THE Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) say constant changes in the national educational policies have adversely affected the efficient delivery of the sector.
They said there is, “therefore, the need to urgently develop a blueprint on education that sets out all-time priorities to be achieved.”
The two bodies also called for the institution of a two-year compulsory national service scheme for all newly trained teachers to serve in rural areas, adding that 40 per cent of the salaries of the teachers should be paid as incentives in that direction.
“There should not be any selective treatment and each community should assure the posting authorities of adequate living accommodation for the service persons,” the General Secretary of GNAT, Mrs Irene Duncan-Adanusah, said this at a news conference in Accra yesterday to announce the GNAT/TEWU policy recommendations on achieving Education For All (EFA).
The policy, according to the two groups, seeks to address the gaps that affect the provision of quality public education, among other things.
Mrs Duncan-Adanusah said the release of annual budgets for the sector should be timely and called for efficient implementation procedures to be put in place.
She said the Capitation Grant must be increased to reflect the current economic trends, saying that the grant must also be released early and regularly to ensure smooth academic work.
She said frequent changes in the school curriculum without a corresponding in-service training for teachers and the provision of logistics needed to be addressed.
“To attract and retain qualified teachers, personal emolument of teachers should be made more attractive than those of their counterparts in the public service. In addition to ensuring competitiveness within the sector, performance-related benefits must be introduced,” she stated.
Mrs Duncan-Adanusah indicated that the retraining or in-service training programmes for teachers and educational workers should be regularly undertaken as a means of updating their skills.
She said infrastructure for schools needed to be improved upon to enhance the sense of pride of both teachers and students, adding that “many schools do not have basic facilities.”
She said the role of the School Health Education Programme co-ordinators should be well defined and should include managing the implementation of reproductive health education within schools.
Mrs Duncan-Adanusah said the teacher-community relationship should be improved, and that communities should be sensitised to assist teachers.
“It is desirable that each of these components should have its qualitative and quantitative aspects provided in order to realise the objectives of any educational system. In addition, each stakeholders should perform their proper roles to ensure effective and efficient educational system,” she said.
Monday, February 9, 2009
5 Students receive Unilever Foundation bursaries
Page 11
09-02-09
THE Unilever Foundation for Education and Development (UFED) has presented bursaries worth $5,000 to five postgraduate students of the College of Health Sciences at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Each of the beneficiaries received a cheque for $1,000. This brings the total amount spent by the foundation on postgraduate students at the college to more than $30,000 over the last six years.
The beneficiaries for the 2008/2009 academic year are: Messrs Wise Chukwudi Letsa, Dominic Selorm Amuzu, John T. Ayivase, George K. Kpentey and Seidu Mahmoud Abdulai.
Presenting the cheques, Mr Andrew E. Quayson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UFED said, the foundation had been committed to providing financial support for students of the college who chose to remain in the country to give back to society what taxpayers had contributed to their professional training.
“That is why to date UFED has invested over $30,000 to help these health professionals to pursue higher studies in their chosen fields to better their lot as well as that of the nation, Mr Quayson stated.
Mr Quayson entreated the beneficiaries to remain in the country to enable the younger ones benefit from whatever they had studied and urged them to continue with their good work to help others in the country through health care delivery.
For his part, the Deputy Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Andrew Anthony Adjei, expressed his profound gratitude to the foundation for helping medical students in the country.
He said postgraduate training played an important role in producing highly efficient and competent graduates.
Prof. Adjei said the college had MPhil and PhD students who were doing very well, adding that most of them were not working but relied on scholarships to go through their studies.
The Deputy Provost, therefore, appealed to the foundation to increase the number of beneficiaries from the package.
Mr Seidu Mahmoud Abdulai, a beneficiary, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the foundation for the kind gesture and promised that they would remain in the country to help others.
09-02-09
THE Unilever Foundation for Education and Development (UFED) has presented bursaries worth $5,000 to five postgraduate students of the College of Health Sciences at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Each of the beneficiaries received a cheque for $1,000. This brings the total amount spent by the foundation on postgraduate students at the college to more than $30,000 over the last six years.
The beneficiaries for the 2008/2009 academic year are: Messrs Wise Chukwudi Letsa, Dominic Selorm Amuzu, John T. Ayivase, George K. Kpentey and Seidu Mahmoud Abdulai.
Presenting the cheques, Mr Andrew E. Quayson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UFED said, the foundation had been committed to providing financial support for students of the college who chose to remain in the country to give back to society what taxpayers had contributed to their professional training.
“That is why to date UFED has invested over $30,000 to help these health professionals to pursue higher studies in their chosen fields to better their lot as well as that of the nation, Mr Quayson stated.
Mr Quayson entreated the beneficiaries to remain in the country to enable the younger ones benefit from whatever they had studied and urged them to continue with their good work to help others in the country through health care delivery.
