Category: Education

Parents and caregivers of children with cleft lips and palates have been advised to prioritize the nutrition of their children as it is a major factor to be considered before conducting a corrective surgery.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are openings or split respectively in the upper lip, or the roof of the mouth (palate) respectively or both, which occurs when facial structures that are developing in an unborn baby do not close completely.

Ms Dede Kwadjo, Head of Nutrition for Operation Smile Ghana, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said good nutrition does not only prevent malnutrition but was also a key ingredient in carrying out surgery to correct a cleft lip or palate.

Ms Kwadjo, who is also a Principal Dietitian at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, said the corresponding weight of a child must match the age as a sign of healthiness before being booked for surgery.

She disclosed that a child with a cleft lip must have a minimum weight of not less than six kilogrammes at six months to qualify for surgery, while those with cleft palate must not weigh below 10 kilogrammes as their weight must correspond to their one-year age and above age that such surgery could be carried out.

She revealed that due to the challenge associated with the cleft lip and palates, many such children with the birth defect tend to have poor eating habits leading to weight-related issues.

She said to help put the children in the best nutritional shape for surgery to proceed, the nutritional team of Operation Smile Ghana holds a monthly free session for all children with cleft issues nationwide.

The Head of Nutrition said that they were able to identify the issues early and put in the right interventions to ensure that the surgery was carried out at the appropriate time to save the child from getting speech impairment especially when it involved cleft palates.

She said sometimes the nutritious issues and malnutrition does not always emanate from lack of feeding but sometimes, there was a knowledge deficit from caregivers as some of them lacked the needed knowledge in proper feeding of children.

Ms Kwadjo said some caregivers tend to feed children three times a day just as they fed themselves, not knowing that due to the small stomach size of babies, they needed to be fed frequently to ensure they received the required amount of nutrients for the day.

She indicated that some parents fed the babies frequently but not with the needed nutrients, stating for instance that some gave the babies porridge that had no fortification.

The Principal Dietician of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said because each case might differ, nutritional assessment must be carried out on individual babies which would inform the type of interventions to be given.

She said when feeding lapses were detected, for instance, the caregivers and parents were empowered through counselling and sensitization on what to do, while the kids who needed nutritional support were given the ready to use therapeutic peanut-based food, plumy nut.

Ms Kwadjo urged parents to seek early care for their babies with cleft lips and palates, explaining that even though the cleft lips do not necessarily affect feeding and speech, they could be corrected early by age six months to avoid stigma and other related issues.

She said however that the cleft palate on the other hand if not reconstructed early could affect the child’s speaking mostly making it nasalized.

She said it was disturbing that due to stigma, some parents hid their babies with the defect, and refused to send them to child welfare clinics (weighing), as well as do not enrol them in schools.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, April 5, GNA – Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase Ayirebi constituency has constructed a modern school block for the Akyem Ayirebi Presbyterian Junior High School (JHS) in the Akyemansa District of the Eastern Region.

The facility was funded by the Oppong Nkrumah Education and Skills Development Fund, established by the MP in 2017 to take care of the educational needs of the constituents.

It is expected to help lessen the burden on pupils, who previously could not study in their classrooms whenever there was a downpour.

The facility comprised three classrooms, an office and a store and had been connected to the national grid and equipped with mono desks, teachers’ tables, chairs, ceiling fans and washrooms to ensure a safe teaching and learning environment for both pupils and teachers.

Speaking at a brief commissioning ceremony at Ayirebi at the weekend, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said the gesture was part of series of educational projects he initiated in 2017 to touch the lives of individuals and communities in the Ofoase Ayirebi constituency.

He said the new edifice could not have come at a better time since the old structure was in a deplorable state, hence, the school was in urgent need of new classroom blocks to facilitate teaching and learning.

“The history behind this Presby School is one that we are all aware of. Because of the deplorable state of the school, the NPP (New Patriotic Party) executives in Ayirebi drew my attention to it and how the classroom blocks needed major upgrades.

“So, I had fruitful deliberations with all stakeholders, the result of which is a brand new JHS block for Ayirebi Junior High School,” the Minister said.

The MP, therefore, advised the staff and pupils of the school to maximize the usage of the facilities to justify the investment made to produce intellectuals in the area and contribute towards the progress of the community.

