GES Director-General calls for team work

Accra, June 19, GNA - Mr Jacob A.M. Kor, Acting Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has called for teamwork among stakeholders in education so as to achieve the aspirations of the sector.

Speaking at his maiden meeting with heads of educational institutions and stakeholders in the Greater Accra Region on Thursday, Mr Kor said to achieve the aims of education, stakeholders, including the leadership of the GES, teachers, students, and labour unions, must play their roles effectively.

This, he said, should be done with the best interests of the children and the various stakeholders, while striving to serve them to the best of their ability.

He said leaders must have excellent interpersonal relations with their colleagues if they are to be successful in their roles.

Mr Kor said the most effective way to address some challenges in the sector such as declining performance, was not to apportion blame but to collectively work to address them.

He said there was the need to tackle teacher professionalism by addressing issues of teacher absenteeism, lateness and unpreparedness for teaching since these factors contribute to the student’s poor performance.

Mr Kor urged teachers to desist from the use of indecent language in the classroom and branding of children as their words had an effect on the children saying they should rather encourage the students to succeed.

“We cannot do anything without the support of the stakeholders” he said and tasked the District Directors of Education and heads of schools to respect the inputs of stakeholders like Parent-Teacher Associations, labour unions and community members.”

He said parents as first teachers played an important role in their children’s education and entreated parents to dialogue with teachers and other officials on issues affecting their wards’ education.

“Teaching is a calling like that of reverend fathers or Imams and if we serve the children with love, we will receive blessings and live long on earth. Our reward will be on earth, not in heaven,” Mr Kor said.

He urged students, as stakeholders in education, to be prepared to study with zeal to be able to pass their examinations without having to resort to cheating.

With reference to the cancellation of some papers in the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Exams (BECE), he noted that examination malpractices had become a canker in the sector and signalled the need to re-strategise.

Source: GNA

Intense competition cause of BECE leakage – Prof Dominic Fobih

Former Education Minister Prof Dominic Fobih has attributed the leakage of the Basic education Certificate Examination papers to intense competition between schools to outperform each other.

According to him, because most schools don’t want to score zeros or low marks during the BECE examination, they do anything to ensure that their students pass.

This encourages the leakage of the papers.

Prof Fobih’s comment follows the leakage and subsequent cancellation of five subjects in the ongoing BECE supervised and conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

A statement confirming the cancelation was released by the examination administration body Wednesday.

Signed by Mrs. Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, Deputy Director of Public Affairs, the statement listed the following papers are having been "compromised".

Prof. Dominic Fobih was Minister of Education in the erstwhile Kufuor administration.

Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show ‘Dwaso Nsem” Thursday, Fobih believes there is no way students should be blamed for the leakage adding that it was simply a leadership problem.

But he did not spare the teachers and education authorities of blame.

Prof Fobih fears that this form of corruption, if not dealt with immediately will affect the integrity and moral judgment of the students in the long term.

He called on government and the stakeholders in the education sector to, as a matter of urgency, modify the
objectives of the BECE.

The former Member of Parliament for Assin South Constituency said pupils do not have to qualify to go to SHS.

He said it is important to make SHS the mandatory terminal point, instead of using the BECE to terminate some pupils’ education.

Former Education Minister Dominic Fobih is calling for the complete restructuring of the BECE because “it lacks depth”.

According to the Professor, BECE should be an exam that seeks to identify the strengths of pupils and place them in their various preferred programmes like business, science, visual and arts at the Senior High
School (SHS) level.

In his view,” it is necessary to change the focus of the BECE” from its current selective system to a placement system which will be more beneficial to the student.

There is no need to sift through the candidates and take the supposed brilliant ones to SHS, every student’s strength in a particular subject or programme should be the standpoint for SHS education.

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba
Akwa

Teacher charged following death of coconut- climbing student

The teacher who allegedly caused the death of the 17-year-old student of the Suhum Aboabo Sonkor Presbyterian Basic School in the Eastern region, has been remanded into police custody.

Suhum police say Richard Djamgba’s teacher known only as “Sir Johnson” was arrested three days ago after he returned to the town on private business.

Sir Johnson, a Science teacher, in October last year, forced his pupil Richard Djamgba to climb a coconut
tree to pluck a fruit for him to quench his thirst.

He fell at least 15 feet from the tree and was left paralyzed. He developed urine retention and other complications.

