Category: Education

The Koforidua Technical University has graduated 2,398 students from various academic disciplines with a call on them to make a difference by creating employment for themselves and not wait to be employed.

Professor John Owusu, Vice Chancellor of the University indicated that 231 had first class in the various disciplines and levels including bachelor’s degree and Higher National Diploma (HND).

He admonished the graduates to use the skills acquired to create job opportunities for themselves and not wait for government employment or to be employed since they had been imbibed with the necessary skills for that.

The KTU started with only two HND programs but now offers more than 19 academic programs with 17 new degree programs introduced in the 2022/2023 academic year.

The Vice-Chancellor noted that the school had an infrastructure deficit considering the student population of over 8,000 and appealed for increased GETFund allocation to complete projects which had already started.

Mrs Gifty Twum-Ampofo, Dep
uty Education Minister (TVET), said Technical Universities occupied a unique position in the TVET agenda, hence government had well-resourced all 10 Technical Universities.

She called on the graduands to form joint venture companies and take advantage of the several business startup interventions introduced by the government to support graduates to become entrepreneurs.

She said having stayed together at hostels and in the classrooms, it should not be difficult coming together to begin a business venture adding, ‘that unfortunate situation where everyone wants to go solo is the problem in being self-employed.’

Dr Michael Agyekum Addo, CEO of Mikkado Holdings Ltd, cautioned the graduates not to join any unemployed graduates’ group to waste their time idling around.

‘There are so many opportunities around for you to take advantage of and become self-employed or do something profitable with the skills acquired at university other than giving excuses,’ he said.

The business mogul said despite the area of stu
dy, agriculture was a viable venture which graduates should not overlook.

He also advised them that there was no quick way of making money and urged them to use the knowledge they have acquired and enhance their skills and good attitude to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, has urged graduates to let the principles of integrity and ethics in their respective professions translate to a positive impact on society’s holistic development.

She, however, emphasised applying integrity and ethics as guiding principles also reflected a deep commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

Madam Owusu-Banahene gave the advice when she was speaking at the eighth congregation of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), held at the University’s Bank of Ghana-funded auditorium in Sunyani.

The ceremony was on the theme, ‘Fostering Future Leaders via Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Education’.?

A total of 2,451 students graduated with 2,159 earning bachelor’s degrees, 178 obtaining diplomas and 114 reaching the pinnacle of academic excellence by attaining postgraduate qualifications.

Madam Owusu-Banahene stressed the importance of recognising that the impact of STEAM education exte
nded far beyond individual accomplishments, emphasising that the educational approach nurtured a mindset that valued inquiry, embraced challenges, and appreciated the beauty of collaboration.

She added STEAM equipped students not only with technical skills but also with the ability to think critically, solve problems creatively and communicate effectively to contribute to effective leadership.

Madam Owusu-Banahene encouraged the graduates to approach their careers with a profound sense of responsibility, saying their life choices and innovations they would introduce as well as the policies they would advocate would shape the trajectory of their respective future.

Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako, the Vice-Chancellor of the UENR earlier in a welcoming address announced the university admitted more than 4,000 students during the 2022/2023 Academic Year, saying that remarkable achievement demonstrated the University’s commitment to providing quality education and fostering academic growth.

Prof. Asare-Bediako s
aid the University had obtained accreditation for a wide range of new programmes spanning diplomas to Doctor of Philosophy (PhDs).

He said the programmes encompassed diverse academic disciplines, including Information Technology, Computer Science, Geo-information Science, Accounting, Geo-environmental Science, Biochemistry, Food Technology, Sustainable Land Management and Sustainable Mining, saying, the expansion of academic offerings reflected the University’s dedication to meeting the evolving needs of students and industries.

Prof. Asare-Bediako announced the University was actively implementing some developmental projects which included the transformation of Syndicate Hall into a state-of-the-art Demonstration Room for the Hospitality Department, the construction of a cutting-edge Sports Complex (Phase 1), a four-storey multi-purpose office block, UENR Hospital Phase 1, completion of pavilion block 1A and the conversion of syndicate hall 1 into a modern computer laboratory.

He encouraged the graduates
to embark on a journey of research with unwavering passion and advised them to unlock doors to a future of hope and success to become beacons of light for their communities.?
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Dzodze-Penyi Senior High School (Dzosec) in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region has received infrastructure support from the school’s Parent and Teachers Association (PTA).

The support, worth thousands of cedis included 122 pieces of dual desks to enhance teaching and learning in the school.

Mr Moses Azaglo, the PTA chairman during a short donation event at the school’s premises, disclosed to the Ghana News Agency that the support was to alleviate some level of infrastructural deficit faced by the school.

