Category: Science

Fumesua, – The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MESTI) is considering the amendment of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Act to give a strong backing to the CSIR College of Science and Technology (CCST) to function optimally.

The CSIR established the College with a goal to increasing the scientific capability to drive Ghana’s socio-economic development through science and technology application in line with the Council’s mandate.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Sector Minister, who announced this at the second congregation of the College, applauded the Director General and Management Committee of CSIR for establishing the College, and said it was well positioned to address the challenges of industry, businesses, academia and local communities.

Twenty-nine students who pursued various masters’ programmes at both the Accra and Kumasi campuses graduated at a colourful ceremony attended by their families, well-wishers and the Academic Board.

The University of Cape Coast, to which the College is affiliated, was represented by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Johnson Nyarko Boampong, and Mr Jeff Teye Emmanuel Onyame, the Registrar.

Dr Afriyie commended the CSIR for using existing structures and facilities at its disposal to train higher and better human resources needed for national development.

“This model used in running the College is very laudable as it will help to produce graduates with the needed practical skills and knowledge required by the industry at a least cost to the government in terms of infrastructure needs for establishing such a quality tertiary institution,” he said.

He said the approach by the Government to place science and technology application at the centre of development was to ensure that science, technology and innovation were mainstreamed at all levels of socio-economic activities.

Dr Afriyie, therefore, appealed to the Governing Council to ensure the College focused on its core mandate of training post-graduate scientists to support the agenda of the Ministry to make science the fulcrum of national development.

Prof Mark Appiah, the President of the College, said it would continue to be creative and innovative in training students whose skills would be needed in the job market through the appropriate research.

“We are more than hopeful that this can be done because the CCST is collaborating with CSIR, an organisation that has the largest aggregation of scientists and technologists in Ghana and also endowed with the state-of-the-art facilities and field stations dotted throughout the length and breadth of Ghana,” he said.

Education, Prof Appiah said, was a partnership of mutual commitment and that the College had fulfilled its side of the partnership by providing the graduates with the appropriate skills and building attitudes that could enhance their contributions to sustainable development.

Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, the Paramount Chief of Kumawu, who represented the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, said it was gratifying for a premier research institution like the CSIR to use its available human capital and other resources to advance science, technology and innovation.

He congratulated the graduates for the feat and urged them to use the knowledge acquired to contribute to the Government’s Planting for Food and Jobs and the One District One Factory initiative to enhance the country’s economic development.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Aug. 01,GNA – Government through the Ministry of Education and the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) has since 2017 provided free training to over 17,527 apprentices and master craft persons across the country.

The Director-General of the Commission for TVET, Dr. Fred Kyei Asamoah, who announced this, said, the move was part of the government’s support to the youth to be empowered to contribute towards the development of the nation’s economy.

He explained that the support to the youth was also part of the steps to transform TVET in Ghana and part of the government’s transformational agenda aimed at formalizing the informal sector and providing them with world-class skills to make them globally competitive.

Crucial role

Dr Asamoah announced this at a press briefing in Accra on Friday.

The press briefing was aimed at bringing to the attention of the nation some of the achievements of the government in the TVET sector and developments in the sector which played a very crucial role in the nation’s development.

He was emphatic that, given the needed support and acceptance, the TVET sector stood the chance of turning around the nation’s economy within the shortest possible time.

Dr. Asamoah was particularly excited because out of the 17,527 beneficiaries of the training, 73 per cent of them were women.

This, he described as a huge success for the project since it had the potential of increasing the income levels of females, considered a vulnerable group in our society.

The Project is a government of Ghana initiative being implemented by the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET), with funding from the German Development Bank (KFW) and Ghana Government to improve the skills, competitiveness and productivity of the Ghanaian informal business sector.

Project Objectives

The Project Objectives are; improve access to TVET; strengthen TVET stakeholders; and establish a consistent incentive system for training providers.

The trade areas targeted by the project so far are automotive, cosmetology, garment making, electronics, welding, plumbing, electrical installation, block laying & tiling, furniture making, and catering and hospitality.

