them.
Mr Tettey-Enyo urged the pupils to take their studies seriously and be regular at school, since there was nothing more valuable than education.
Dorothy Appiah, a 10-year-old pupil of the Kanda Estate 1 Primary, told the Daily Graphic that she was excited to be in school. Her ambition in life, she said, was to become a doctor.
At the Burma Camp, Mr Tettey-Enyo and the Minister of Defence, Major Gen J.H. Smith (retd), visited primary school pupils at the Five Garrison Schools.
16-09-09
THE government will abolish the shift system currently being run in basic schools in the country, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has disclosed.
The minister, who expressed shock that the system was still being run after 10 years, indicated that the shift system is not the best and will be abolished once infrastructure and other facilities are put in place.
Mr Tettey-Enyo made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, when he visited some basic schools in Accra for the “My First Day at School” programme to welcome fresh pupils to basic school.
“I thought the shift system had been dealt with 10 years ago. It is not right and would be abolished in due course,” he said when he was told by heads of schools that the system was in operation as a result of inadequate classrooms and other facilities.
According to him, more classrooms and other educational facilities would be provided to cater for the increase in the number of students.
Mr Tettey-Enyo expressed disappointment at the low attendance of pupils on the first day at school, and indicated that the matter would be looked into to see how best to improve attendance.
He believed that school enrolment would improve as the days went by. Heads of schools, however, expressed the hope that attendance would go up as school went into full session.
The schools visited were the Kanda Estate 1 and 4 Primary, The Nima Cluster of Schools, the Kizito RC Primary School and the Five Garrison Schools at Burma Camp.
In an interaction with teachers at the Nima Cluster of Schools, Mr Tettey-Enyo reminded the teachers of their responsibility for ensuring that the children entrusted into their care were given the best of education.
He said the success or failure of the children would depend on the teachers, and appealed to them to give their best as the government took steps to motivate them.
Addressing the media later, he said the free uniform policy was on course while contracts had been awarded for the free exercise books to be delivered to schools sooner or later.
Commenting on the School Feeding Programme, the minister said the contract between the Government of Ghana and the Dutch Government was expected to elapse in April next year, saying that “before it elapses we would try to expand it so that many deprived schools would benefit from it”.
“We hope that by April next year we would find solution to the expansion, since it boosts enrolment,” he said, and stated that the Government would put in place the right strategy to improve the delivery of education in the country.
There was excitement on the part of the pupils as the minister, who was accompanied by the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah; the Director of the Basic and Secondary Division of the GES, Mr Stephen Adu, and other officials of the Ministry of Education and the GES distributed caps, crayons and other educational materials to them.
Mr Tettey-Enyo urged the pupils to take their studies seriously and be regular at school, since there was nothing more valuable than education.
Dorothy Appiah, a 10-year-old pupil of the Kanda Estate 1 Primary, told the Daily Graphic that she was excited to be in school. Her ambition in life, she said, was to become a doctor.
At the Burma Camp, Mr Tettey-Enyo and the Minister of Defence, Major Gen J.H. Smith (retd), visited primary school pupils at the Five Garrison Schools.
Caterers To Blame
Page 1 Lead
16-09-09
YESTERDAY’S first day in school for pupils at the basic level, was characterised by turmoil in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Michael Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
As the situation got messy in Accra, the AMA Chief blamed it on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated and warned them to desist from causing further confusion.
Mr Vanderpuije, who gave the caution, explained that the behaviour of some of the former caterers could disrupt teaching and learning with reports of some of them taking food to these schools with the escort of ‘macho men’.
He described the activities of those caterers “as illegal to say the least” and warned that “they will be arrested if they do not put a stop to this; we cannot allow unwarranted activities to disrupt school hours”.
But as the confusion assumed a national dimension, engulfing almost all districts, the National Co-ordinator of the programme, Mr Michael Nsowah, challenged the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
He said the timing of the decision was too short and so close to the re-opening of schools for the commencement of the 2009-2010 academic year yesterday.
“Replacing caterers at this time is not the best, since they need to be trained to enable them to provide efficient services,” he said, and indicated that without training they would not be able to deliver according to the guidelines of the programme.
Mr Nsowah said in an interview with the Daily Graphic that before a caterer was recruited, the person needed to be scrutinised very well to ensure that she met the guidelines under the programme.
He said with the current development of replacing them at such short notice, it would be difficult to scrutinise the caterers before they start cooking for the children.
He said caterers needed to know the rules and be prepared in terms of logistics before they start cooking for the children.
Explaining the rationale for the abrogation of contracts for the 44 caterers who worked for the AMA under the programme, Mr Vanderpuije stated that contracts under the school feeding programme were not permanent and that it would be reviewed annually to ensure that those who did not perform were kicked out.
Currently, there are 64 caterers working under the programme for the AMA and are expected to feed some 6,000 pupils with nutritious meal every day.
Until this academic year, the number of pupils fed under the programme for the AMA was about 3,000 but the number, he said, was increased to the current 6,000 to ensure that more children benefited from the programme, still under the pilot stage.
According to Mr Vanderpuije, concerns raised earlier to the effect that the caterers would not be ready to feed the pupils at the re-opening of this year’s academic programme was unwarranted because “food was provided for the school children today”.
