Category: Science

Winneba, June 15, GNA – Effutu Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Mabel Judith Micah, has called on stakeholders to be advocates against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the society.

She made the call in an address read on her behalf at the opening of the maiden Inter Junior High School (JHS) Quiz completion on SGBVs in the Municipality.

It was organized by Wise Youth Foundation, in collaboration with Central Unit Programme of Plan International-Ghana and Ghana Education Service.

All the 24 public JHS in the area were grouped into three circuits, Central, West and East circuits, to participate in the competition.

It is meant to test and increase the knowledge of the students on SGBV issues, promote risk awareness of SGBV for them to report all forms of SGBVs to their parents and agencies like the Social Welfare, Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), of the Ghana Police Service, Assembly members and traditional authorities.

It is also to educate the public through the schools by creating awareness on the SGBV, it physical, emotional and psychological effects and to remind duty bearers, in particular, the Government sector to ensure that the right of children, young people and women who were usually the victims of SGBV, were respected, protected and safeguarded in all their endeavours.

According to the Director, the Directorate was working assiduously to improve upon academic performance in the municipality and the quiz was part of it.

Mr Eugene Yamoah, Wise Youth Foundation Programme Director, said the foundation is a community-based organization that advocates for the right and well up-binging of children, particularly girls, seek to educate them on adolescent sexuality and also to empower them to make well-informed choices in society.

He thanked Plan-Ghana for its continuous support in the execution of their programmes and expressed the hope that the programme will help the students and the entire people of Effutu to join the fight against SGBVs.

Mrs Violet Eunice Danso, Winneba Municipal Girl Child Education officer of Ghana Education Service was the Quiz Mistress.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, June 16,GNA – The Centre for Community Studies Action and Development (CENCOSAD) on Wednesday organised a workshop for Girls with disabilities in Accra to empower them with information on their sexual and reproductive health rights.

The workshop which was organized with support from the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), created an avenue for 25 out-of- school adolescent girls with disabilities in the Asiedu Keteke sub-metro to be linked to SRHR services in thier communities.

The workshop is part of CENCOSAD’s Adolescents Girls Project aimed at improving adolescents’ access to adolescent-friendly health information and services.

It is targeted at out-of-school marginalized adolescents, particularly girls with disabilities and their families and to ensure that they are empowered with information to expect more, demand more and exercise their rights on sexual and reproductive health.

The project also seeks to ensure that adolescents take responsibility of their health for better health outcomes.

Participants of the workshop were educated on the Gender Equality and justice systems in Ghana and the causes and risk factors of Sexual and Gender Basesd Violence (SGBV).

Mr Micheal Aggrey, Project Coordinator, CENCOSAD, said girls with disabilities face discrimination creating barriers that leads to lower economic and social status.

“Girls living with disabilities face increased risk of sexual violence and abuse, have limited to access education, health care, including sexual and reproductive health ,information and services, and justice as well as civic and political participation, “ he said.

This, according to him, hinders their participation on an equal with others.

In Ghana, adolescents girls expecially those with a form of disability are at risk of early initiation of sex, unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, early childbearing, sexually transmitted diseases.

Madam Juliet Enyonam Agbali, an Adolescent health focal person at the Usher Poly clinic, also educated the girls on the need to and how to take charge of their reproductive health care.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), in a statement marking African Union (AU) Day of the African Child, has urged stakeholders in the education sector to pool efforts to ensure that all children get the requisite education to fully develop their potentials.

“All key stakeholders in the education sector must get on board in complementing the effort of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to address the pending challenges in our schools that would ensure that no child is left behind, towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 targets,” it said in the statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, on Wednesday.

“As the celebration is expected across Africa to create awareness on the importance of children having access to justice in all matters concerning their welfare, this is a day to discuss and find solutions to the challenges children in Africa face on a daily basis.”

Instituted on June 16, 1976, the AU Day has been celebrated annually in remembrance of the children who died in Soweto, South Africa as they marched on the street in protest to what they thought was a violation of their rights to quality education.

“GNECC also considers today as a day of reckoning, a day to create awareness among relevant stakeholders on the ongoing celebration and seeks to emphasise the need to improve education for all children living in Ghana and across Africa,” the statement, signed by Mr Joseph Atsu Homadzi, Chairman of the GNECC said.

The Coalition extended its best wishes to children across the continent, especially in Ghana.