Some dignitaries who graced the occasion included Madam Loretta Akua Ayisi, the District Director of Education, Reverend Raymond, the West Akyem Presbytery Baah Abekah, Chairperson of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev.Asaan Emmanuel, Resident Pastor of the Ayirebi Presby Church, Mr Akwa Frempong, former District Chief Executive of the area.

Ms. Ayisi, on behalf of the Ayirebi people, thanked the MP for funding the facility and charged managers of the facility at the district education office to take care of it to prolong its life span.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Akatsi (VR), April 5, GNA – Mr Bernard Ahiafor, Member of Parliament for Akatsi South, has donated 50 desktop computers to the Akatsi South Municipal Education Directorate for onward distribution to some selected schools in the Municipality.

The gesture, which received financial assistance from David Douglas Leadership Forum, an American based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), was targeted at enhancing the knowledge of Information Technology (IT) among pupils at the basic level.

The presentation was led by Mrs Cecilia Agbolosu, the Akatsi South Women organiser of the National Democratic Congress and other constituency executives.

Mrs Paulina Slyn Eworde, the Akatsi South Municipal Director of Education, receiving the equipment on behalf of the Directorate, expressed her gratitude to the donors for contributing to the growth of the educational system in the area.

She appealed for more support saying, “the donation could make a difference in our lives, and we are thrilled with the support.”

At Agornu Kporkplortey DA basic school, where ten computers were released, Mrs Eworde expressed gratitude to Mr Ahiafor and leaders of the NGO for the display of commitment to improving ICT among the school pupils.

She assured the donors that the machines were safe and protected.

In a message copied to the GNA, Mr Ahiafor stated “the world is IT driven. My hope and prayer are to ensure that there is no School in my Constituency without Computer as IT learning tool for the students. Education is the key and that is the best we can give to our children and younger brothers and sisters. I am what l am today largely because of Education,” he said.

He stated it was always his desire to promote Education in different forms in his Constituency.

“This is especially important and key on my agenda. To all those who contributed and contributing to Education in Akatsi South in diverse ways in the Constituency, I say thank you.

“I also invite all hands-on board in this direction. It is together, we can give better education to our children, brothers and sisters and it is never a wrong thing investing in human resource development and education for that matter,” the statement read.

The law maker, who is also a ranking member for Constitutional, legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in Ghana’s Parliament, is currently representing Ghana in the Africa -European Union, the Caribbean- European Union and the Pacific -European Union Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Haven International, an autism training and information centre, has launched this year’s Autism Acceptance Month with a call on Ghanaians to help promote the inclusion of children with autism in mainstream schools.

The theme for the launch is “Inclusion Leads to Acceptance.”

The world has set aside every April as the World Autism Awareness Month.

Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the former Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive who performed the launch on behalf of the board and patrons of Haven, said: “Today, Haven is charting a worthy cause that needs the support of all so that one day we will come to celebrate big achievement.”

He said diverse assistance would be required from all Ghanaians as the whole month of April has been packed with a number of activities such as professional development series that involved the engagement with teachers and parents to undertake grooming exercise as well as fun games.

He encouraged every citizen to be part of the programme, especially families, to devote time and play with their children at the centre.

“For all that we are doing, the intention or the objective is to promote inclusivity of kids who are on the autism spectrum so that they would be accepted in their homes, accepted in the communities and would be accepted and mainstreamed in our normal schools that we attend,” Mr Sowah said.

“I was touched when we graduated two kids here. The organisation that was put in for the graduation of the two kids was more than 1000 kids graduating from a big school that I cannot mention,” he stated.

He said there was the need to educate and change society’s mind-set against people or kids who were on the autism spectrum, who often became subject of mockery in our communities.

The former Chief Executive commended Mrs Jennifer Brock, a Co-founder of Haven International, for her effort in keeping the center running.

Mr Michael Langmer, Assistant Director, Special Education Coordinator of the Tema Metro Education Office said there was the need to include children with autism in the regular schooling and that some prominently personalities who were on autism spectrum have achieved great height and successes.

Mr Langmer called on policymakers to provide facilities to take care of children with disabilities for them to achieve their potential.

He appealed to parents to accept their children with autism, saying: “Let us see what talents they have. Send them to resource centres or include them in our regular schools to help them learn and achieve greater height.”

