Category: Science

Accra, – The Government has completed 160 kindergarten (KG) blocks out of the 350 under construction, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed.

He said several dilapidated KG blocks, meant to expand the base of early childhood education, had also been rehabilitated.

President Nana Akufo-Addo made this known at the inauguration and handing-over of the Kwabenya Atomic Model Kindergarten (KG), Ghana’s first play-based ICT-empowered KG, at Dome-Kwabenya, in the Ga-East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

The project, executed by Messrs. BSW International, was funded by the Ghana Education Trust (GET) Fund.

The President indicated that improving educational infrastructure was critical to creating access for the Ghanaian youth to be educated to an appreciable standard.

Therefore, the Government was determined to inject the needed resources to achieve the desired educational goals to enhance the nation’s human resource base, he noted.

President Nana Akufo-Addo said promoting quality and inclusive early education helped to build the cognitive abilities of the child.

This was also needed to promote the core competencies of Ghanaian children, as well as language and physical development, he said.

He hinted that the country was reviewing its educational curriculum from an objective-based to standard-based, saying this was being implemented to nurture a generation of critical-thinkers.

This was required to bring Ghana’s educational development in tune with the demands of the 21st Century, he said.

President Nana Akufo-Addo was optimistic the Kwabenya Atomic Model KG would provide a world class early childhood education.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, – The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says educational growth remains one of his Administration’s topmost development priorities.

This, he said, was the reason behind the huge investment at all levels of the sector by the Government, saying the agenda was to ensure a secured future for the Ghanaian youth.

“I am in this position as President of the Republic because of education,” he noted, adding that: “Education is the equalizer of opportunity.”

President Nana Akufo-Addo was speaking at the inauguration and handing-over of the Kwabenya Atomic Model Kindergarten (KG), Ghana’s first play-based ICT-empowered KG, at Dome-Kwabenya, in the Ga-East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

The project, executed by Messrs. BSW International, was funded by the Ghana Education Trust (GET) Fund.

Learning through play has emerged as an important strategy to promote pupil engagement, inclusion and holistic skills development beyond the preschool years.

Policy-makers, researchers and educators have promoted the notion that learning through play is developmentally-appropriate – as it leverages school-age children’s innate curiosity, while easing the more often difficult transition from preschool to school.

The President said the state-of-the-art facility was designed to provide world class early childhood education to children.

He said the Ghanaian youth had the potential to be future leaders of business, industry, and other fields of human endeavour given the necessary educational opportunities.

“Education is the most effective way to change the fortunes of our continent and country and join the group of developed nations and continents,” he stated.

Thus, all types of investment in early childhood education, was critical to the development of the country, President Nana Akufo-Addo said.

According to him, the Government had stepped up efforts to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four, that is: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

Mr. Divine Y. Ayidzoe, the Acting Chief Director, Ministry of Education, indicated that throughout the world, education was seen as the pivot on which the wheels of development rotated.

He said Information and Communications Technology (ICT) “keeps promoting teaching and learning, and its usage has penetrated our schools, offices and now with us in our homes as we use it in various forms as part of our daily lives.

“It is worth noting that the integration of ICT into the curriculum of every country helps in the promotion of education.” Mr. Ayidzoe said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kontintabig (U/E), – The Kontintabig Cluster of Basic Schools in the Nabdam District of Upper East Region is in dire need of furniture as pupils sit on the bare cement floor or lie on their bellies to read and write.

The KG One, having 60 pupils, does not have a single desk.

The primary school has a population of 477 pupils, comprising 300 boys and 177 girls.

Class One has 71 pupils with 11 dual desks, three of which were broken and being managed by the pupils. Class Two has 51 pupils with seven desks.

There are only 45 dual desks for the Junior High School (JHS) for a population of 157 students, comprising 63 in JHS One, 52 in JHS Two, and 42 in JHS Three, resulting in four pupils having to sit on one dual desk.

Mr Alfred Ayambila Akadomah, the Headteacher of the JHS, said the inadequate furniture had negatively affected teaching and learning.

“Teaching and learning is all about having the comfort to concentrate fully but because of the limited furniture in the schools, compelling the students to sit in four per desk, and some on the floor, they are unable to pay attention in class due the tight sitting arrangements,” he said.

That had also contributed to the poor handwriting of students.

Mr Akadomah expressed worry over low enrolment in the JHS, which had affected the amount received as capitation grant since it was paid based on the population of a school, thereby making it difficult for the school to undertake minor maintenances.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to the school revealed that some of the classrooms had cracks in the walls, with the ceilings removed.