GNECC is a civil society mouthpiece on education in Ghana, which advocates for free, quality, equitable and accessible education for all, among others

Source: Ghana News Agency

Kumasi,- Students of the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), are disappointed as they found empty classrooms, following an industrial action by the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG).

The frustrated students, who were taken aback by the Teachers’ strike, had no option than to go back to their hostels and homes, deserting most of the faculties and departments on the Campus.

Members of the TUTAG officially laid down their tools on Monday, commencing a nationwide strike to register their protest against what they described as poor conditions of service.

According to the Association, the members had been marginalized for far too long, as they were denied due recognition, especially in the wake of the upgrading of polytechnics to university status.

“We want equal measure for the work we are doing as university lecturers just as our colleagues in the traditional universities are enjoying,” Dr. Collins Ameyaw, the KsTU Chapter Chairman of TUTAG, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi.

He said the leadership of the Association had tasked the members “not to teach, invigilate, mark examination papers and submit results, and also attend meetings of any of the Technical Universities.”

Dr. Ameyaw expressed worry at the cumbersome promotion processes TUTAG members were made to undergo, saying the difficulty in a lecturer at the Technical University being promoted needed a review.

The Association is also demanding payment of members’ research arrears, which had been pending since the 2018/19 academic year.

“Though the government has agreed in writing that we are to enjoy the same conditions of service comparable to the traditional universities, this is yet to be implemented,” he told the GNA.

He cited how the ‘Tier-Two’ pension payment for TUTAG members going on retirement had still not commenced, despite repeated promises by the government.

“TUTAG members are currently made to use a Scheme of Service that is harsh, compared to those existing in analogous institutions, thus slowing down the academic progression of members,” Dr Ameyaw lamented.

In his estimation, Technical Universities faced numerous frustrations in getting accreditation for their academic programmes, thus hindering their academic growth, and this required drastic changes for quality tertiary educational delivery.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ho,- Professor Harry Tagbor has been appointed as the next Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) by the University’s Council.

His appointment takes effect from August 1 as he takes over from Prof Seth Owusu-Agyei, whose tenure as Pro-Vice-Chancellor ends on July 31, 2021.

Madam Maria Gwira, Director of Public Affairs, UHAS in a press release signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) disclosed that Prof Tagbor had extensive expertise in managing multi-disciplinary projects and people to achieve excellent outcomes of the highest international standard.

She said Prof Tagbor was a qualified medical doctor and a public health specialist with a well-established international reputation for original research in tropical medicine and capacity building.

Professor Tagbor was appointed Acting Dean of the School of Medicine in March 2016 and became Associate Professor and substantive Dean of the School of Medicine in June 2016.

Madam Gwira said the Professor had been involved in some activities to strengthen capacity for postgraduate training including the development and running of Ph.D. Courses, training of supervisors, and establishment of mentorship programmes for postdoctoral fellows in the College of Health Sciences at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

She said for over 10 years, Prof Tagbor’s research work had focused on the epidemiology and control of malaria in children and pregnant women; epidemiology and control of neglected tropical diseases; evaluation of disease control interventions; and investigation of implementation strategies for effective health delivery.

“He has, through his research, made significant scientific contributions to health policy and practice and has gained professional recognition for his work,” She added.

Professor Tagbor has over 40 publications, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters to his credit.

Madam Gwira said the University believed that in his new role as Pro Vice-Chancellor, he would add greater value to UHAS.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- CAMFED Ghana, a Pan-African movement, revolutionizing how girls’ education is delivered in Ghana has held its Media Partnership Meeting to enable it to present its new strategic plan and work.

It was also to brief the media about CAMFED’s work to discuss ways in which the media could advance the organisation’s Programmes and activities.

The Meeting also forms part of its efforts to forge mutually beneficial working relationships with the media and to provide a good platform for networking and collaboration in support of girls’ education, women’s empowerment and job creation.

The National Director of CAMFED Ghana, Mrs Sally Ofori Yeboah in her welcoming address, stated that CAMFED’s work was increasingly driven by the CAMFED Association, the ‘alumnae network’ of women who themselves received support from CAMFED to attend school and were now leaders for girls’ education in their communities.

She indicated that the CAMFED Association was a growing social movement that is transforming the landscape of girls’ education and women’s empowerment in Africa as members supported each other through the network, using it as a platform to become agents of change within their communities and beyond.