Mrs Jennifer Brock, a Co-founder of Haven International in a welcoming address said the center was established 10 years ago to provide autism and other intellectual disability services in the country.

“We started off by bringing resource persons from the US, who provided training for our teachers, healthcare providers, and parents. They also spend time at the center and welcome children from all walks of life. They also do assessment of the children, diagnose them, and recommend therapies,” she stated.

Mrs Brock said: “Because we know the earlier, we intervene the better we have gotten really good results and most of the kids go back to mainstream school; some do two days at the centre and three days in mainstream.

“Those who are unable to gain speech because typically most of them were not verbal. They stay with us and go on vocational programmes, which is for young adults. We had one graduation so far; we graduated two girls from the vocational programme and we did a big ceremony because it was a big achievement for us.”

The Co-founder said the organization was looking forward to the next 10 years where it would introduce inclusive education, adding that: “Because in the real world we live with each other, so we do not get our kids isolated.

“It does not help them; it does not help the parents; so, from next term we will begin to run more inclusive programmes. We all know the stigma some parents attached to kids who have intellectual disability they don’t want their children to go near them, but we would try, because that is the way to go; in fact, that is government policy” she stated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tema, April 5, GNA – Mr. Isaac Ashai Odamtten, Member of Parliament for Tema East Constituency has supported 35 brilliant, but needy students to pursue their academics at the Senior High School level.

Mr Odamtten in collaboration with the Tema East Educational Foundation donated a fully loaded chop box of provisions including Gari, Kellogg’s, Indomie, Sugar, Carton of Drinks, water, biscuit, a tin of milo, and Nido, and soap to each of the students.

The Tema East MP explained that the gesture was to help expand education to the underprivileged needy but brilliant children in the municipality.

Making the presentation, Mr. Odamtten said bringing every child on board the ship of education was a national priority that must be taken seriously by every stakeholder.

According to him, no nation could make meaningful progress with a high number of its youth as illiterate; “an educated Tema East populace is a critical recipe for development and peace in the constituency”.

Mr. Odamtten explained that Tema Newtown had a lot of school dropouts hence the initiative to ensure that brilliant but “needy” pupils were supported to complete their SHS and possibly transit to a tertiary institution.

He called on synergies amongst agencies especially communities in the constituency where the children come from to ensure that they were given the necessary support to achieve education.

He said: “Education is the only way we can achieve a better, reliable, and developed peaceful and prosperous Constituency”.

Mr. Richester Nii Armah Armafio, Chairman of the Tema East Educational Foundation said the non-partisan foundation is fully committed to supporting, and minimizing the out-of-school children phenomenal.

“Each year we would support and encourage BECE graduates to get back to SHS” he pledged.

Mr. Armafio who is also the secretary of the Ghana Tuna Association (GTA) said the foundation would initiate data to keep records and track the beneficiaries’ performance at the SHS level.

He indicated that all schools in Tema East Constituency were approached to nominate five brilliant but needy students to be supported adding that close to 180 students will benefit from this initiative.

He called on community and religious leaders, and parents to upscale their effort in educating their children adding that “education is a collective responsibility and the greatest legacy you can give a child is education”.

Madam Gifty Owusu, a mother of a beneficiary expressed her gratitude saying “I would like to say thank you for this intervention, when we heard it is going to be launched, we thought it was propaganda but they’ve proved doubters like me wrong, God bless their work to keep supporting us”.

She encouraged the students to learn hard to benefit from other initiatives.

Master Isaac Yeboah, a beneficiary also said the support had relieved his mother from going to contract a loan to help him go back to school.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Gbetsile (Near Tema), April 5, GNA – Mr. Samuel Okoe Amanquah, the Municipal Chief Executive for Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly has tagged education as a major life transformer that serves as the vehicle to bridge the poverty gap.

The Assembly is, therefore, working towards the provision of the needed education infrastructure across the municipality, Mr. Amanquah stated during a community fundraising durbar at Gbetsile in the Kpone-Katamanso municipality.

Mr. Amanquah said it was commendable that the traditional leaders of the area deemed it necessary to gather the people and raise money for the completion of a school building to support the existing government one.

The MCE acknowledged that the municipality was bedeviled with several challenges, adding that measures had been put in place by the Assembly to work together with the communities to solve the problems.