Ms Mary Magdalene Wompakeah, the Nabdam District Education Director, said the directorate had taken note of the issues and reported to the appropriate authorities for redress.

Ms Agnes Anamoo, the Nabdam District Chief Executive, said the Assembly’s attention had been drawn to the inadequate furniture in the schools and was working to resolve it.

She, however, urged the head teachers and community members to guard against the destruction of furniture in the schools, saying most of the furniture got destroyed during the holidays by individuals as most schools were left unlocked.

She appealed to non-governmental organisations, philanthropists and well-meaning citizens to assist the Assembly by donating some furniture to create a favourable environment for students to learn.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Eremon, (UW/R), – Mr Jacob Dery, the Lawra Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has presented some relief items to the Eremon Senior High Technical School (SHTS) after fire last week destroyed the females’ dormitory.

The items included 10 bags of sugar, 200 packs of sanitary pads, 680 pieces of geisha soap, 400 pieces of toilet rolls, 170 bars of key soap, and powdered milk.

Presenting the items at the weekend, Mr Dery said the donation was to help the 170 female students displaced after the disaster.

He said the relief items were an interim intervention from the Municipal Assembly and encouraged the students to exercise patience while they took steps to work on the dormitory block.

“We wished it didn’t happen, but once it has happened, what do we do? The best is to look for solutions to address what has happened,” he explained.

Mr Issah Ibrahim Shaibu, the Headmaster of the school, thanked the MCE for supporting the school in its time of need.

He appealed to well-meaning members of the public to support the students in any form to enable them recover from their losses and to return to their academic activities.

Mr Sampson Abu, a former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lawra Constituency, also presented some relief items to the school to help cushion the victims.

The items included 20 cartons of Alife soap, 31 dozens of ladies’ panties, five (5) boxes of disposable pad panties, seven (7) packs of sanitary pads, and two rolls (60 yards) of school uniforms.

The fire at the Eremon SHTS destroyed the whole block of the girls’ dormitory, displacing 170 students.

The victims had all their belongings including stationary, monies, school uniforms, and food items among others destroyed.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Somanya, in the Eastern Region, held its third commencement lecture over the weekend to kick off the 2022/2023 academic year.

The commencement lecture is the culmination of collaborative efforts by the authorities when the University began full-fledged operations in 2020.

Speaking at this year’s lecture, “Securing the Environment: Our Water, Our Future,” Professor Eric Nyarko-Sampson, Vice Chancellor of the UESD, emphasized the importance of water as an indispensable commodity in the lives of all living things.

He indicated that water supported human existence and nurtured the ecosystem and agriculture, and that water bodies and aquatic resources were a financial investment in Ghana’s future.

“It then behoves us, Ghanaians, to secure the future of our water resources, as well as preserving the environment for future generations,” he said.

However, he noted that, “To safeguard water resources and available biodiversity requires a multi- faceted approach that involves government, industries, academic institutions and communities.”

He said these stakeholders must work together with innovative technologies and sustainable environmentally friendly practices.

Prof. Nyarko-Sampson noted that when these pragmatic measures were implemented, they would help the United Nations achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in 2015.

Goal six of the SDGs requires countries to ensure the availability and long-term management of water and sanitation for all, while Goal 14 calls for the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

In this vein, the Vice Chancellor said the University was opening discussions on some aspects of the environment that it deemed relevant for experts opinions and views.

“In so doing the university attempts to work towards its mandate of securing the environment,” he added.

Professor Jonathan N. Aryertey, Chairman of the Governing Council, UESD, said water bodies, rivers, lakes and groundwater played a critical role in regulating the climate and providing livelihoods to millions of people around the world.

However, he said, in recent years “we have seen a significant decline in the quality and quantity of our water resources due to a range of environmental and human-made factors such as pollution, climate change, over-extraction and mismanagement.”

He advised individuals who contributed to such illegal and wrongful practices to desist from it to improve safe water for consumption.

Madam Gifty Twum – Ampofo, Deputy Minister in charge of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), who was the guest of honour, urged parents to enroll their children who want to offer Science in Senior High Schools (SHS) at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) schools.

She explained that facilities to enhance science education in the 10 new STEM schools established were far advanced than the existing SHS offering science programmes.

She explained that the existing schools had a maximum of four or six laboratories, while each of the STEM schools had a maximum of 12 laboratories because they were purposely built as science SHS.