He said parents and guardians willingly supported the move through levies and dues that were paid to the Association.

‘The PTA over the years championed the construction of a 14-unit classroom block for the school as well as other ongoing infrastructural projects,’ he said.

Mr Azaglo stated that the Association had however planned to tackle other challenges in the school gradually, which include insufficient teaching and learning materials.

He urged parents to pay their dues frequently
to bring the situation under control.

Mr Benjamin Atsu, a representative from the Ghana Education Service (GES), who received the items on behalf of staff and the entire student body of the school, thanked the PTA for the kind gesture.

‘I urged other associations in the various schools within the Municipality to emulate this to help improve and promote quality education.’

Mr Freeman Adehe, the Assistant Headmaster, in charge of Administration, expressed appreciation for the support.

He appealed to other benevolent corporate organisations and the Government to help solve other challenges facing the school.

Mr Adehe also urged all teaching and non-teaching staff as well as the students to go the extra mile to achieve more success for the school.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ohawu Agricultural College (OAC) in the Ketu North Municipality has, in collaboration with the Tu Delft University, Netherlands, and Holland GreenTech, graduated 43 students who studied Horticulture and Entrepreneurship Development at the Collage.

The students took courses in seed selection, nursery practices, transplanting and care of the plants, as well as plant nutrition and disease control under the Horticulture course.

Under the Entrepreneurship programme, they studied product development, and how to develop ideas, and produce the idea for the market, among others.

The Netherlands Government funded the training project, dubbed the OAC Archipelago Training Project’ which was run under a pilot for the youth in the area.

The training followed a similar successful Archipelago project rolled out at the Kwadaso Agricultural College (KAC) in Kumasi for the youth in that area and funded by the European Union and other partners.

At the OAC graduation ceremony held near Abor in the Volta Region, Mr Samue
l Darbah, National Coordinator of the Archipelago Project, Kwadaso Agriculture College, said earlier trainees who participated in the programme at KAC were already doing well, establishing themselves on the market and others also in the process of production.

Mr Darbah said the three-month training was to provide enhanced skills in horticulture production, farm management, soil management and marketing.

He urged the OAC trainees to put the knowledge acquired into good practice and make livelihoods from them.

Madam Anne-Katrien Denissen, Private Sector Development Coach, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), said agriculture and horticulture production was very important for the government of The Netherlands just as it was for the government of Ghana, the reason they decided to train some youths so they could engage in the venture to also boost food production in the country and to make money as well.

She said she was inspired by the entrepreneurship skills acquired under the project by the students, who ex
hibited some of the products at an exhibition as part of the graduation ceremony,

She expressed optimism that the project would be scaled up to other colleges after a thorough overview had been done, together with the TU Delft University and the Holland Greentech groups.

Mr Ernest Abiew, Principal of OAC, said the institution would scale up the pilot programme so more people could benefit from it.

‘We have to sustain it and look at the industry players and people who are related to Agric who may need such training,’ he stated.

He said the college already offered two main programmes, namely, a three-year diploma in General Agriculture and a two-year certificate in General Agric programme.

He said in 2024, the college was planning to introduce another programme, a certificate in Animal Health and Production Services, which would also be a two-year course to train veterinary officers in the Southern sector especially.

Currently, only one college in Tamale trains such officers in animal health.

He said the
horticulture and entrepreneurship programmes would be maintained as short courses.

The OAC was established in 1965 as a Mechanisation centre attached to the then State Farms.

It was later changed into a training institution training agricultural extension agents, formerly, agricultural extension officers.

It presently trains more than 300 agricultural agents annually.
Source: Ghana News Agency

A study conducted by African Education Watch, an educational civil society organisation, revealed that prospectus and other expenses by parents outweigh the cost incurred by the government under the free Senior High School programme.

The report observed that government average spending per student for boarding schools was GHS 1,147 and 1,107 for day students.

The report said parents spent GHS 2, 477 for prospectus on their wards in the boarding schools and spent an extra amount of GHS 4, 000 to buy other personal items, including perfume, detergents, and sanitary pads, in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Mr. Divine Kpe, Senior Programmes Officer, African Education Watch, made the presentation during a conference on education financing in Accra.

The report was on the topic ‘The Financial Burden of the Free SHS Policy and Implications for Equitable Access to Education.’.

The cost borne by the government was analysed using free SHS budgetary allocations and expenditures obtained from the Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Finance, and Parliament for the period 2017-18 to 2022-23 academic

years.

The cost to parents was analysed using historical prices of prospectus items from the Ghana Statistical Service to cost prospectuses obtained from schools.