Further, Mr Vanderpuije stated that the difficulties associated with the earlier implementation of the programme was as a result of a shift in the guidelines for the national programme by the initial implementers.
The programme was designed to be executed at the district level and not by a secretariat as was been done.
“It is this wrong we want to correct,” he said.
A committee on School Feeding Programme at the AMA of which Mr Vanderpuije is the chairman have met with the new caterers and consequently are aware of what is expected of them.
“If these people also fail to deliver, who says we will not annul their contracts?” he asked.
The pilot for the Ghana National School Feeding Programme was introduced in October 2005 to provide children in public primary schools and kindergartens with one hot nutritious meal, prepared from locally grown foodstuffs.
The idea is aimed at increasing enrolment, attendance and retention at the basic level.
Four years down the line, the programme is still faced with a myriad of challenges of payments for caterers working under the programme, which are often delayed, proper supervision of the quality of food and monitoring.
“Many key stakeholders including district assemblies, education officers and communities have not been involved in decision-making hence their apathy towards the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme,” this was contained in a District Operational Manual for the Programme, signed by the Minister of Local government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh.
16-09-09
YESTERDAY’S first day in school for pupils at the basic level, was characterised by turmoil in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Michael Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
As the situation got messy in Accra, the AMA Chief blamed it on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated and warned them to desist from causing further confusion.
Mr Vanderpuije, who gave the caution, explained that the behaviour of some of the former caterers could disrupt teaching and learning with reports of some of them taking food to these schools with the escort of ‘macho men’.
He described the activities of those caterers “as illegal to say the least” and warned that “they will be arrested if they do not put a stop to this; we cannot allow unwarranted activities to disrupt school hours”.
But as the confusion assumed a national dimension, engulfing almost all districts, the National Co-ordinator of the programme, Mr Michael Nsowah, challenged the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
He said the timing of the decision was too short and so close to the re-opening of schools for the commencement of the 2009-2010 academic year yesterday.
“Replacing caterers at this time is not the best, since they need to be trained to enable them to provide efficient services,” he said, and indicated that without training they would not be able to deliver according to the guidelines of the programme.
Mr Nsowah said in an interview with the Daily Graphic that before a caterer was recruited, the person needed to be scrutinised very well to ensure that she met the guidelines under the programme.
He said with the current development of replacing them at such short notice, it would be difficult to scrutinise the caterers before they start cooking for the children.
He said caterers needed to know the rules and be prepared in terms of logistics before they start cooking for the children.
Explaining the rationale for the abrogation of contracts for the 44 caterers who worked for the AMA under the programme, Mr Vanderpuije stated that contracts under the school feeding programme were not permanent and that it would be reviewed annually to ensure that those who did not perform were kicked out.
Currently, there are 64 caterers working under the programme for the AMA and are expected to feed some 6,000 pupils with nutritious meal every day.
Until this academic year, the number of pupils fed under the programme for the AMA was about 3,000 but the number, he said, was increased to the current 6,000 to ensure that more children benefited from the programme, still under the pilot stage.
According to Mr Vanderpuije, concerns raised earlier to the effect that the caterers would not be ready to feed the pupils at the re-opening of this year’s academic programme was unwarranted because “food was provided for the school children today”.
Further, Mr Vanderpuije stated that the difficulties associated with the earlier implementation of the programme was as a result of a shift in the guidelines for the national programme by the initial implementers.
The programme was designed to be executed at the district level and not by a secretariat as was been done.
“It is this wrong we want to correct,” he said.
A committee on School Feeding Programme at the AMA of which Mr Vanderpuije is the chairman have met with the new caterers and consequently are aware of what is expected of them.
“If these people also fail to deliver, who says we will not annul their contracts?” he asked.
The pilot for the Ghana National School Feeding Programme was introduced in October 2005 to provide children in public primary schools and kindergartens with one hot nutritious meal, prepared from locally grown foodstuffs.
The idea is aimed at increasing enrolment, attendance and retention at the basic level.
Four years down the line, the programme is still faced with a myriad of challenges of payments for caterers working under the programme, which are often delayed, proper supervision of the quality of food and monitoring.
“Many key stakeholders including district assemblies, education officers and communities have not been involved in decision-making hence their apathy towards the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme,” this was contained in a District Operational Manual for the Programme, signed by the Minister of Local government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
BECE: only 50% qualify for placements
Front page lead
August 27, 2009
Just a little over 50 per cent of candidates who sat for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) qualified for placement into senior high schools and technical institutes.
According to the released results, out of a total of 395,649 candidates who wrote the examination, only 198,642 qualified for placement under the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
To qualify for placement, a candidate has to get minimum score of grade five in all the core subjects, namely English, Mathematics, General Science and Social Studies, and in any two best subjects. This should give a candidate a minimum of aggregate 30 to get placement.
However, if a candidate scores grade six in any or both of the two best subjects, the candidate should have a grade better than five in any of the core subjects to qualify for placement.
The Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Andrew Akuoko, told the Daily Graphic that more than 198,000 vacancies had been declared by heads of schools to cater for the incoming first year students.
He said the CSSPS Secretariat had received the raw scores of candidates from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to start the placement exercise.