He said the important thing was that the government had recognized the importance of the various stakeholders of development and was working together to achieve a common aim of developing the area, and therefore called on citizens to do their part by support with the payment of their taxes, fees, and rates.

Nii Teye Kojo Amanquah Sune I, the Chief of Gbetsile in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality has appealed to residents and natives of the town to partner with the traditional leaders to construct a community public basic school.

Nii Sune said the only public basic school in the town was congested due to the increase in population, and therefore the need to construct a new one to accommodate the pupils.

He said there was the need for stakeholders of education, such as traditional leaders, parents, the Assembly, and organizations to augment the effort of government by helping to provide the needed infrastructure, and learning and teaching materials.

The Gbetsile chief noted that educational challenges such as school infrastructure were one of the many problems residents were struggling with, saying however that the traditional leaders had embarked on some self-help projects to alleviate the issues.

He, therefore, reiterated that residents and natives should help with cash or materials to help complete the school building project which had been initiated by the traditional leaders and was currently under construction.

Mr. Francis Mishiame, Kpone-Katamanso, Deputy Director of Education in-charge-of Supervision and Monitoring, encouraged parents to support the schools to supervise the activities of their children especially those in the final year.

Mr. Mishiame also appealed to community members to help check the children by sacking them from game centres in the area, revealing that most of them after being registered for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), sneaked out of class to those centres during school hours.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The ongoing admission of new students for the 2022/2023 academic year is progressing smoothly at the various Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Tamale Metropolis.

     The admission process has so far been less stressful compared to previous years, where students and their guardians were spotted in long queues.

     The Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited some of the schools on Monday, where authorities received the students and attended to those who were yet to receive their admission letters, amidst calmness.

      The schools visited included Tamale SHS, Business SHS and Dabokpa Technical Institute. 

     The Heads of the schools, who spoke to the GNA, attributed the smooth admission processes to strategies they devised to avoid chaos.

     The Ghana Education Service set April 04, to begin admitting fresh students to SHSs across the country to start the 2022/2023 academic calendar.

     Madam Celestine Ninnoni, Assistant Headmistress in-charge of Administration at the Tamale SHS said the school had so far received more than half the number it was given.

     She said the school authority shared the admission process among departments providing different administrative desks to avoid all courses queueing to be attended to by one person or group of persons. 

     Mrs Susana Fati Briamah, Headmistress of Northern Business SHS said the school was expecting more than 700 students hence the admission process was being undertaken at different offices to speed up the process.

     She said the process had been free although few had reported it and others had yet to take their admission letters.

     Mr Felix Seidu Jinapor, Vice Principal of Dabokpa Technical Institute said the institution had its own system designed to fast track the admission process.

     He indicated that the school had prepared to take students giving attention to those placed by the computerised system first before others if there were vacancies for more intake.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Sunyani, April 05, GNA – The University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) has marked its 10th matriculation ceremony with admission of 3,107 students, 2,850 undergraduates and 257 postgraduates to commence diploma and degree programmes for the 2021/2022 academic year.

Speaking at the ceremony in Sunyani, Professor Elvis Asare-Bediako, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) advised the students to merge their individual values with those of the University and live by them in their day-to-day endeavours whilst on campus.

This, he emphasised was because “The UENR is driven by the core values of promoting innovation, creativity, freedom of thought and creative expression operating with integrity, commitment and transparency”.

Prof. Asare-Bediako advised the fresh students to acquire the necessary communicative, leadership and critical thinking skills to enable them live up to the task at the university as a platform to survive as either employees or employers in the world.

He encouraged the matriculants to be strong and keep their eyes focused on their goals and work hard towards them, stressing they were in the University not only to acquire academic knowledge but also to get ready “as polished adults” for the nation and the world at large.

The VC stated the University had as part of its core mandate the promotion of energy conservation and environmental protection for the nation’s sustainable development, saying that was being achieved through partnership with stakeholders in skills and knowledge generation and application.

Prof Asare-Bediako therefore charged the fresh students to explore the world through their creative thinking, learn from others and acknowledge the talents, capabilities and competencies in all people as well as being committed to hard work and live by integrity and transparency.

Earlier in an address, Mr. Kingsford Diawuo Amankonah, the Students’ Representative Council President congratulated the students for accepting to study at UENR, saying their decision to pursue their respective selected programmes demonstrated their commitment for high-quality teaching and learning.

Source: Ghana News Agency