For his part, the Deputy Provost of the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Andrew Anthony Adjei, expressed his profound gratitude to the foundation for helping medical students in the country.
He said postgraduate training played an important role in producing highly efficient and competent graduates.
Prof. Adjei said the college had MPhil and PhD students who were doing very well, adding that most of them were not working but relied on scholarships to go through their studies.
The Deputy Provost, therefore, appealed to the foundation to increase the number of beneficiaries from the package.
Mr Seidu Mahmoud Abdulai, a beneficiary, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the foundation for the kind gesture and promised that they would remain in the country to help others.
Atimpoku children in risky business
Back Page
Feb 7, 2009
Several children at Atimpoku in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region are engaged in a risky business of ferrying tourists across the Volta River, in canoes that are not equipped with any safety gadgets.
Most of them operate the canoe services on the Volta River on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, when tourists turn out in high numbers, and charge GH¢2 per person, which is far cheaper than the GH¢30 charged by the cruise boats operated by some of the hotels in the area.
The activities of the children pose danger not only to themselves but to their clients as well. They have neither life guards nor life jackets for their guests and any slip could result in drowning for those without swimming skills. Unlike the cruise boats operated by owners of hotels along the river, which use outboard motors for cruising, the canoes are paddled by their operators.
On Sunday, February 1, 2009, the Daily Graphic spotted five of such children perched in their canoes on the river waiting for tourists to arrive.
Two of them who operate canoe services on the river, Godwin, 15, a class six pupil, and Abraham, 14, a class 4 pupil, attend the nearby Achiase Primary School. They told the Daily Graphic that they had been doing the business for five and three years respectively.
According to the two (Godwin and Abraham), ferrying tourists on the river is another way of generating income. And for Godwin, who said he had lost both parents, ferrying tourists on the river is what he does to get money for school.
“I live with my elder brother who is a cobbler and get little from the work he does. I have to supplement his income by doing this work,” he said, adding that the boat he used belonged to a man he rendered account to at the end of the day.
He said on a good day he could make as much as GH¢30 and gave the boat owner GH¢2.
For Abraham, his parents are aware of the work he does. He said the canoe belonged to his father, who has sanctioned what he was doing. Both Godwin and Abraham said they could swim, and indicated that they were so familiar with the river, and therefore they knew how to move their guests round without having any problem or accident.
They do not only ferry foreign tourists, but also local travellers who wish to cross the river from one village to another.
Checks by the Daily Graphic at the Ghana Tourists Board (GTB) revealed that the practice of the children was unknown to the officials.
According to the Public Relations Manager of the GTB, Mr Ben Ohene Ayeh, it is not only illegal but dangerous for the children to engage in that practice without life jackets and life guards.
Following checks by the Daily Graphic, he said the board was going to prompt its Eastern Regional Office to be on the alert to check the practice.
A source at the Akosombo Continental Hotel, one of the hotels that operate cruise boats in the area, said the hotel had adopted the policy of safety first in its operations, since human life was at stake.
Feb 7, 2009
Several children at Atimpoku in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region are engaged in a risky business of ferrying tourists across the Volta River, in canoes that are not equipped with any safety gadgets.
Most of them operate the canoe services on the Volta River on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, when tourists turn out in high numbers, and charge GH¢2 per person, which is far cheaper than the GH¢30 charged by the cruise boats operated by some of the hotels in the area.
The activities of the children pose danger not only to themselves but to their clients as well. They have neither life guards nor life jackets for their guests and any slip could result in drowning for those without swimming skills. Unlike the cruise boats operated by owners of hotels along the river, which use outboard motors for cruising, the canoes are paddled by their operators.
On Sunday, February 1, 2009, the Daily Graphic spotted five of such children perched in their canoes on the river waiting for tourists to arrive.
Two of them who operate canoe services on the river, Godwin, 15, a class six pupil, and Abraham, 14, a class 4 pupil, attend the nearby Achiase Primary School. They told the Daily Graphic that they had been doing the business for five and three years respectively.
According to the two (Godwin and Abraham), ferrying tourists on the river is another way of generating income. And for Godwin, who said he had lost both parents, ferrying tourists on the river is what he does to get money for school.
“I live with my elder brother who is a cobbler and get little from the work he does. I have to supplement his income by doing this work,” he said, adding that the boat he used belonged to a man he rendered account to at the end of the day.
He said on a good day he could make as much as GH¢30 and gave the boat owner GH¢2.
For Abraham, his parents are aware of the work he does. He said the canoe belonged to his father, who has sanctioned what he was doing. Both Godwin and Abraham said they could swim, and indicated that they were so familiar with the river, and therefore they knew how to move their guests round without having any problem or accident.
They do not only ferry foreign tourists, but also local travellers who wish to cross the river from one village to another.