Presently, he said, the information provided by WAEC and the choices made by candidates, among other things, were being studied to check for errors.
“When all these are done, the process for the placement of the candidates begins,” he said, adding that the placement would be done in the shortest possible time for first-year students to report at school on time.
Mr Akuoko said some of the private schools which registered with the Ghana Education Service (GES) were yet to declare their vacancies, but the secretariat would not wait for them before going ahead with the placement exercise.
He said, for instance, that out of the 54 technical and vocational private schools that registered, only seven had declared their vacancies, while about half of the 72 private senior high schools were yet to do same.
“Regardless of that, we would go ahead with the placement of the candidates,” he said.
Mr Akuoko urged candidates and their parents to accept the choices they made in the selection of schools as they would not be allowed to change schools.
The GES last year instituted measures to address bottlenecks associated with the CSSPS to enable it to conduct the exercise in a smooth, efficient and reliable manner.
Among the measures were the categorisation of senior high schools into seven groups to make selection easy to ease pressure on the so-called "endowed schools" and the increase in the number of schools chosen by students from three to six to enhance their chances of placement.
During the first placement exercise in 2005, 151,016 out of a total of 177,070 qualified candidates were placed in senior high and technical schools.
In 2006, 308,379 BECE candidates registered and 160,119 qualified for placement. A total of 145,961 candidates were placed and 3,031 deferred their placement.
More than 188,881 candidates were placed in 2007, while about 179,000 were placed last year.
The CSSPS was introduced in 2005 to replace manual selection process, which was said to be cumbersome. There were also allegations of corruption and favouritism under that system. The CSSPS aims at promoting efficiency, transparency, fairness, equity and speed, among other things, in the selection process.
August 27, 2009
Just a little over 50 per cent of candidates who sat for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) qualified for placement into senior high schools and technical institutes.
According to the released results, out of a total of 395,649 candidates who wrote the examination, only 198,642 qualified for placement under the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
To qualify for placement, a candidate has to get minimum score of grade five in all the core subjects, namely English, Mathematics, General Science and Social Studies, and in any two best subjects. This should give a candidate a minimum of aggregate 30 to get placement.
However, if a candidate scores grade six in any or both of the two best subjects, the candidate should have a grade better than five in any of the core subjects to qualify for placement.
The Co-ordinator of the CSSPS, Mr Andrew Akuoko, told the Daily Graphic that more than 198,000 vacancies had been declared by heads of schools to cater for the incoming first year students.
He said the CSSPS Secretariat had received the raw scores of candidates from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to start the placement exercise.
Presently, he said, the information provided by WAEC and the choices made by candidates, among other things, were being studied to check for errors.
“When all these are done, the process for the placement of the candidates begins,” he said, adding that the placement would be done in the shortest possible time for first-year students to report at school on time.
Mr Akuoko said some of the private schools which registered with the Ghana Education Service (GES) were yet to declare their vacancies, but the secretariat would not wait for them before going ahead with the placement exercise.
He said, for instance, that out of the 54 technical and vocational private schools that registered, only seven had declared their vacancies, while about half of the 72 private senior high schools were yet to do same.
“Regardless of that, we would go ahead with the placement of the candidates,” he said.
Mr Akuoko urged candidates and their parents to accept the choices they made in the selection of schools as they would not be allowed to change schools.
The GES last year instituted measures to address bottlenecks associated with the CSSPS to enable it to conduct the exercise in a smooth, efficient and reliable manner.
Among the measures were the categorisation of senior high schools into seven groups to make selection easy to ease pressure on the so-called "endowed schools" and the increase in the number of schools chosen by students from three to six to enhance their chances of placement.
During the first placement exercise in 2005, 151,016 out of a total of 177,070 qualified candidates were placed in senior high and technical schools.
In 2006, 308,379 BECE candidates registered and 160,119 qualified for placement. A total of 145,961 candidates were placed and 3,031 deferred their placement.
More than 188,881 candidates were placed in 2007, while about 179,000 were placed last year.
The CSSPS was introduced in 2005 to replace manual selection process, which was said to be cumbersome. There were also allegations of corruption and favouritism under that system. The CSSPS aims at promoting efficiency, transparency, fairness, equity and speed, among other things, in the selection process.
Bad BECE results blamed on poor supervision
August 29, 2009
AN education expert, Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, has identified the lack of effective supervision and monitoring as key factors that contribute to the poor performance of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates.
He also said the lack of motivation for teachers and inadequate number of qualified teachers to fill empty classrooms were other factors.He was reacting to a Daily Graphic publication in the August 27, 2009 edition of the paper that said just a little over 50 per cent of the 2009 BECE candidates qualified for placement into senior high and technical schools.
He stressed the need for the Ghana Education Service (GES) to step up its supervision and monitoring activities, and cited the impressive performance of some candidates of private schools which had been as a result of effective supervision and monitoring.
Prof. Anamuah-Mensah said in as much as parents were partly to be blamed for the poor performance of candidates at the BECE, the biggest blame should go to the Ministry of Education and the GES.
“You have circuit supervisors complaining that they cannot undertake monitoring and supervision because they do not have transport facilities, such as motorbikes or other vehicles,” he said, and underscored the need for such personalities to be provided with the needed resources to work effectively.