She announced that CAMFED has developed a new strategic plan for the period of 2020-2025, which builds on its experience and momentum to set a game-changing ambition over the next five years to support five million girls to attend and thrive in school by leveraging the ‘Multiplier Effect’ whereby young women who have been supported by CAMFED through school provide social and economic support to the next generation of girls.

“To achieve this goal, CAMFED will implement a three-pronged approach such as anchor the strategy in the ‘Multiplier Effect’, scale the Learner Guide Programme and Invest in Enterprise Development”, she emphasized.

Mrs Yeboah commended the Mastercard Foundation for their continuous partnership with CAMFED Ghana over the years for the implementation of the Innovation Bursary Programme, the Scholars and Transitions Programme, and now the Young Africa Works Programme.

Mr Patrick Atta-Buabeng, Senior Officer, Research and Learning for CAMFED Ghana who took participants through CAMFED’s new strategic plan hinted that the plan aimed to bring about systemic impact in communities.

He said the economic support strategy focuses on investing in enterprise development to increase income for women and ultimately generate more economic support for girls, while the social support strategy focuses on the scale of the learner guide Programme which would deliver mentorship to girls.

The Meeting, which was the seventh since 2014, brought together media personnel from 45 media houses in CAMFED’s regions of operation such as Northern, North East, Savannah, Bono, Bono East, Western, Eastern, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Upper East, Upper West and Central Regions.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Akyem-Kukurantumi (E/R),- The 1988 year group of Ofori-Panin Senior High School (OPASS) in the Abuakwa North Municipality has assisted their alma mater with 53 metal bunk beds valued at 36,000 Ghana cedis.

The gesture followed a request by the authorities to expand the school’s facilities such as the provision of dormitories for both boys and girls.

Rev Harry Okyere, Spokesperson of the group who handed the beds over to the school said the donation was part of their projects to complement the efforts of the government.

Already the group had constructed a modern washroom facility for the girls’ dormitory, he said and assured the institution of their continuous support to help students undertake effective academic work.

Mr Ernest Antwi Gyimah, Headmaster of OPASS, who received the items described the support as timely as it would go a long way to mitigate the impact of the increased student population.

He explained that the school has enough classrooms to accommodate its enrollment which has increased to more than 3,000, however, additional facilities, particularly dormitories were required to house students.

He was very grateful to the old students’ group, commonly called Mpanyinfo, for their contributions to the school over the years and appealed for the completion of one storey dormitory to ease congestion in the girls’ dormitory.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Bolgatanga,- Academic activities at the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU) in the Upper East Region have come to a standstill following a nationwide strike declared by members of the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG).

Despite the directive by the National Labour Commission (NLC) a few days ago, urging the Association to suspend its intended strike action, the Association still went ahead and declared it.

When the Ghana News Agency visited the Bolgatanga Technical University at its main campus at Sumbrungu, a community in the Bolgatanga Municipality, it observed that there was no academic activity going.

In an interview with Mr Oswald Atiga, the Chairman of TUTAG, Bolgatanga Technical University chapter, he said the strike action was as a result of continuous neglect by government to address the condition of service of members of the Association.

According to Mr Atiga, since the conversion of the eight polytechnics in 2018 and the recent conversion of Bolgatanga and Wa Polytechnics into Technical Universities, members of the Association still worked under the polytechnic structure of condition of service.

He described the situation as unfair and said the Association on numerous occasions engaged government to address the issues but all efforts proved futile.

“Since 2018, they have been operating under the Polytechnic condition of service which is not fair and you know in Ghana you have to go through offices and we have done that for the past two years, so what you are seeing today is a culmination of unfulfilled outcomes of several meetings,” he said.

The Chairman noted that although academic work would be adversely affected especially when the strike action prolongs, it was also imperative for the government to address their concerns.

Responding to the directive by the National Labour Commission to call off the strike, Mr Atiga explained that the Association had followed all the laid down procedures of the Labour Act 651 in embarking on the strike action including; the seven-day notification.

“The National Labour Commission knows that it does not have the moral right to call off the strike because we wrote a letter, at the national level, to Labour Commission two weeks ago and copied to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education, giving them 14 days’ notice and not even seven days, but they chose not to acknowledge receipt of that letter,”

Instead, he stated, the National Labour commission relied on an unsigned leaked letter that was issued by the National President of TUTAG to members last week.

Mr Atiga noted that the Association would hold a meeting in Accra on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, and challenge or prove their case to the National Labour Commission with authentic documents.

Source: Ghana News Agency