Checks by the Daily Graphic at the Ghana Tourists Board (GTB) revealed that the practice of the children was unknown to the officials.
According to the Public Relations Manager of the GTB, Mr Ben Ohene Ayeh, it is not only illegal but dangerous for the children to engage in that practice without life jackets and life guards.
Following checks by the Daily Graphic, he said the board was going to prompt its Eastern Regional Office to be on the alert to check the practice.
A source at the Akosombo Continental Hotel, one of the hotels that operate cruise boats in the area, said the hotel had adopted the policy of safety first in its operations, since human life was at stake.
Hold thanksgiving service in the north--Resident appeals to govt
A RESIDENT of Zabzugu Tatale in the Northern Region, Mr Solomon Bajoh, has appealed to the government to hold another thanksgiving service for the people of the north to appreciate their efforts and contributions of ensuring peace during the 2008 elections.
According to him, such a programme, would go a long way to sustain the peace in the area.
Mr Bajoh who called at the offices of the Daily Graphic to make the request, said the people in the northern regions conducted themselves very well during the polls.
That, he said, came in view of the perception that the north was a trouble spot in the country.
A national thanksgiving service was held on Sunday to give thanks to God for the peaceful manner in which the 2008 general elections was held.
He said he came to the south three years ago, after completing senior high school to identify the cause of the gap between the north and the south.
Mr Bajoh said although he was yet to accomplish his mission, it was sad that some young people in the north had to run away to the south in search of better living conditions, only to be faced with the reality of life.
He said those who moved to Agbogbloshie to be porters also faced a lot of challenges, including the payment of daily tolls.
Such tolls, he said, should be scrapped since the porters made little from what they got.
“Everyday each person pays some money which could have been saved or used for their personal upkeep. I think this should be abolished,” he suggested.
Mr Bajoh said people of northern extraction were hardworking and that given the right environment they would be able to improve upon their lives.
According to him, such a programme, would go a long way to sustain the peace in the area.
Mr Bajoh who called at the offices of the Daily Graphic to make the request, said the people in the northern regions conducted themselves very well during the polls.
That, he said, came in view of the perception that the north was a trouble spot in the country.
A national thanksgiving service was held on Sunday to give thanks to God for the peaceful manner in which the 2008 general elections was held.
He said he came to the south three years ago, after completing senior high school to identify the cause of the gap between the north and the south.
Mr Bajoh said although he was yet to accomplish his mission, it was sad that some young people in the north had to run away to the south in search of better living conditions, only to be faced with the reality of life.
He said those who moved to Agbogbloshie to be porters also faced a lot of challenges, including the payment of daily tolls.
Such tolls, he said, should be scrapped since the porters made little from what they got.
“Everyday each person pays some money which could have been saved or used for their personal upkeep. I think this should be abolished,” he suggested.
Mr Bajoh said people of northern extraction were hardworking and that given the right environment they would be able to improve upon their lives.
Give more attention to issues on culture - Prof Hagan
Feb 5, 2009
Page 24
THE Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Prof George Hagan, has underscored the need for the media to give ample space and time to cultural issues.
He said that could be achieved if media personnel deepened their understanding of such issues which formed a vital part of the society.
According to him, media practice was a cultural thing, as it reflected what went on in society.
Speaking at a three-day training programme for 25 journalists drawn from across the country, Prof Hagan deplored the lack of in-depth reportage on what took place on the country’s cultural landscape.
The training workshop for journalists reporting on culture was organised by the Cultural Initiatives Support Programme (CISP).
The topics treated included the Context and Content of Culture in Ghana’s Development, Reflecting on Cultural Festivals, Cultural Tourism and Cultural Sites, Practical Problems in Reporting on Culture and How to Cover the Cultural Beat.
Prof Hagan stressed the need for the syllabuses of schools to also have time for cultural issues, adding that journalism training institutions should also factor arts and culture reporting in their programmes.
Rating the relative performance of the media that paid some attention to cultural issues, he said radio was ahead, followed by television and the print media, adding that it was time adequate space was devoted by all sections of the media to a comprehensive coverage of cultural issues.
He said in order to ensure adequate coverage of cultural issues, there was the need for media practitioners to be educated and knowledgeable about those issues to enable them to report better.
Prof Hagan called for a national discourse on cultural issues to create awareness among the populace.
He said culture, which was, among other things, the totality of the life of a people, should be recognised as a basis for national development.
The Programme Co-ordinator of CISP, Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, said there was the need for the media to focus on cultural reporting.
The training programme, he said, aimed at building the skills of journalists to cover the broad range of subjects that comprised culture and help them to adopt more innovative ways of approaching coverage in the area of culture.
In addition, he said, the programme was to help journalists to publish stories produced during the training, as well as encourage them to share experiences and support one another’s professional development in the area of arts and culture reporting.