Lack of funds deprived him of surgery at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Richard Djamgba died last weekend.

According to Joy News’ Eastern regional correspondent Kofi Siaw, the teacher was transferred out of the school following the incident.

But the police took advantage of his return to arrest him.

The previous charge of murder has been changed to exposure to danger.

Sir Johnson looked shaken and intimidated when he appeared at the Suhum magistrate court Thursday.

He was said to have come in the company of some teachers who were showing solidarity to him.

The court has now remanded him into custody to reappear on June 30.

Source: Myjoyonline.com

BECE leakage: I paid ₵200 - Parent confesses

Following a massive leakage of BECE questions, a parent has told Joy News he paid  ₵200 to authorities in the school where his ward is a student.

A parent, Yaw Owusu, in the Ashanti Region was told it was for the BECE exams.

Yaw Owusu also explained that some invigilators emptied the pockets of all the monies belonging to the students in the examination room before exams began.

According to him, the teachers and invigilators claim the money was to help them in the BECE.

A nationwide probe is already underway as WAEC comes under fire for failing to stop the leakage.

Ghana Education Campaign Coalition's Bright Appiah believes “the whole system is responsible for this” and that every step of the process of examination administration can be faulted.

"It is unfortunate that we have to go through this again", he told Joy News Wednesday.

The West African Examination Council on Wednesday, cancelled five papers and postponed the writing of two papers following widespread leakage in the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

A statement confirming the cancelation was released by the examination administration body.

The leakage was displayed on social media Wednesday.

It has left parents, candidates and the education ministry fuming after what has been called one of the most embarrassing examination leakages in the history of the West African Examination Council.

Source: myjoyonline.com

2000 year group of PRESEC Old BoysAssociation to adopt Korle Bu Children’s Ward

The 2000 year group of Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School (PRESEC) Old Boys Association has decided to adopt the children's ward of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The group disclosed this when they presented items worth a little over 5,000 Ghana cedis to the hospital.

Speaking during the presentation of the items President of the 2000 year group, Foster Mensah said they the group was encouraged to carry out the donation because of the recent floods that hit the department.

“Looking at how critical the department is in providing healthcare to the young ones in the country, we decided to move now and come and support you" Mr. Mensah told hospital officials.

Items donated included drinks, soaps, detergents, rice, toys, bags of purified, water and medicines.

Mr Mensah added that the 2000 year group was engaging with their partners to adopt the ward in a bid to assist the hospital in its work.

Receiving the items, a senior medical officer at the department, Madam Aggie Boateng, thanked the PRESEC Old Boy’s Association, adding that it is her hope that the donation would encourage other corporate entities and groups to come to the hospital's aid.

The Old Boys later went into the wards to distribute some of the items personally to children who were excited to see the old boys just coming around to visit them.


Source: Myjoyonline.com

AIMS-Ghana to improve study of Maths

Donkorkrom (E/R), June 3, GNA - The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Ghana (AIMS-Ghana) is embarking on outreach programmes to promote teaching and learning of Mathematics at all levels of education in Ghana.

The programme would target teachers and pupils in the most deprived areas to help bridge the gap between pupils/students in rural areas and their counterparts in urban centres.

The initiative is a partnership between the Government through the Ministry of Education and AIMS-Ghana to train teachers in modern ways of teaching Mathematics and demystify the subject as being considered as an abstract one.

AIMS is a non-profit making Pan-African Network of Mathematical Centres in Africa.

The Kwahu Afram Plains North District is being selected to pilot the teacher training exercise.

To this end, a total of 50 teachers at the pre-tertiary level in the District have been selected for a five-day intensive training at Donkorkrom.

Speaking on behalf of Professor Francis K. A. Allotey, the President of AIMS-Ghana, to open the five-day training programme, Ms Sarah Osei, a Career Development and External Relations Manager for AIMS-Ghana, stated that the teaching and learning of Mathematics was a problem in Ghana.

Therefore, she said, AIMS-Ghana was committed to liaising with all stakeholders in education to raise pupils’ interest in learning the subject.

She noted Mathematics was the bedrock of Modern Economies, therefore, it was critical to whip up the interest in studying Mathematics to demystify it.

“Despite the importance of Mathematical and Quantitative Skills, there is a decline in the number of skilled Mathematics teachers at the pre-tertiary level in Ghana,” she said.