He also stated that additional 50,000 learners would be given free apprenticeship training by the end of 2021 through the Job and Skills and the Ghana TVET voucher Project.

Interaction with beneficiaries

In an interaction with some of the beneficiaries across the country, they indicated that they got to hear about the project through their respective trade associations and they applied to be part of it.

The beneficiaries conveyed their gratefulness to the government for initiating the training and prayed the government to extend the project to cover all apprentices and master craft persons in the country since “this was the surest way to provide our artisans with relevant skills for the world of work.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- The Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Forjour, has presented education materials and pianos to selected schools in the Assin South constituency in the Central region.

The beneficiary communities were Assin Manso, Amoabin and Assin Asamankese.

Items presented to the beneficiary schools included exercise books, sets of crayons, Pencil packs, veronica buckets and gallons of liquid soap.

Speaking at a presentation ceremony at the Assin Asamankese D/A Basic School last Friday, Rev. Forjour said the donation of the items were meant to enhance effective teaching and learning in the schools.

He assured the people of the Government’s provision of needed resources to all schools irrespective of their location to promote effective teaching and learning.

Rev. Forjuor charged the beneficiary schools to make good use of the items to enhance effective teaching and learning.

He said, “We shall strive to make education better and accessible for all, particularly for those in underserved communities in Ghana”.

The Deputy Minister urged teachers and other staff of schools to encourage and monitor their students at all times as they complied with the various Covid-19 protocols to protect themselves from the virus.

He was upbeat that, if all stakeholders played their roles as was expected, very soon the fight against the novel Covid-19 would be won.

Rev. Forjour lauded all health personnel in the country and other stakeholders for their dedication towards the fight against the pandemic which had taken the world by storm.

The Headmaster of Assin Asamankese D/A Basic School, Mr. Seth Adjei on behalf of the School, thanked the Deputy Minister for the items and promised to put them to good use.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Alavanyo (V/R),- A 13- member newly reconstituted Board of Governors for the Alavanyo Senior High Technical School (ASTECH), has been inaugurated to steer affairs of the institution for a three-year term.

They are Mr John Kwasi Nyoagbe, Ghana Education Service (GES) Director-General representative, Madam Enyonam Afi Amafuga, Volta Regional Director and Acting Hohoe Municipal Director, GES, Reverend Samuel Pius Elewokor, ASTECH Headmaster, and Evangelist John Adza, representing, Parent Teacher Association (PTA).

Others are Mr Christian Amoah Intsiful and Mr David Anku Boateng, representatives of the Hohoe Municipal Assembly, Mr Cudjoe Senyo Amenyah and Mama Amakpoe II, Historical or Traditional Authority representatives.

The rest are Reverend Divine Kormla Gborsi and Mr Clemence Yawo Kitsi, Old Students representatives, Mr Henry Okain, Teaching Staff representative, Mr Benjamin Bainey, Non-Teaching Staff representative, and Ms. Ophylia Kumah as Secretary to the Board.

Madam Enyonam Afi Amafuga, Volta Regional Director, GES, expressed gratitude to the outgoing Board members for their dedicated service for the school during their tenure.

She noted that the new members had taken over at a time where second cycle institutions faced numerous challenges including indiscipline, downward trend in academic performance, homosexuality, inadequate supply of infrastructure and learning materials.

The Director said the expertise, skills, knowledge, and goodwill of the new Board would translate boldly in addressing the challenges the school faced to enable it rose to an enviable position.

Madam Amafuga reminded heads of institutions to submit their annual reports.

She said the absence of the Chairman of a Board was not an excuse for it not to hold its meetings.

The Director called on the staff of the school to be aware that their assignments were to be carried out within a certain ethical and vocational boundary, hence, resist the temptation to inflict corporal punishment on students since any such punishments were outlawed.

“Perhaps one cool punishment will be that, if the child is a Christian or a Muslim, we give that student a whole chapter in the bible or qur’an to write many times. The person may become a good priest or chief Imam in future.”