The training, which was both theoretical and practical, was addressed by experienced resource persons.
They included Dr Audrey Gadzekpo, the acting Director of the School of Communications Studies of the University of Ghana; Efo K. Mawugbe, a former Director of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC); Mr Kofi Akpabli, a travel writer; Mr Gerald Annan-Forson, a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ); Nanabanyin Dadson, the Editor of the Graphic Showbiz; Mr Enimil Ashong, the Editor of the Ghanaian Times, and Mr Daniel Appiah-Adjei, the Programme Officer of CISP.
Page 24
THE Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Prof George Hagan, has underscored the need for the media to give ample space and time to cultural issues.
He said that could be achieved if media personnel deepened their understanding of such issues which formed a vital part of the society.
According to him, media practice was a cultural thing, as it reflected what went on in society.
Speaking at a three-day training programme for 25 journalists drawn from across the country, Prof Hagan deplored the lack of in-depth reportage on what took place on the country’s cultural landscape.
The training workshop for journalists reporting on culture was organised by the Cultural Initiatives Support Programme (CISP).
The topics treated included the Context and Content of Culture in Ghana’s Development, Reflecting on Cultural Festivals, Cultural Tourism and Cultural Sites, Practical Problems in Reporting on Culture and How to Cover the Cultural Beat.
Prof Hagan stressed the need for the syllabuses of schools to also have time for cultural issues, adding that journalism training institutions should also factor arts and culture reporting in their programmes.
Rating the relative performance of the media that paid some attention to cultural issues, he said radio was ahead, followed by television and the print media, adding that it was time adequate space was devoted by all sections of the media to a comprehensive coverage of cultural issues.
He said in order to ensure adequate coverage of cultural issues, there was the need for media practitioners to be educated and knowledgeable about those issues to enable them to report better.
Prof Hagan called for a national discourse on cultural issues to create awareness among the populace.
He said culture, which was, among other things, the totality of the life of a people, should be recognised as a basis for national development.
The Programme Co-ordinator of CISP, Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, said there was the need for the media to focus on cultural reporting.
The training programme, he said, aimed at building the skills of journalists to cover the broad range of subjects that comprised culture and help them to adopt more innovative ways of approaching coverage in the area of culture.
In addition, he said, the programme was to help journalists to publish stories produced during the training, as well as encourage them to share experiences and support one another’s professional development in the area of arts and culture reporting.
The training, which was both theoretical and practical, was addressed by experienced resource persons.
They included Dr Audrey Gadzekpo, the acting Director of the School of Communications Studies of the University of Ghana; Efo K. Mawugbe, a former Director of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC); Mr Kofi Akpabli, a travel writer; Mr Gerald Annan-Forson, a lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ); Nanabanyin Dadson, the Editor of the Graphic Showbiz; Mr Enimil Ashong, the Editor of the Ghanaian Times, and Mr Daniel Appiah-Adjei, the Programme Officer of CISP.
RE-ENGAGED TUTORS UNPAID
Page 1 Lead
Feb 4, 2009
ABOUT 2,600 teachers who were re-engaged into the Ghana Education Service (GES) last year have not received their salaries for more than one year.
The teachers are those who had been with the service and were re-engaged at both the basic and the senior high school levels after periods of leave of absence and leave without pay.
Confirming the plight of the teachers to the Daily Graphic, the Head of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) Unit of the GES, Mr Michael Inkoom, said the non-payment of the affected teachers was not the fault of the GES but the result of an embargo placed on the recruitment of staff last year.
He said the embargo was introduced last year as part of efforts to let ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to cut down cost, explaining that it affected about 2,000 teachers and other staff members recruited by their heads of institutions.
“When we are told the ban is lifted, we will pay them,” he emphasised, adding that those affected included teachers who went on leave without pay and those who went on a leave of absence.
An Assistant Director at the Public Relations Unit of the GES, Mr Paul Krampah, said heads of schools had been informed of the ban when the directive came.
On the issue of salary arrears for teachers who completed their training in 2007, Mr Inkoom said the IPPD II was currently being upgraded to address the problem, saying that the problem was not with the software but customising it to suit the Ghanaian situation.
Some teachers who completed their training in 2007 and a few of those who completed in 2005 are also yet to be paid their salary arrears after they have been placed on the correct salary scale.
But Mr Inkoom indicated that the problem was a technical one which started “when we moved from the IPPD I to IPPD II in October, 2006”.
He said although the system could capture salaries, it could not capture arrears.
He said the issue of arrears did not affect only GES staff but the entire public service, saying the staff of the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department were having sleepless nights trying to rectify the problem once and for all.
“Both the GES and the CAGD are working feverishly to solve the arrears problem,” he stated.
For his part, a Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr John Nyoagbe, said the association would ensure that the affected teachers were paid their arrears.