He said the government should invest more in education through the provision of teaching-learning materials, infrastructure and the motivation of teachers, among other things.
Prof. Anamuah-Mensah described the perennial failure of BECE candidates as a “crisis situation” that needed urgent attention, saying that “adequate measures should be put in place to address the problem, since failure to do that would not augur well for the country”.
“We need to wake up because when children roam the streets without employable skills they become armed robbers and engage in cyberfraud (sakawa),” he warned.
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) says teachers, students, parents and the government have a greater role to play in improving the performance of candidates.
GNAT said it was incumbent upon the stakeholders mentioned to play their individual roles, since the failure of anyone of them to do so would not help in solving the problem.
“All of them must perform for us to achieve the desired results,” the President of GNAT, Mr Joseph Adjei, told the Daily Graphic.
He said while the government had to provide the needed infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, teachers needed to be motivated to offer their best, while parents needed to ensure that they monitored the academic activities of their children, who also had to take their studies seriously.
AN education expert, Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, has identified the lack of effective supervision and monitoring as key factors that contribute to the poor performance of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates.
He also said the lack of motivation for teachers and inadequate number of qualified teachers to fill empty classrooms were other factors.He was reacting to a Daily Graphic publication in the August 27, 2009 edition of the paper that said just a little over 50 per cent of the 2009 BECE candidates qualified for placement into senior high and technical schools.
He stressed the need for the Ghana Education Service (GES) to step up its supervision and monitoring activities, and cited the impressive performance of some candidates of private schools which had been as a result of effective supervision and monitoring.
Prof. Anamuah-Mensah said in as much as parents were partly to be blamed for the poor performance of candidates at the BECE, the biggest blame should go to the Ministry of Education and the GES.
“You have circuit supervisors complaining that they cannot undertake monitoring and supervision because they do not have transport facilities, such as motorbikes or other vehicles,” he said, and underscored the need for such personalities to be provided with the needed resources to work effectively.
He said the government should invest more in education through the provision of teaching-learning materials, infrastructure and the motivation of teachers, among other things.
Prof. Anamuah-Mensah described the perennial failure of BECE candidates as a “crisis situation” that needed urgent attention, saying that “adequate measures should be put in place to address the problem, since failure to do that would not augur well for the country”.
“We need to wake up because when children roam the streets without employable skills they become armed robbers and engage in cyberfraud (sakawa),” he warned.
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) says teachers, students, parents and the government have a greater role to play in improving the performance of candidates.
GNAT said it was incumbent upon the stakeholders mentioned to play their individual roles, since the failure of anyone of them to do so would not help in solving the problem.
“All of them must perform for us to achieve the desired results,” the President of GNAT, Mr Joseph Adjei, told the Daily Graphic.
He said while the government had to provide the needed infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, teachers needed to be motivated to offer their best, while parents needed to ensure that they monitored the academic activities of their children, who also had to take their studies seriously.
Maths camp students visit Ghana Planetarium
Page 11
August 31, 2009
SENIOR High School students who attended the vacation camp at the Meagasa Mathematics Academy at Lashibi visited the Ghana Planetarium at Osu as part of their mathematics camp activities.
The trip was to enable the students to appreciate the relationship between mathematics and real life situation.
According to the Founder and Executive Director of the Academy, Prof. S.E. Anku, the educational tour was organised to motivate students to see the relevance of mathematics to astronomy, and for that matter, its relevance to everyday activities.
During the two-week camp, students were taken through very extensive experiences, with mathematics covering conceptual development in the morning, hands-on practical activities in the afternoon and problem solving in the evening.
The students created several shapes using paper, derived mathematical formulae through practical activities, created several patterns for the textile industry, using mathematics and worked in teams to solve different puzzles, including those that involved criminal investigations.
Speaking at the closing ceremony for the two-week camp, Prof. Anku announced the commencement of a residential camp for junior high school and primary 4-6 students, beginning from Sunday, August 30 to Saturday, September 12, 2009.
He urged school authorities to give students the opportunity to embark on educational trips which would provide them the opportunity to relate mathematics to real life situation.
Prof. Anku asked students to take their studies seriously and desist from spending their time watching television, playing video games, among other things, which affected their studies negatively.
Prof. Anku also advised teachers to upgrade themselves.
August 31, 2009
SENIOR High School students who attended the vacation camp at the Meagasa Mathematics Academy at Lashibi visited the Ghana Planetarium at Osu as part of their mathematics camp activities.
The trip was to enable the students to appreciate the relationship between mathematics and real life situation.
According to the Founder and Executive Director of the Academy, Prof. S.E. Anku, the educational tour was organised to motivate students to see the relevance of mathematics to astronomy, and for that matter, its relevance to everyday activities.
During the two-week camp, students were taken through very extensive experiences, with mathematics covering conceptual development in the morning, hands-on practical activities in the afternoon and problem solving in the evening.
The students created several shapes using paper, derived mathematical formulae through practical activities, created several patterns for the textile industry, using mathematics and worked in teams to solve different puzzles, including those that involved criminal investigations.
Speaking at the closing ceremony for the two-week camp, Prof. Anku announced the commencement of a residential camp for junior high school and primary 4-6 students, beginning from Sunday, August 30 to Saturday, September 12, 2009.