She urged the staff to be wary of sexual harassment of colleagues staff and students and serve as role models.

The Director called on the students to make judicious use of their time, avoid the abuse of the internet and not engage in vices such as drug abuse.

Madam Amafuga encouraged the Board to exercise its power of recommending punishment for students judiciously as punishment was meant to reform and not to victimise.

She called on parents to support the education of their wards by helping them to provide elective textbooks for the students.

Madam Amafuga bemoaned performances of the 2018, 2019, and 2020 WASSCE of the school adding that, “some of our schools leave much to be desired in terms of academic performance.”

The members were sworn into office by Rev Michael Kungu, Synod Clerk of Central Presbytery of E.P Church, Ghana with the oaths of office and secrecy.

Reverend Samuel Pius Elewokor, ASTECH Headmaster said the school was established in 1985 with a student population of 615, currently runing General Science, Agriculture, Technical, Home Economics, General Arts, Business courses.

He said the school had a total of 67 permanent staff with vacancies for 27 teachers and 35 non-teaching staff that needed to be filled to improve the school’s performance in WASSCE since the 2020 results were not the best.

The Headmaster said 50 per cent of the teaching staff lived outside Alavanyo and Management strongly believed if the accommodation was provided on campus, they would be willing to stay in the town to improve results.

“Lack of accommodation for some critical staff on campus is a very big headache for Management.”

He said urgent accommodation on campus or close to the school was needed for two Assistant Heads, Senior Housemaster, and all House Parents which would greatly improve discipline among boarding students.

Rev Elewokor said critical needs of the school included an administration block, Visual Arts studio, dining hall complex, store room, boys dormitory, and sports complex.

Other needs were a new girls’ dormitory, classroom blocks, fence wall, well-equipped science laboratories, new library and workshop, long tables, and stools for the Textile Department.

He said staff development through regular in-service training, extra tuition for students towards the improvement of results as well as teachers and students discipline.

The Headmaster expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their immense support towards alleviating the numerous challenges of the school while calling on all old students of the school to develop an interest in the development of the school.

Mr William Kpende and Mama Wanyo I, on behalf of Alavanyo Education Development Forum and Friends of ASTECH, presented 100 mono desks, 60 plastic chairs, four plastic tables, and 21 dining hall benches to the school.

Togbega Tsedze Atakora VII, Paramount Chief of Alavanyo Traditional Area, urged the newly constituted Board to give their best in executing their mandates.

He urged the students to take their lessons seriously and passed successfully.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says Africa would not realise its vision of a progressive and prosperous continent, if it does not first place a premium on its human capital.

He said Africa ought to widen access to, and invest sufficiently in its citizen’s education, to maximise its economic output and facilitate a more robust economic growth.

The President, who was speaking at the Global Education Summit, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, in London, noted that the goal of countries in Africa was to move away from being mere producers and exporters of raw materials to valued added economies.

However, he said, that dream would not materialise until the continent pursued the agenda to have an educated workforce.

“It, therefore, requires an investment that we have to make to ensure that not just as many, but also all our children have the opportunity to go to school right from kindergarten, through primary, through secondary, and through tertiary education,” he said.

The Summit, which was organised by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), aimed to raise $5 billion to fund the next five-year cycle of the GPE.

The Summit asked donors to invest to help ensure learning for 175 million girls and boys, get 88 million more children in school, and reach 140 million more students with professionally trained teachers in 87 low- and middle-income countries.

President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that his government was widening further access to education for all of Ghana’s school-going children, and that 23 percent of the national budget had been allocated to education, the highest on the continent so.

With the Free Senior High School policy resulting in some 400,000 more children getting access to senior high school education in Ghana, he acknowledged that problems with infrastructure, and the challenges of inadequate classrooms are being addressed.

“So, in Ghana, we’ve taken the decision that we’re going full scale ahead now that we have widened public education at the secondary school level to all and sundry, to try and replicate it also at the tertiary level.