Feb 4, 2009
ABOUT 2,600 teachers who were re-engaged into the Ghana Education Service (GES) last year have not received their salaries for more than one year.
The teachers are those who had been with the service and were re-engaged at both the basic and the senior high school levels after periods of leave of absence and leave without pay.
Confirming the plight of the teachers to the Daily Graphic, the Head of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) Unit of the GES, Mr Michael Inkoom, said the non-payment of the affected teachers was not the fault of the GES but the result of an embargo placed on the recruitment of staff last year.
He said the embargo was introduced last year as part of efforts to let ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to cut down cost, explaining that it affected about 2,000 teachers and other staff members recruited by their heads of institutions.
“When we are told the ban is lifted, we will pay them,” he emphasised, adding that those affected included teachers who went on leave without pay and those who went on a leave of absence.
An Assistant Director at the Public Relations Unit of the GES, Mr Paul Krampah, said heads of schools had been informed of the ban when the directive came.
On the issue of salary arrears for teachers who completed their training in 2007, Mr Inkoom said the IPPD II was currently being upgraded to address the problem, saying that the problem was not with the software but customising it to suit the Ghanaian situation.
Some teachers who completed their training in 2007 and a few of those who completed in 2005 are also yet to be paid their salary arrears after they have been placed on the correct salary scale.
But Mr Inkoom indicated that the problem was a technical one which started “when we moved from the IPPD I to IPPD II in October, 2006”.
He said although the system could capture salaries, it could not capture arrears.
He said the issue of arrears did not affect only GES staff but the entire public service, saying the staff of the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department were having sleepless nights trying to rectify the problem once and for all.
“Both the GES and the CAGD are working feverishly to solve the arrears problem,” he stated.
For his part, a Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr John Nyoagbe, said the association would ensure that the affected teachers were paid their arrears.
‘Incorporate textbook policy in Procurement Act’
Feb 3, 2009
Spread
THE Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association (GPPCA) has called on the government to incorporate the Textbook Development and Distribution Policy for Basic Education into the Public Procurement Act.
That, it said, was to ensure that the Ministry of Education complied with the 60 per cent requirement of Ghanaian participation in the printing of local course materials.
The Executive Secretary of the GPPCA, Mr William Turkson, who made the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the lack of compliance of the policy was affecting local printers.
He said once the policy was complied with, “it would help to build the capacities of local printers, generate employment opportunities for Ghanaians, as well as boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product.”
“We are prepared to take more people for vacation and permanent employment. We have the capacities to run three shifts,” he stated, adding that local printers had been treated unfairly over the years, and that such a practice was affecting their operations.
Mr Turkson said the foreign printers were operating under a freezone system, and so had tax and export rebates, among other tax exemptions.
“Ghana government exempts them from all taxes. The government relies on the UNESCO Convention known as the Florence Agreement, which was signed in 1950 and 1976 to grant exemptions,” he explained.
He said it was stated in the convention that if taxes shall be levied on imported book, it should not be more than what pertained to the local industry.
However, Mr Turkson said, local printers paid 32 and half per cent taxes on raw materials imported in addition to about 30 per cent interest on loans from the banks.
He indicated that local printers had invested and installed modern printing machines that could be used to print quality books and ensured prompt delivery.
Mr Turkson named some of the printing houses as Innolink, Bulk, Checkpoint, Safeway, Fon, Yasarko, Type, Sakoa and Acts Commercial.
Spread
THE Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association (GPPCA) has called on the government to incorporate the Textbook Development and Distribution Policy for Basic Education into the Public Procurement Act.
That, it said, was to ensure that the Ministry of Education complied with the 60 per cent requirement of Ghanaian participation in the printing of local course materials.
The Executive Secretary of the GPPCA, Mr William Turkson, who made the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the lack of compliance of the policy was affecting local printers.
He said once the policy was complied with, “it would help to build the capacities of local printers, generate employment opportunities for Ghanaians, as well as boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product.”
“We are prepared to take more people for vacation and permanent employment. We have the capacities to run three shifts,” he stated, adding that local printers had been treated unfairly over the years, and that such a practice was affecting their operations.
Mr Turkson said the foreign printers were operating under a freezone system, and so had tax and export rebates, among other tax exemptions.
“Ghana government exempts them from all taxes. The government relies on the UNESCO Convention known as the Florence Agreement, which was signed in 1950 and 1976 to grant exemptions,” he explained.
He said it was stated in the convention that if taxes shall be levied on imported book, it should not be more than what pertained to the local industry.
However, Mr Turkson said, local printers paid 32 and half per cent taxes on raw materials imported in addition to about 30 per cent interest on loans from the banks.
He indicated that local printers had invested and installed modern printing machines that could be used to print quality books and ensured prompt delivery.