According to Ms Osei, Mathematics equipped individuals to think logically and become problem solvers, explaining that one of the key skills needed in Ghana’s developmental agenda was the development of Mathematical talents.

She said AIMS, as Africa’s first network of centres of excellence for post-graduate scientific training, research, industry and public engagement in Mathematical Sciences, had the objective of delivering excellent teaching, research and education in Mathematical Sciences.

“AIMS has it as a mission to enable Africa’s brightest students flourish as independent thinkers, problem solvers and innovators capable of propelling Africa’s future scientific, industrial, educational and economic self-sufficiency,” she added.

Ms Osei urged the participants to take advantage of the training and share their challenges in teaching Mathematics with the facilitators for a holistic training that could impart directly on pupils’ performance.

Mr Gabriel Adu, the District Education Director for Afram Plains North, expressed appreciation to AIMS-Ghana for choosing the district for the pilot project, and pledged his outfit’s support in making the training programme a success and to help raise performance in mathematics in the district.

AIMS has established centres of excellence in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Tanzania and aims at establishing 15 centres of excellence across Africa by 2025.

Meanwhile, the Institute has produced more than 731 graduates from 41 African nations with more than 30 per cent of these scholars being women.

Source: GNA

Student shot dead in Bawku

A student of the Bawku Technical Institute has been shot dead by unknown assailants.

According to the Police, Emmanuel Awuni Issah was going home from school on a motorbike with a female colleague when he was shot by three ‘assailants.’

The Bawku District Commander of Police, Chief Inspector Lovelace Kaletsi Tefutor confirmed the shooting toCiti News in an interview.

“Yesterday the students of Bawku technical school were rioting so the District Chief Executive (DCE and the Municipal Director of Education decided to close down the school because they did not want to return to their books. We asked the students to leave the school by 6:00. At dawn today, I was called by the Garu district commander that a student of Bawku school who was on a motorbike with a lady behind him was shot by unknown assailants, 3 of them on motorbikes who run away.”

He however clarified that the incident happened in Garu and not in Bawku as had been initially reported stating that “the student was shot in Garu but not in Bawku as stated.”

He revealed that the Police are ” following the investigation trend to make sure that those who are cattle raiders and those who are known to have criminal records” to determine any connection to the incident.

Bawku Technical Institute closed down

The Bawku Institute was closed down following the disturbances in the school.

The students went on hunger-strike over the promotion of the Vice Principal in charge of Academics, Jacob Felli, a favourite of the students, to the position of Director of Education for Kasena Nankana Municipality.

The police were called in to ensure calm but a decision was taken by the DCE to close the school down to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

No police seriously hurt in disturbances

The Bawku Police Commander told Citi News that no security personnel had been seriously hurt in the clashes with the students.

The riot personnel who were sent to the school were pelted with stones and there were reports that some of the police personnel had been injured.

However Chief Inspector Tefutor denied this saying, “Initially when we went to the campus to ask them to return to the classroom, we sent in two riot cars. The police men were in the riot cars when the students were throwing stones at them. No police officers were injured, there were military personnel as well, not none of them were seriously injured,” he explained”

‘Situation calm’

Chief Inspector Lovelace Tefutor stated that the situation on the campus had calmed down as all the students had returned home following the closure of the school.

“Now the situation is calm because we have sent all the students home. There is nobody on campus now.”

Source: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Students Boycott Meals To Protest Promotion Of ‘Beloved’ Teacher

Promotions in any job is usually celebrated by well wishers, but students of the Bauku Technical Institute in the Upper East Region are upset that their favourite teacher has to leave them soon, and are protesting by boycotting their meals.

The beloved teacher, Jacob Felli who is also the Vice Principal in-charge of academics, has been promoted to the position of Director of Education for Kasena Nankana Municipality.

Even though the students want him to succeed, they say his departure will affect their academic work.

They reportedly tried to present a petition to the paramount chief of the Bawku traditional area Naba Asigri Azorka II about their concern but were stopped by the Police.

The Police say the students started chanting songs, dancing in the middle of the Bawku -Bolga road and causing commotion.

Bawku divisional Police Commander chief superintendent, Lovelace Tefutor said they refused to eat breakfast, lunch and supper and in view of that the Bawku Municipal Chief Executive, Bukari Issaku decided to close down the school temporarily until further notice.