He urged school authorities to give students the opportunity to embark on educational trips which would provide them the opportunity to relate mathematics to real life situation.
Prof. Anku asked students to take their studies seriously and desist from spending their time watching television, playing video games, among other things, which affected their studies negatively.
Prof. Anku also advised teachers to upgrade themselves.
Institutions of higher learning must collaborate
Page 11
August 31, 2009
THE Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has called on institutions of higher learning in Africa to collaborate in finding solutions to their problems.
He identified low enrolment ratios, weak infrastructure to support Information and Communication Technology (ICT), ageing faculties, brain drain, unsustainable financial schemes and weak linkage of programmes, among other things, as some of the problems confronting higher educational institutions on the continent.
Mr Tettey-Enyo made the call at the weekend when he opened the Africa-United States Higher Educational Initiative Partners conference in Accra.
The two-day conference was on the theme: “Reshaping Human and International Capacity Building through Higher Education Partnerships”.
It was organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and Higher Education for Development (HED).
Mr Tettey-Enyo said higher education institutions were the hope for the re-engineering and empowering of African countries to overcome problems confronting the continent, saying that the institutions “are reservoirs for skilled human resources for socio-economic development of the continent”.
He, therefore, called for the building of capacities of higher education institutions to operate to their maximum capacity for the development of the continent.
“I am confident that the deliberations and recommendations arising out of the conference will go a long way to strengthen the Africa-US partnership, as well as partnerships within African institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa in particular and Africa in general,” he said.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald G. Teitelbaum, said universities provided opportunities for a generation to do better than the previous.
Africa, he said, was ready for a new wave of social mobility through which economic progress provided a wave of opportunities.
“We are here to build an Africa where what is important is not where you come from but what you aspire to become, not whom you know but what you know. It must be an Africa where everyone, no matter their backgrounds, should be able to rise as far as their talents can take them and where everyone can make the most of the potential they have,” he said.
Mr Teitelbaum said there was the need to look at the potential genius of the children of Africa, the potential scientists, the creativity of artists, the skills of future physicians and the strength in engineering.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. C.N.B. Tagoe, stressed the need for African institutions to work together in addressing the challenges of the continent.
August 31, 2009
THE Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has called on institutions of higher learning in Africa to collaborate in finding solutions to their problems.
He identified low enrolment ratios, weak infrastructure to support Information and Communication Technology (ICT), ageing faculties, brain drain, unsustainable financial schemes and weak linkage of programmes, among other things, as some of the problems confronting higher educational institutions on the continent.
Mr Tettey-Enyo made the call at the weekend when he opened the Africa-United States Higher Educational Initiative Partners conference in Accra.
The two-day conference was on the theme: “Reshaping Human and International Capacity Building through Higher Education Partnerships”.
It was organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and Higher Education for Development (HED).
Mr Tettey-Enyo said higher education institutions were the hope for the re-engineering and empowering of African countries to overcome problems confronting the continent, saying that the institutions “are reservoirs for skilled human resources for socio-economic development of the continent”.
He, therefore, called for the building of capacities of higher education institutions to operate to their maximum capacity for the development of the continent.
“I am confident that the deliberations and recommendations arising out of the conference will go a long way to strengthen the Africa-US partnership, as well as partnerships within African institutions of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa in particular and Africa in general,” he said.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Donald G. Teitelbaum, said universities provided opportunities for a generation to do better than the previous.
Africa, he said, was ready for a new wave of social mobility through which economic progress provided a wave of opportunities.
“We are here to build an Africa where what is important is not where you come from but what you aspire to become, not whom you know but what you know. It must be an Africa where everyone, no matter their backgrounds, should be able to rise as far as their talents can take them and where everyone can make the most of the potential they have,” he said.
Mr Teitelbaum said there was the need to look at the potential genius of the children of Africa, the potential scientists, the creativity of artists, the skills of future physicians and the strength in engineering.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. C.N.B. Tagoe, stressed the need for African institutions to work together in addressing the challenges of the continent.
Board to advise govt on tariffs inaugurated
Page 14
9-03-09
A five-member Tariff Advisory Board which will advise the government on the determination and imposition of tariffs has been inaugurated in Accra.
The board would ensure that there are clear guidelines, procedures and appropriate legislation for the determination and implementation of trade contingency measures such as anti-dumping.
It is chaired by Mr Tawia Akyea, Secretary of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). The members are: Mrs Ama Jantuah Banful, Chief State Attorney; Dr (Mrs) Adelaide Kastner, a lecturer at the University of Ghana; Dr Ben Hagan, Director of the Institute of Industrial Research and Dr Dominic Ayine, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana.
Inaugurating the board, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said it would provide the capacity to generate the depth of analysis required to substantiate claims consistent with international trade rules.
She said the board which would operate for three years, would metamorphosed into the Ghana International Trade Commission to perform the same functions.
She said the Tariff Advisory Board came out of the Ghana Trade Policy, “to provide clear and transparent guidelines for the actions of government in the trade sector and also increase the access to competitiveness of Ghanaian business in international and domestic markets”.
Ms Tetteh said the establishment of the board was to strengthen institutional arrangements for tariff review and determination of trade contingency measures.