Mr Turkson named some of the printing houses as Innolink, Bulk, Checkpoint, Safeway, Fon, Yasarko, Type, Sakoa and Acts Commercial.
Tackle problems of education not SHS duration--NUGS advises
Page 11
Feb 2, 2009
THE National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has said that instead of spending resources on debating the duration of the senior high school (SHS), the country should rather direct its efforts at tackling the problems facing the educational sector.
It said the back and forth approach, especially by politicians on the number of years to be spent in SHS threatened the country’s future and stressed the need for the country to be decisive.
The President of NUGS, Mr Ishmael Tweneboah-Kodua, told the Daily Graphic that it was time politicians stopped experimenting with the future of students.
He said there was the need for succeeding governments to build on what their predecessors had done, rather than changing the number of years which tended to create confusion.
He said three or four years of SHS was not the issue, and that what needed to be looked at were the provision of infrastructure, teaching and learning materials and the motivation of teachers, among other things.
Tweneboah-Kodua said there was a focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), during 2007, adding that schools were yet to be provided with computers for the programme.
A similar problem was with the 1987 reform which also failed to provide workshops as stipulated under the reform.
“We don’t have textbooks, equipment for laboratories and other teaching and learning materials. We don’t have classrooms and students are studying under trees,” he noted, adding that “these are what we are supposed to be addressing and not the duration of the SHS”.
Mr Tweneboah-Koduah said if these problems are not addressed, the number of years spent in school would not have any impact on the educational system.
He cited the large number of candidates who performed poorly in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), and said there was the need to address such a major problem since it did not speak well of the educational system.
Meanwhile, NUGS has endorsed all the legitimate actions by students of the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), to resolve the leadership crisis there.
“We view with serious concern the suspension of Mr Naab Alphonse as the Central President of the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University. The increasing interference with matters affecting students by school authorities especially management of the UDS, is unfortunate and regrettable,” it said.
A statement issued by NUGS said treating adults in tertiary institutions as though they were primary school kids was reprehensible to say the least.
It said the authorities of UDS had no mandate to suspend Mr Naab as the SRC President because they did not elect him, adding that “If he flagrantly violates any school rule, the best the university authorities could do was to apply the school regulations proportionate to whatever crime he may have committed and not arbitrarily suspend him as the President of the Students Representative Council”.
Feb 2, 2009
THE National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has said that instead of spending resources on debating the duration of the senior high school (SHS), the country should rather direct its efforts at tackling the problems facing the educational sector.
It said the back and forth approach, especially by politicians on the number of years to be spent in SHS threatened the country’s future and stressed the need for the country to be decisive.
The President of NUGS, Mr Ishmael Tweneboah-Kodua, told the Daily Graphic that it was time politicians stopped experimenting with the future of students.
He said there was the need for succeeding governments to build on what their predecessors had done, rather than changing the number of years which tended to create confusion.
He said three or four years of SHS was not the issue, and that what needed to be looked at were the provision of infrastructure, teaching and learning materials and the motivation of teachers, among other things.
Tweneboah-Kodua said there was a focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), during 2007, adding that schools were yet to be provided with computers for the programme.
A similar problem was with the 1987 reform which also failed to provide workshops as stipulated under the reform.
“We don’t have textbooks, equipment for laboratories and other teaching and learning materials. We don’t have classrooms and students are studying under trees,” he noted, adding that “these are what we are supposed to be addressing and not the duration of the SHS”.
Mr Tweneboah-Koduah said if these problems are not addressed, the number of years spent in school would not have any impact on the educational system.
He cited the large number of candidates who performed poorly in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), and said there was the need to address such a major problem since it did not speak well of the educational system.
Meanwhile, NUGS has endorsed all the legitimate actions by students of the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), to resolve the leadership crisis there.
“We view with serious concern the suspension of Mr Naab Alphonse as the Central President of the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University. The increasing interference with matters affecting students by school authorities especially management of the UDS, is unfortunate and regrettable,” it said.
A statement issued by NUGS said treating adults in tertiary institutions as though they were primary school kids was reprehensible to say the least.
It said the authorities of UDS had no mandate to suspend Mr Naab as the SRC President because they did not elect him, adding that “If he flagrantly violates any school rule, the best the university authorities could do was to apply the school regulations proportionate to whatever crime he may have committed and not arbitrarily suspend him as the President of the Students Representative Council”.
'Strengthen, equip chieftaincy'
01-30-09
THE Executive Director of the African Peacebuilding Club, Mr Salam Ramani, has appealed to the new government to strengthen and equip the chieftaincy institution to enable it to become more effective.
In addition, he said, the government should pay adequate attention to addressing the issue of chieftaincy dispute, which had tended to tarnish the image of the chieftaincy institution.
“Chiefs play an important role in local governance and, therefore, their institution should be supported and strengthened,” he told the Daily Graphic.