All students were subsequently asked to go home until further notice.

When Citi News contacted Jacob Felli, he confirmed being promoted but called for calm.

According to ASP Agbanyo, the students did not vandalise any school property but the Police will continue to patrol the school.

This is the third school in the Upper East Region which had to be closed down due to students protest.

Some of the school that were closed down includes the Bolgatanga Senior High School and recently the Bolgatanga Technical Institute.


Source: Citifmonline.com

Students must be ambassadors of positive change

Juaso (Ash), June 5, GNA - Students have been advised to champion the cause of positive attitudinal change to help create an orderly society.

They are to serve as ambassadors for positive change by standing against the evils in society to help shape the future of the country.

Mr. Samuel Otchere, the Asante Akim South District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), who gave the advice implored students to demonstrate exemplary conducts, discipline and moral uprightness to make the society a better place to live.

He was addressing students of the Great Jesus International School, at Juaso, at a ceremony to mark the commencement of week-long activities for this year’s Citizenship Week celebration.

Speaking on the theme, “My Ghana: The Power of One”, the NCCE Director said the power of the individual to effect change and help create a prosperous Ghana resided in every Ghanaian.

He counseled them to embrace discipline, respect for school rules, and regulations whilst also working hard on their books to successfully graduate from school.

“You should also do away with attitudes that can ruin your future,” he added.

Mr. Patrick Asare, a civic educator of the NCCE, urged the students to work hard to make good grades rather than cutting corners during examination malpractices.

They should also respect each other’s rights and religion to foster national unity and cohesion, he said.

Mr. Frank Agyemang, the Coordinator of Civic Club in the school, commended the NCCE for the insightful event and urged them to pay regular visits to the School.

The Citizenship Week is celebrated every year by the NCCE to remind young Ghanaians of their responsibilities as citizens and the role they could play to build a strong, vibrant and democratic country.

The period is an opportunity to create a platform for role models in leadership positions as well as accomplished citizens to interact and impart virtues of good citizenship to pupils in basic schools across the country.

Source: GNA

Adansi Rural Bank awards scholarships to students

The Adansi Rural Bank Limited at Fomena in the Adansi North District in Ashanti Region has offered scholarships to seven needy but brilliant students to continue their education.

The acting General Manager, Mr Akwasi Osei Nkrumah, explained that the gesture was a renewed commitment by the bank to pay extra attention to its corporate social responsibility, particularly in the area of education.

He said the parents and guardians of the beneficiaries were shareholders of the bank and hailed from the Adansi area.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr Ahmed Kwame Boakye, said the financial assistance would encourage beneficiaries of the scheme to study extra hard to be able to develop their full potential so that they could contribute their quota to national and community development.

A beneficiary of the package, who is currently studying for his Masters’ programme at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Asamoah, used the opportunity to advise the seven students who had been enrolled onto the scheme to study hard.

The Queenmother of the Adansi Traditional Area, Nana Amoanimaa Dede, expressed gratitude to the bank for the initiative.


Source: Daily Graphic

Kumbungu SHS students demonstrate against headmaster

Students of Kumbungu Senior High School (SHS) Monday morning staged a demonstration against the school’s headmaster Francis Tia Dokurugu accusing him of failing to supervise teachers resulting in students’ poor performance.

Joy News’ Northern regional correspondent, Martina Bugri reports that first and second-year students of the school started the protest in the Monday morning at about 8am.

The students say teachers often turn up late for work, routinely missing their first lessons and leaving before the last lessons in order to catch the afternoon bus to Tamale where many of them reside.

Tamale is 22kilimeters from the school and is a one hour journey by motorbike.

According to the students, for the past two years, students of the school who sat the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) performed poorly.

The school was ranked 483 out of over 700 schools who participated in the 2013 SHS league table of academic performance.

Only 19.2% of the 368 students passed in six to eight subjects during the 2013 WASSCE.

Martina Bugri reports that there is little semblance of ongoing academic work although final-year students are preparing for exams later in the week.

Final-year students did not take part in the demonstrations.

The students have also accused the headmaster of converting bungalows meant for teachers into hostels for female students.

Kumbungu SHS is struggling with serious infrastructure problems for its 1,200 students.

There is an unusual practice where a majority of the students live on rented apartments outside campus because of a lack of boarding facilities.

The headmaster was not available for comment.

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com