She expressed optimism that by going into TVET, Ghanaians would be self-reliant and productive in their normal livelihood activities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Vice Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Studies at UPSA, Dr. Emmanuel Owusu-Oware, has advised students of the faculty to hone their IT skills in order to solve social and economic challenges facing their communities.

“It is not just enough to build your technological knowledge,” he said, adding that IT students or professionals must use the knowledge they have acquired to solve problems wherever they find themselves.

Dr Owusu-Oware gave the advice to IT students at the second edition of the faculty’s Internet of Things Tech Conference held on Thursday, February 9, at the Justice Aryeetey Auditorium.

The tech workshop, themed “The 4th Industrial Revolution and the Future of Work,” was put together by the Information Technology Students Association (ITSA) of UPSA.

“Technology is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end,” said Dr. Owusu-Oware. “What this means is that, as IT students and aspiring professionals, we must always situate what we know within the boundaries or confines of where we are working.”

“So, for instance, if you are working for a corporate organisation, and there are issues, you need to leverage your technological knowledge to address the problems. That is the essence of technology.”

The vice president of the Internet of Things (IoT) Network Hub and facilitator for the program, Mr Prince Boateng Asare, urged the students to take advantage of the many career opportunities in the IT sector.

He said the arrival of the 4th Industrial Revolution has necessitated the need for students and potential employees to reskill in order to stay relevant as the waves of the digital revolution unfold.

“Students must develop new skills in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, DevOps, programming, cloud computing, coding, and cyber security in order to catch up with the evolving digital transformation,” Mr. Asare said.

Sylvester Oliver Tetteh, President of ITSA, encouraged students to take advantage of the technology workshops to learn new skills and expand their knowledge of emerging technologies and innovations.

The second edition of the Internet of Things Conference was attended by more than 150 participants from the faculty.

It was also graced by some high-profile personalities from the faculty, including Dr Godfred Yaw Koi-Akrofi, Head of the Department of Information Technology; Mr Bob Nakuku Baduong, faculty officer; Mrs Sadia Mahama, IT Departmental Officer; and Mrs. Belinda Adzomani Diapim, Departmental Officer, Department of Communications Studies.

Source: University of Professional Studies

Gomoa Akropong (C/R) – Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister of Education, has advised parents not to deny their children education no matter their circumstances.

He explained that irrespective of the kind of work they did and the kind of conditions they might find themselves in, they should not use such conditions as an excuse to prevent their children and wards from accessing education which held the key to their future dreams.

Rev. Fordjour gave the advice at a durbar of chiefs and people of Gomoa Akropong No. 2 in the Gomoa Central District of the Central Region.

The durbar climaxed a week-long celebration of the annual Akwambo festival of the chiefs and people of the area.

The event which had the theme, “Working together to seek peace and development for Akropong No. 2” brought together people from all walks of life.

Some of the activities which took place during the week were a health walk, candle possession, born fire, cooking competition, inter-area football competition, inter-schools quiz competition, dancing competition and the coronation of chiefs in a palanquin before the durbar.

Peaceful co-existence

Rev. Ntim Fordjour praised the chiefs and people for the maintenance of peace in the area over the years and urged them to continue living in peace with one another.

He assured the people of the Government’s commitment to partner all stakeholders in the country towards the development of the country through education.

The Deputy Minister announced that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government would continue to work hard to ensure that all children of school-going age benefitted from education.

Equal access

“The Government desires that both children of the rich and the poor would both have equal access to education hence the various interventions to ensure that all children had access to education irrespective of ethnic, political, religious among other affiliations.” He said.

Rev. Ntim Fordjour appealed to all parents to strive to complement the government’s efforts by ensuring that their children stayed in school until they completed by providing them with their basic needs like bags, and clothing among others.

The Odikro of Gomoa Akropong, Nana Odum Amanfo IV, commended the people of the area for their support towards the maintenance of peace in the town.

He lauded the Government for its support for the development of education in the area but called for more support to ensure that many more youth accessed education.

The Odikro recounted the various initiatives implemented by the traditional council to ensure that all children in the communities around the area took their education seriously.

Prioritise education

Nana Agyarko Akyen II, Mankrado of Gomoa Akropong, charged the chiefs and people of the area to prioritise education since that was the legacy every parent could bequeath to their children.

He charged the youth to have good role models and work hard towards attaining higher laurels like them or even beyond.

The Deputy Education Minister donated 15 pianos to some Senior High Schools in the area and stationery to some Basic Schools to boost effective teaching and learning.

Source: Ghana News Agency