Mr Ramani said there was the need for the government to bring the various factions claiming to be the rightful owners of stools together and settle their differences to avoid tension.
“If we want to develop, then we should put an end to all the conflicts arising out of chieftaincy disputes,” he said.
He urged all Ghanaians to bury their differences and support the new government to deliver for the betterment of the people.
Mr Ramani congratulated all Ghanaians on the various roles they played in ensuring peaceful elections, adding that it was a period that Ghanaians proved to the rest of the world that the country was the beacon of hope for democracy in Africa.
He, however, said Ghanaians should not be complacent, but work to sustain and improve the gains that had been chalked up over the years.
“We also need to adopt certain principles that would safeguard the peace of the country,” he said, adding that such principles included the use of civil language and responsible journalism.
Mr Ramani said he was convinced that once those principles were adopted, the peace being enjoyed would be protected.
He appealed to the government to ensure that the national cake was shared equally.
He charged Members of Parliament (MPs) to support development-oriented programmes in their constituencies.
THE Executive Director of the African Peacebuilding Club, Mr Salam Ramani, has appealed to the new government to strengthen and equip the chieftaincy institution to enable it to become more effective.
In addition, he said, the government should pay adequate attention to addressing the issue of chieftaincy dispute, which had tended to tarnish the image of the chieftaincy institution.
“Chiefs play an important role in local governance and, therefore, their institution should be supported and strengthened,” he told the Daily Graphic.
Mr Ramani said there was the need for the government to bring the various factions claiming to be the rightful owners of stools together and settle their differences to avoid tension.
“If we want to develop, then we should put an end to all the conflicts arising out of chieftaincy disputes,” he said.
He urged all Ghanaians to bury their differences and support the new government to deliver for the betterment of the people.
Mr Ramani congratulated all Ghanaians on the various roles they played in ensuring peaceful elections, adding that it was a period that Ghanaians proved to the rest of the world that the country was the beacon of hope for democracy in Africa.
He, however, said Ghanaians should not be complacent, but work to sustain and improve the gains that had been chalked up over the years.
“We also need to adopt certain principles that would safeguard the peace of the country,” he said, adding that such principles included the use of civil language and responsible journalism.
Mr Ramani said he was convinced that once those principles were adopted, the peace being enjoyed would be protected.
He appealed to the government to ensure that the national cake was shared equally.
He charged Members of Parliament (MPs) to support development-oriented programmes in their constituencies.
Pardon didn't take away criminal charges
Page 3
01-29-09
THE former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, has advised drivers who were released from prison last year before the run-off elections to go to court to clear the criminal charges that were preferred against them.
He said although they were released by the immediate past government, there was the need for them to file an application to quash the criminal charges which were standing in the records of the courts against them.
Mr Tsikata, who gave the advice at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said a pardon did not take away the conviction, adding that he was still at the court, despite his pardon by ex-President Kufuor, to clear his name, since he was innocent.
“As I indicated, I never sought this pardon, which is clearly in bad faith, from someone who has been the prime mover of the determination to have me in prison. From the time the first Attorney-General in the Kufuor administration, Nana Akufo-Addo, had summons served on me In the name of the President, the hand of the President has been evident,” he explained.
According to him, all those who exercised discretionary power under the Constitution and laws of the country were subject to Article 296 of the Constitution and could not just act arbitrarily to try to cover up their own wrongdoing which was challenged by judicial process.
Mr Tsikata said he would, therefore, “pursue the judicial processes in the interest of justice and the accountability of office holders”.
At the press conference, a documentary, The Albatross, on his conviction and the series of activities embarked upon by the Free Tsatsu Movement to demand his release from prison was shown to members of the press.
Mr Tsikata expressed his profound gratitude to all those who showed concern over his imprisonment and state of health, saying, “I have been really touched by the love shown and the support there has been for my cause.”
He expressed concern over what he said was the collusion between the then executive and the judiciary to get him convicted and said such a negative practice was not good for the country and its democracy.
He later outlined the series of events leading to his conviction and imprisonment.
“The extraordinary events of June 18, 2008, my conviction and imprisonment by Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban are worthy of close attention, I believe not only for my sake but also for the country as a whole and for the sake of reflecting on issues of justice which concern all human beings and are so fundamental to society,” he said.
He announced that the African Commission on Human and People’s Right would hear a complaint in which he referred to the determination of the immediate past President to have him incarcerated by hook or crook.
Mr Tsikata said having submitted the complaint, the Attorney-General at the time, Mr Joe Ghartey, raised a preliminary objection on the ground that he (Tsikata) had not exhausted local remedies and that “this objection was upheld in November, 2006 without my receiving notice of the proceedings of the commission”.
He said he then asked the commission to review its decision and it granted the request and reopened the issue as to whether his complaint was admissible.