“In addition, it will serve as the focal point for collating and analysing information and data to guide decisions on tariff-related issues. The board, therefore, will fill a vacuum in the Ghana Trade Policy that has limited the ability of government to take advantage of remedies provided under the World Trade Organisation,” she said.
She said the establishment of the board reaffirmed the determination of government to create the infrastructure that would enhance the performance of the sector without anything untoward from foreign companies and their governments.
Ms Tetteh said the ministry was determined to support both domestic and foreign companies as long as they operated within the stipulated rules and regulations, adding that “a cursory examination of the functions of the board indicates that it can be effective only when manufacturers are prepared to provide accurate and relevant data on their operations”.
She mentioned the Department for International Development, the German Technical Corporation (GTZ), the World Bank and the Danish International Development Agency, for contributing to the pool fund in support of some activities of the board.
Representatives of the organisation commended the government for the establishment of the board.
The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, described the scientific basis for the determination of tariff as laudable.
“Let us try to avoid exemptions through executive instruments,” he cautioned.
9-03-09
A five-member Tariff Advisory Board which will advise the government on the determination and imposition of tariffs has been inaugurated in Accra.
The board would ensure that there are clear guidelines, procedures and appropriate legislation for the determination and implementation of trade contingency measures such as anti-dumping.
It is chaired by Mr Tawia Akyea, Secretary of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). The members are: Mrs Ama Jantuah Banful, Chief State Attorney; Dr (Mrs) Adelaide Kastner, a lecturer at the University of Ghana; Dr Ben Hagan, Director of the Institute of Industrial Research and Dr Dominic Ayine, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana.
Inaugurating the board, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, said it would provide the capacity to generate the depth of analysis required to substantiate claims consistent with international trade rules.
She said the board which would operate for three years, would metamorphosed into the Ghana International Trade Commission to perform the same functions.
She said the Tariff Advisory Board came out of the Ghana Trade Policy, “to provide clear and transparent guidelines for the actions of government in the trade sector and also increase the access to competitiveness of Ghanaian business in international and domestic markets”.
Ms Tetteh said the establishment of the board was to strengthen institutional arrangements for tariff review and determination of trade contingency measures.
“In addition, it will serve as the focal point for collating and analysing information and data to guide decisions on tariff-related issues. The board, therefore, will fill a vacuum in the Ghana Trade Policy that has limited the ability of government to take advantage of remedies provided under the World Trade Organisation,” she said.
She said the establishment of the board reaffirmed the determination of government to create the infrastructure that would enhance the performance of the sector without anything untoward from foreign companies and their governments.
Ms Tetteh said the ministry was determined to support both domestic and foreign companies as long as they operated within the stipulated rules and regulations, adding that “a cursory examination of the functions of the board indicates that it can be effective only when manufacturers are prepared to provide accurate and relevant data on their operations”.
She mentioned the Department for International Development, the German Technical Corporation (GTZ), the World Bank and the Danish International Development Agency, for contributing to the pool fund in support of some activities of the board.
Representatives of the organisation commended the government for the establishment of the board.
The President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, described the scientific basis for the determination of tariff as laudable.
“Let us try to avoid exemptions through executive instruments,” he cautioned.
Agbogbloshie residents reactivate watchdog group
Page 45
9-03-09
RESIDENTS of Agbogbloshie have reactivated a community watchdog group to work closely with the police to prevent the occasional outbreak of violence in the area.
The move is part of measures being adopted by the residents to bring about peace at Agbogbloshie.
Addressing the press yesterday, the Spokesperson of the Old Fadama Development Association, Mr Philip Kumah, said in its quest to ensure peaceful co-existence, People’s Dialogue, an NGO, in collaboration of the association, would set up a mediation centre within the community to find solutions to petty squabbles which could otherwise degenerate into violence.
The centre, he said, would be manned by religious and opinion leaders, among other personalities.
He said both the NGO and the association would run a dedicated conflict resolution programme to train advocates on non-violence, adding that a youth development programme to train the youth in vocations such as carpentry, masonry, hairdressing and tailoring would be carried out.
Mr Kumah said “an idle man is the devil’s workshop”, and that once the youth were equipped with the necessary skills, inciting them to violence would be difficult.
He said to ensure that the Korle Lagoon was protected from pollution, an environmental task force would be set up to police the area to prevent dumping of refuse into the lagoon.
“We wish to assure the government and the nation as a whole and the Ga people in particular that we are committed to contributing to ensuring that the persistent violence in and around the community will be a thing of the past,” he emphasised.
Mr Kumah said the association was committed to seeking the welfare of the Old Fadama community and that it did not want politicians to capitalise on the situation or any ethnic connotations.
On the August 25, 2009 incident, in which three persons were killed and others injured, he said the association did not know the perpetrators or cause(s) of the act.
For his part, the secretary of the association, Mr Frederick Opoku, said since the police were the right people to carry out investigations into the matter, they should be allowed to do their work.
9-03-09
RESIDENTS of Agbogbloshie have reactivated a community watchdog group to work closely with the police to prevent the occasional outbreak of violence in the area.
The move is part of measures being adopted by the residents to bring about peace at Agbogbloshie.