According to the report, the prices of the prospectus increased by 38 percent from an initial percentage of 36 during the initial implementation stage of the policy.

Mr. Kpe stated that parents of continuing day students reported spending an average of GHS4,400 annually on their children’s education, including transportation, constituting 40 percent, breakfast of 50 percent, and 10 percent on books.

The report also revealed that parents of day students spent GHC5,507 inclusive of prospectus costs, which outweighed the government’s spending of GHS1,107.

The report revealed that financial constraints contributed to a 15 percent failure of candidates to honour their admission in the 2022-2023 academic year.

It attributed the failure to honour admission to the high cos
t of the prospectus and other education materials.

To minimise the cost burden of the prospectus, the report recommended that, in the medium to long term, the Ministry of Education must develop and implement a strategy to focus on children from the poorest households using data from the LEAP programme.

That, the report revealed, would enable the government to spend more to cover the full cost of secondary education for students from lower-income households.

The report recommended that the Ministry of Finance improve the disbursement of funds under the policy in line with the objectives, implementation arrangements, and cash flow projections.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Pencils of Promise (PoP), an education-focused non-profit Organisation and the Fidelity Bank Ghana, have handed over a new three-Unit classroom block to Fodome Kordzeto M/A Basic School to improve quality education.

The block has an office and ancillary facilities.

They also renovated a pavilion, KVIP, provided a new urinal, repainted an old school block built by Plan International Ghana and drilled a mechanised borehole for the community and the school.

Mr Freeman Gobah, Country Director, Pencils of Promise, said the model of the building was the second of a kind built by the Organisation.

He said the PoP had built 600 schools globally and the commissioned one at Fodome Kordzeto was the 199th in Ghana and would by January 2024, commission its 200th.

Mr Gobah said PoP believed that education was not only classroom blocks but teachers, pupils and parents were also part of the ecosystem they called education.

He said PoP had invested heavily in training or providing in-service training for teachers over
the past couple of years and had supported over 2,500 teachers with ongoing training and coaching that affected over 53,000 pupils students in the Volta, Oti and Eastern regions.

Mr Gobah said the School would become a beneficiary of PoP’s training programmes, which would commence in February 2024 and be preceded by the supply of educational materials such as story books in January.

He said the School would also benefit from the organisation’s Digital Reading Programme with electronic readers supplied to the pupils.

Mr Gobah called for an effective maintenance culture to ensure the longevity of the classroom blocks and commended the support of all those who helped in the project success.

He thanked the Bank for believing the organisation in undertaking such a project.

He said they were looking forward to the next partnership to help elevate education and contribute to building the human resources capacity of the country.

Mr Emmanuel Arkorful, on behalf of Mr Atta Yeboah Gyan, Deputy Managing Director, F
idelity Bank Ghana, said the project formed a key prong of the Bank’s Orange Impact initiative.

He said the initiative sought to provide a medium to long-term suit of support packages to 15 marginalised schools located in various regions across the country within a period of 5 years.

Mr Gyan said the initial visit to the School and what they saw made it clear that they had a responsibility to create lasting change and to provide the children of the community with a conducive environment where they could learn and thrive.

He said it was an opportunity to effect real Orange Impact and decided to take up the challenge, adding that ‘as a bank that is uniquely and proudly Ghanaian, we firmly believe that Ghana would be a better place if everyone had the opportunity and support to succeed.’

Mr Gyan said it was therefore their focus to empower individuals and communities since education stood at the core of their beliefs.

He said the renovated school block stood as a symbol of the Bank’s collective commitment t
o the future of Fodome.

Mr Gyan advised the pupils to work hard to achieve their aims and urged the teachers, parents, guardians, and members of the Fodome community to support and nurture the dreams of the young generation.

Miss Leticia Doe, Headmistress of the School, said it was established on 25th September, 1973, under a tree with six volunteer teachers and some community assistants but now had professional teachers and service personnel.

She said the School went through severe classroom challenge which words could not express for the past four and half decades.

Miss Doe said in 2014, the Junior High School (JHS) established to prevent pupils from walking a long distance for education obtained 100 percent in 2014 and 84 per cent from 2015 to 2022 in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

She said the School was currently faced with inadequate trained teachers at KG1, Basic One and Two while the JHS was using the Roman Catholic Church as classroom, which made it difficult for teaching an
d learning since students paid attention to passers-by and vehicles.

She called for benevolent assistance to building a JHS block with a library and a computer laboratory for the students.

Miss Doe expressed gratitude to Pencils of Promise and Fidelity Bank Ghana for the assistance.

Mr Francis Yaw Agbemadi, Volta Regional Education Director, said the commissioning emphasised the vital link between education and infrastructural development, showcasing the role it played in shaping the destiny of communities.