On Tuesday, January 27, 2009, he said, he received a letter from the commission, dated January 5, 2009, indicating that the commission, at its session in Abuja, had “now decided in my favour and declared that my complaint is admissible”.
According to the letter, which was made available to the press, the commission was to hear the complaint on its merit at its next session in May 2009.
Mr Tsikata also touched on the issue relating to the resignation of the immediate past President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr Nii Osah Mills, who commented on his case shortly after some executives of the GBA had visited him at the Nsawam Prison.
He said it was important that all the actors in such situations candidly disclosed their interests so that members of the association and the public would know where they were coming from.
Counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Kizito Beyuo, he said, was from the law chambers Tetteh and Co., with the head of the chambers, Mr Kwame Tetteh, “now claiming to be the acting President of the GBA”.
Mr Tsikata said Mr Tetteh was also the Chairman of the Merchant Bank, which was the trustee of the GNPC in respect of Valley Farms, adding that Frank Davies, the President of the Greater Accra branch of the GBA, represented Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban in the administrative inquiry constituted by the Chief Justice concerning her going to call Justice Farkye out of court when he was in the middle of reading his judgement in the Abodakpi case, while Mr J.K. Agyemang acted as lawyer for former President Kufuor.
01-29-09
THE former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, has advised drivers who were released from prison last year before the run-off elections to go to court to clear the criminal charges that were preferred against them.
He said although they were released by the immediate past government, there was the need for them to file an application to quash the criminal charges which were standing in the records of the courts against them.
Mr Tsikata, who gave the advice at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said a pardon did not take away the conviction, adding that he was still at the court, despite his pardon by ex-President Kufuor, to clear his name, since he was innocent.
“As I indicated, I never sought this pardon, which is clearly in bad faith, from someone who has been the prime mover of the determination to have me in prison. From the time the first Attorney-General in the Kufuor administration, Nana Akufo-Addo, had summons served on me In the name of the President, the hand of the President has been evident,” he explained.
According to him, all those who exercised discretionary power under the Constitution and laws of the country were subject to Article 296 of the Constitution and could not just act arbitrarily to try to cover up their own wrongdoing which was challenged by judicial process.
Mr Tsikata said he would, therefore, “pursue the judicial processes in the interest of justice and the accountability of office holders”.
At the press conference, a documentary, The Albatross, on his conviction and the series of activities embarked upon by the Free Tsatsu Movement to demand his release from prison was shown to members of the press.
Mr Tsikata expressed his profound gratitude to all those who showed concern over his imprisonment and state of health, saying, “I have been really touched by the love shown and the support there has been for my cause.”
He expressed concern over what he said was the collusion between the then executive and the judiciary to get him convicted and said such a negative practice was not good for the country and its democracy.
He later outlined the series of events leading to his conviction and imprisonment.
“The extraordinary events of June 18, 2008, my conviction and imprisonment by Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban are worthy of close attention, I believe not only for my sake but also for the country as a whole and for the sake of reflecting on issues of justice which concern all human beings and are so fundamental to society,” he said.
He announced that the African Commission on Human and People’s Right would hear a complaint in which he referred to the determination of the immediate past President to have him incarcerated by hook or crook.
Mr Tsikata said having submitted the complaint, the Attorney-General at the time, Mr Joe Ghartey, raised a preliminary objection on the ground that he (Tsikata) had not exhausted local remedies and that “this objection was upheld in November, 2006 without my receiving notice of the proceedings of the commission”.
He said he then asked the commission to review its decision and it granted the request and reopened the issue as to whether his complaint was admissible.
On Tuesday, January 27, 2009, he said, he received a letter from the commission, dated January 5, 2009, indicating that the commission, at its session in Abuja, had “now decided in my favour and declared that my complaint is admissible”.
According to the letter, which was made available to the press, the commission was to hear the complaint on its merit at its next session in May 2009.
Mr Tsikata also touched on the issue relating to the resignation of the immediate past President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr Nii Osah Mills, who commented on his case shortly after some executives of the GBA had visited him at the Nsawam Prison.
He said it was important that all the actors in such situations candidly disclosed their interests so that members of the association and the public would know where they were coming from.
Counsel for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Kizito Beyuo, he said, was from the law chambers Tetteh and Co., with the head of the chambers, Mr Kwame Tetteh, “now claiming to be the acting President of the GBA”.
Mr Tsikata said Mr Tetteh was also the Chairman of the Merchant Bank, which was the trustee of the GNPC in respect of Valley Farms, adding that Frank Davies, the President of the Greater Accra branch of the GBA, represented Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban in the administrative inquiry constituted by the Chief Justice concerning her going to call Justice Farkye out of court when he was in the middle of reading his judgement in the Abodakpi case, while Mr J.K. Agyemang acted as lawyer for former President Kufuor.
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