Addressing the press yesterday, the Spokesperson of the Old Fadama Development Association, Mr Philip Kumah, said in its quest to ensure peaceful co-existence, People’s Dialogue, an NGO, in collaboration of the association, would set up a mediation centre within the community to find solutions to petty squabbles which could otherwise degenerate into violence.
The centre, he said, would be manned by religious and opinion leaders, among other personalities.
He said both the NGO and the association would run a dedicated conflict resolution programme to train advocates on non-violence, adding that a youth development programme to train the youth in vocations such as carpentry, masonry, hairdressing and tailoring would be carried out.
Mr Kumah said “an idle man is the devil’s workshop”, and that once the youth were equipped with the necessary skills, inciting them to violence would be difficult.
He said to ensure that the Korle Lagoon was protected from pollution, an environmental task force would be set up to police the area to prevent dumping of refuse into the lagoon.
“We wish to assure the government and the nation as a whole and the Ga people in particular that we are committed to contributing to ensuring that the persistent violence in and around the community will be a thing of the past,” he emphasised.
Mr Kumah said the association was committed to seeking the welfare of the Old Fadama community and that it did not want politicians to capitalise on the situation or any ethnic connotations.
On the August 25, 2009 incident, in which three persons were killed and others injured, he said the association did not know the perpetrators or cause(s) of the act.
For his part, the secretary of the association, Mr Frederick Opoku, said since the police were the right people to carry out investigations into the matter, they should be allowed to do their work.
GES posts teachers to deprived areas
Page 20
9-03-09
A policy to ensure that deprived areas are not left out in teacher distribution in the country has taken off with new teachers being posted to the deprived parts of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies that sponsored them.
The first batch of teachers under the policy has been sent to their various districts.
The Director of the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Victor Mante, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, said the assemblies were expected to provide the needed facilities to ensure that the teachers served in the deprived parts of the assemblies.
An exercise carried out by the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES) revealed that there were 6,000 untrained teachers in 70 of the 170 districts of the country.
The decision to post teachers to deprived communities aims at addressing the problem of lack of teachers in deprived communities.
Mr Mante said more than 97 per cent of teacher trainees were sponsored by their metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
He said it was, therefore, incumbent upon the local GES to post the teachers to the deprived areas of the districts that sponsored them, since that was where their services were needed most.
He said the new measures, which had taken effect from the 2008/2009 academic year, was being implemented, and stressed that "more districts should sponsor teacher trainees, since that is the only way they can address their vacancy problem".
Mr Mante said district assemblies needed to undertake the needs assessment of teachers every year to project the number of teachers they would need to plan towards their sponsorship.
On the admission of teacher trainees annually, he said the current quota was 9000, and that although Principals of Colleges of Education had indicated their preparedness to take up to 12,000 trainees, that could not be done because of the cost involved in terms of the payment of allowances.
For instance, GH¢26,255,500 was spent as allowances for teacher trainees last year, and that about GH¢900,000 more would be needed if the intake was increased to 12,000.
Mr Mante said out of the 9000 admitted every year, 8,200 graduated, saying that while others dropped out midstream the rest were referred in their subjects.
9-03-09
A policy to ensure that deprived areas are not left out in teacher distribution in the country has taken off with new teachers being posted to the deprived parts of the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies that sponsored them.
The first batch of teachers under the policy has been sent to their various districts.
The Director of the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Victor Mante, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, said the assemblies were expected to provide the needed facilities to ensure that the teachers served in the deprived parts of the assemblies.
An exercise carried out by the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES) revealed that there were 6,000 untrained teachers in 70 of the 170 districts of the country.
The decision to post teachers to deprived communities aims at addressing the problem of lack of teachers in deprived communities.
Mr Mante said more than 97 per cent of teacher trainees were sponsored by their metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
He said it was, therefore, incumbent upon the local GES to post the teachers to the deprived areas of the districts that sponsored them, since that was where their services were needed most.
He said the new measures, which had taken effect from the 2008/2009 academic year, was being implemented, and stressed that "more districts should sponsor teacher trainees, since that is the only way they can address their vacancy problem".
Mr Mante said district assemblies needed to undertake the needs assessment of teachers every year to project the number of teachers they would need to plan towards their sponsorship.
On the admission of teacher trainees annually, he said the current quota was 9000, and that although Principals of Colleges of Education had indicated their preparedness to take up to 12,000 trainees, that could not be done because of the cost involved in terms of the payment of allowances.
For instance, GH¢26,255,500 was spent as allowances for teacher trainees last year, and that about GH¢900,000 more would be needed if the intake was increased to 12,000.
Mr Mante said out of the 9000 admitted every year, 8,200 graduated, saying that while others dropped out midstream the rest were referred in their subjects.
3-Year SHS deferred
Page 17
Sept 3, 2009
THE Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Education to defer the three-year senior high school (SHS) programme for one year and begin its implementation from the 2010-2011 academic year.
This means that students who would be entering senior high school Form One, for the 2009-2010 academic year, would follow the current four-year programme.
The Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, told a press conference in Accra yesterday that following Cabinet’s approval for the reversal of the duration of the senior high school from four to three years, a technical committee was set up by the ministry to draw up the modalities for the reversal, taking into consideration issues concerning infrastructure, admission procedures, financial and curriculum concerns.