He said the project’s objectives surpassed mere classroom construction since they encompassed broader goals of creating an enriched learning environment, fostering community engagement and promoting sustainable development.

Mr Agbemadi said the project served as a beacon of progress, providing not only a conducive space for learning but also symbolising the collective commitment to nurturing the minds of the next generation.

He urged all stakeholders both local and international to continue supportin
g educational initiatives and positively shape the future of the next generations.

The donors also provided 60 dual desks, teachers and office tables and chairs, ceiling fans in the classrooms and two 10,000-litre capacity polytanks to help store water.

Awards were given to some hardworking students as well as community members.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Ga Central Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has organised a Zonal Constitution Quiz, dubbed the ‘Smart Governor’s Challenge,’ for school children in five municipalities.

Ms Mary Dagba, the Ga Central Municipal Director, NCCE, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the organisation of the quiz was based on the core mandate of the Commission to build people’s knowledge of their civic rights and responsibilities.

The Ga South, Ga North, Ga West, and Weija Gbawe municipalities, which form Zone Six, would represent the zone at the regional level of the competition, she said.

Copies of the 1992 Constitution were awarded to the competing schools by the Governance Africa Foundation for the students to study at all times.

Mr Dickson Adomako Kissi, the Member of Parliament for Anyaa Sowutuom, urged the students to continue to study hard and not to give up because the country looked up to them as future leaders.

He presented awards to students of the Odorgonnor Model One Sc
hool for their outstanding performance and for being the only public school to compete in the zonal challenge.

Madam Sandra Odai Acheampong, the Deputy Director of Education in charge of Supervision and Monitoring at Ga Central Municipal Assembly, applauded the students for their performance.

She advised them to take their studies seriously and put in their best to achieve their future goals, giving value to their family’s input.

Miss Leticia Serwaa Sakyi, a form three student of Treasureland Academy, the winners, applauded the competitors for giving them a tough challenge and encouraged every student to push harder in their studies to achieve results.

Mr Damien Ato Asante from Odorgonnor Model One School said the competition had taught them a lot about the Constitution, their rights and responsibilities, and the freedoms of each institution and individual.

The competition ended with Treasureland Academy placing first, representing Zone Six, Odorgonnor Model One School placing second, Holy Cross High Sch
ool, third, Peace Anchor Academy, fourth, and Valued Seed Academy, fifth.
Source: Ghana News Agency

The Kwame Nkrumah University Science and Technology (KNUST) has elevated the Department of Nursing to the School of Nursing and Midwifery.

The move is part of efforts to expand programmes, provide comprehensive professional training for students and build capacities of practising nurses and midwives to provide quality care to patients.

The school now has four departments – Public Health Nursing, Midwifery, Nursing, as well as Emergency and Critical Care Nursing.

Professor Mrs Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, made this known at the 10th Graduation Ceremonies for the Ministry of Health Training Institutions in Kumasi.

She said admission into Bachelor of Science top up programmes for all diploma holders would now take two years instead of the three years and urged diploma holders in health care practice to take advantage of the opportunity to ensure continuous learning and professional development.

A total of 14,197 diploma nursing students from 76 Ministry of Health affiliate training instit
utions graduated at the ceremony.

Prof Mrs Dickson emphasizing quality education, said the KNUST upheld the highest standards in preparing the professionals it trained with 21st century employable skills, and was therefore, expected the same from her affiliate institutions as the school worked to achieve the mandate.

In this way, she noted, professionals, including health workers, could serve humanity in their most vulnerable state, adding that, the health profession was a calling to serve, alleviate suffering and to bring hope to the sick and the helpless.

‘The healthcare profession demands both technical expertise and a very profound sense of empathy which requires resilience in the face of myriad of challenges confronting healthcare delivery.

This notwithstanding, we are confident that the kind of rigorous training you have been exposed to, will help you to be up to the task in contributing effectively to enhance and improve the healthcare ecosystem in a more positive and inspirational way’, she stated
.

Ms Tina Gifty Naa Ayele Mensah, a Deputy Minister of Health, said the government was taking strenuous steps to revamp and open up the health sector to enable it to absorb the top-notch health professionals that the country craved for.

She said the healthcare landscape was evolving, presenting both challenges and opportunities, and urged health professionals to stay curious and never stop learning.

Ms Ayele Mensah advised health workers to be agents of change, show empathy, and make integrity and kindness the hallmark of their profession.

The Deputy Minister encouraged graduate health workers to accept postings to anywhere they were sent to, particularly the deprived communities because the people needed them the most.
Source: Ghana News Agency