“This is absolutely critical for our future. “if we don’t do it, we will not be able to get to our basic goal, which is a structural transformation of our economies… Lives and livelihoods are both the keys to the future for us and we will hopefully continue to be to do that,” he said.

The Summit emphasized the importance of equitable access to education amid warnings that COVID-19 has exacerbated already under-resourced public education programmes in less economically developed countries. Experts alerted the organization that it was unlikely for those forced out of schools due to the pandemic to return.

Governments and international corporations pledged to donate $4 billion for the GPE at the end of the Summit.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Akim Oda (E/R)- The Birim Central Municipal Ghana Education Service (GES), and the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA) at Akim Oda has held its maiden inter-circuit reading and spelling competition dubbed: “Akim Oda Reading Festival 2021.

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The inter-circuit reading festival followed the inter-schools reading contest during which winning schools were selected from the four GES circuits to compete at that level.

Mr Benjamin Cudjoe, Birim Central Municipal Director of GES advised students to make good use of the many instructional hours at their disposal as well as spend time exploring library resources.

He said doing frequent research at the library would enhance their academic performance and encouraged school children in the area to patronise the Akim Oda library.

The library was given an award and now boast of facilities such as a computer laboratory.

The maiden reading festival 2021 brought together a number of schools from the four circuits comprising Lower and Upper Primary, and Junior High Schools (JHS).

They were Akim Oda Anglican Primary, Aboabo Salvation Army Basic School, Akim Oda Wesley Methodist School, St. Anthony Basic School, ODASCO Experimental Primary School, El – Shadai Primary, and Akim Oda Freeman Methodist School.

The participants were tested on reading, spelling, pronunciation, and current affairs.

During the finale, El-Shadai Primary School emerged as the winner for the Lower primary with 25 points, while ODASCO Experimental Primary School won with 47 points for the Upper Primary, and Akim Oda Wesley Methodist School topping with 45 points for the JHS category.

They were given reading books, certificates, and plaques while the rest of the schools took away certificates of participation.

Mr Evans Korletey- Tene, Eastern Regional Director of GhLA, said the Authority and Newmont Ghana, have a partnership to boost reading among children in Akim Oda.

They also have a project termed Newmont Gold-4-Gold Literacy Programme which involves reading.

He urged all and sundry to patronise the Ghana Library app, a digital library app, that enhances accessibility to library services.

He said after the app had been downloaded on the phone, it does not attract any data charges and could be used for free.

Telecommunication networks MTN and Vodafone were applauded for making the app free from charges for users.

Master Graham Darko, a form three student of Oda Wesley Methodist School, showed appreciation to GES and GhLA, for the competition and advised his fellow students to read everyday to expand their knowledge.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kumasi,- The School Health Education Programme (SHEP) is monitoring strictly basic educational institutions in the Kumasi Metropolis, to promote a high level of adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

This is to help mitigate the spread of the pandemic, which had so far been detected in 85 schools in the Ashanti Region, the majority of the cases being recorded within the Greater Kumasi jurisdiction.

Mrs. Vida Owusu, SHEP Coordinator at the Metropolitan Education Office, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the authorities were leaving nothing to chance.

“We are supervising the schools to ensure that all the pupils, students, teachers, and non-teaching staff do the right thing to create a safe environment to advance academic activities,” she noted.

The SHEP Coordinator insisted that the wearing of face masks, social distancing, hand-washing, and application of sanitizers were mandatory for all the stakeholders.

The various schools, according to her, had been supplied with the requisite protective materials to enable them to comply with the existing protocols.

Additionally, school-based health facilitators were also present to enforce the protocols to the letter, while spaces had also been provided to make room for emergency situations.

For the Senior High Schools (SHSs), isolation centres had been created to keep students with suspected cases.

Mrs. Owusu advised parents to also observe the safety protocols while at home with their wards since everybody was at risk.

The Greater Kumasi area recorded over 200 COVID-19 infection cases, with 10 mortalities between July 1 and 13, this year, according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

This was fueled by the emergence of the new Delta variant, which was fast spreading in Ghana’s second-largest city.

Source: Ghana News Agency