“Among the committee’s findings was the fact that the Ministry of Education has to put in place the necessary facilities such as additional classrooms, laboratories and textbooks and revise the syllabuses in line with the three-year programme and amend the section of the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778) which provides for a four-year senior high school education,” he said.
He said the Cabinet also urged the ministry to set up a National Implementation Committee to deal with issues relating to infrastructure, textbooks and syllabuses for the three-year programme and address the setting up of the National Inspectorate Board, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the National Teaching Council.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said the “Ministry of Finance was also directed to include allocations for the achievement of these goals in the 2009 supplementary budget and the annual budget for the 2010 fiscal year”.
“We wish to assure all of you that before the commencement of the 2010-2011 academic year, all the requirements will be put in place to address the challenges associated with the changeover,” he emphasised.
The Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), he said, would take approximately 14 days to run the placement software after some activities, including cleaning the master file, uploading of results and running the software, and that it would take 14 days to process the placement report.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said that would involve printing, sorting, packaging and dispatching of the materials to schools through the regional and district directorate.
“By this arrangement, it is expected that all things being equal, placement reports will be available in schools by 28th September, 2009. However, candidates could access information on placement before then, hopefully by September 15, 2009,” he said, and indicated that candidates might access their placement results through SMS on given mobile codes.
He said the SHS One students were to be in school between October 12 and 17, 2009, and charged parents to accept the placement of their children since the placement was based on the six choices made by the candidates.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said out of the 395,647 candidates who wrote the Basic Education 200,642 qualified for placement, and that “these qualified candidates are to be placed according to the order of merit in vacancies in schools of their choice.
On teacher education, the minister said, the 505 Ghana Education Service personnel who went on study leave without pay and wanted re-engagement needed to provide recruitment forms, personal record forms, certificates, application letters, pay slips, covering letters from regions, testimonials from last employers or recognised public servant during the break, as well as letters of acceptance or approval of resignation or leave of absence and study leave.
“To facilitate re-engagement of these teachers who vacated their posts by going on study leave without approval, they are to be encouraged to contact their previous district directorates and apply for re-engagement. These teachers are advised to accept postings to places where there are vacancies and their services are highly needed,” he said.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said Printex, a Ghanaian textile manufacturing company, was ready to produce the specified fabric for the production of the 1.6 million free uniforms, estimated at GH¢ 11.7 million, to be supplied to 57 deprived districts.
Sept 3, 2009
THE Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Education to defer the three-year senior high school (SHS) programme for one year and begin its implementation from the 2010-2011 academic year.
This means that students who would be entering senior high school Form One, for the 2009-2010 academic year, would follow the current four-year programme.
The Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, told a press conference in Accra yesterday that following Cabinet’s approval for the reversal of the duration of the senior high school from four to three years, a technical committee was set up by the ministry to draw up the modalities for the reversal, taking into consideration issues concerning infrastructure, admission procedures, financial and curriculum concerns.
“Among the committee’s findings was the fact that the Ministry of Education has to put in place the necessary facilities such as additional classrooms, laboratories and textbooks and revise the syllabuses in line with the three-year programme and amend the section of the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778) which provides for a four-year senior high school education,” he said.
He said the Cabinet also urged the ministry to set up a National Implementation Committee to deal with issues relating to infrastructure, textbooks and syllabuses for the three-year programme and address the setting up of the National Inspectorate Board, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the National Teaching Council.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said the “Ministry of Finance was also directed to include allocations for the achievement of these goals in the 2009 supplementary budget and the annual budget for the 2010 fiscal year”.
“We wish to assure all of you that before the commencement of the 2010-2011 academic year, all the requirements will be put in place to address the challenges associated with the changeover,” he emphasised.
The Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), he said, would take approximately 14 days to run the placement software after some activities, including cleaning the master file, uploading of results and running the software, and that it would take 14 days to process the placement report.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said that would involve printing, sorting, packaging and dispatching of the materials to schools through the regional and district directorate.
“By this arrangement, it is expected that all things being equal, placement reports will be available in schools by 28th September, 2009. However, candidates could access information on placement before then, hopefully by September 15, 2009,” he said, and indicated that candidates might access their placement results through SMS on given mobile codes.
He said the SHS One students were to be in school between October 12 and 17, 2009, and charged parents to accept the placement of their children since the placement was based on the six choices made by the candidates.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said out of the 395,647 candidates who wrote the Basic Education 200,642 qualified for placement, and that “these qualified candidates are to be placed according to the order of merit in vacancies in schools of their choice.
On teacher education, the minister said, the 505 Ghana Education Service personnel who went on study leave without pay and wanted re-engagement needed to provide recruitment forms, personal record forms, certificates, application letters, pay slips, covering letters from regions, testimonials from last employers or recognised public servant during the break, as well as letters of acceptance or approval of resignation or leave of absence and study leave.
“To facilitate re-engagement of these teachers who vacated their posts by going on study leave without approval, they are to be encouraged to contact their previous district directorates and apply for re-engagement. These teachers are advised to accept postings to places where there are vacancies and their services are highly needed,” he said.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said Printex, a Ghanaian textile manufacturing company, was ready to produce the specified fabric for the production of the 1.6 million free uniforms, estimated at GH¢ 11.7 million, to be supplied to 57 deprived districts.
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