SHS to be made least educational standard - Akufo-Addo

The law, which is apparently to protect the free SHS policy, will also compel parents not to impede any eligible child from gaining access to education.

The President gave the hint when he addressed a durbar of the chiefs and the people of Beposo in the Sekyere Central District in the Ashanti Region last Saturday on the second leg of his five-day tour of the Ashanti Region.

He, however, did not give details of the intended law and when it would be submitted to Parliament for promulgation but stressed that the free SHS policy had come to stay and that “critics of the policy have been put to shame”.

As part of the five-day tour, President Akufo-Addo will visit the Manhyia South, Asokwa, Nhyiaeso, Bosomtwe, Bantama and Sekyere Central constituencies.

The other areas would be Nsuta-Kwamang-Beposo, Mampong, Subin, Ahafo-Ano South, Kwadaso, Atwima Kwanwoma and Oforikrom constituencies.

Last Friday, he cut the sod for a facelift of major roads in Kumasi to ease traffic, promote business and reduce flooding.

No school dropout

Speaking at the durbar at Beposo, President Akufo-Addo said the government did not want a situation where Ghanaian schoolchildren would become dropouts.

He said by ensuring that every Ghanaian child received SHS education, the government would be able to address the challenge of youth unemployment.

“Very soon we will pass legislation that stipulates that every child in Ghana should go to school up to SHS, at least. We don’t want dropouts.

This way, everyone can find meaningful employment in this country,” he said.

Fulfilling promises

He said so far many of the promises he had made in the run-up to the December 2016 elections had been fulfilled.

“The work that we promised to do, the promises I made during the campaign period — I believe that all Ghanaians can attest to the fact that they were not idle promises but rather promises that I honestly believed I could fulfil once I won power,” he said.

Apart from fulfilling the promise to ensure free SHS education, the President said, “we have reduced electricity tariffs as well to bring relief to individual households, and to businesses”.

“By so doing, business owners, especially entrepreneurs, will be energised to bring in more income. We came to visit you and to inform you that the promises we made to you here at Beposo during the campaign period are being fulfilled,” he stressed.

Appreciation

President Akufo-Addo thanked the Chief of Beposo, Nana Boamah Kwabi IV, for making available 24,000 acres of land to the government to facilitate the realisation of programmes such as the Planting for Food and Jobs and the One-district, One-factory.

“These are very valuable additions. I am truly thankful. In the same vein, the Kwamanhene has also offered us 5,000 acres for the Planting for Food and Jobs. The Nsutamanhene has given us 3,000 acres for warehouses. Out of the 21 constituencies here in Asanteman that will have warehouses, Nsuta will receive one,” he announced.

Appeal

Nana Kwabi appealed to the President to ensure that electricity was extended to all communities in the Beposo area.

Earlier, the President had visited the North American Farms at Nkujua Aframso, owned by a member of the Council of State, Nana Owusu Achiaw; cut the sod for the commencement of the Wontumi Farms, owned by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Bernard Antwi-Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), at Asare Nkwanta, and Rockland Farms, a poultry farm owned by a young female entrepreneur, Ms Edith Akosah, all in the district.

He had also inspected work on the construction of the Kofiase-Mampong road.

Food importation

Apparently amazed at production levels at the North American Farms, which produce high quality maize which is resistant to the fall army worm, the President said it did not make sense for Ghana to continue to import food.

He said measures should be put in place to assist the farmer to own the right to replicate the high-yielding seed currently being imported from the US in order to populate it in Ghana.

The high-grade seed from the US yields seven tonnes per hectare, twice what is produced locally.

At Rockland Farms, the President applauded 40-year-old Ms Akosah, who left the US in 2012 to establish the farms, using her savings of about $200,000.

Ms Akosah appealed to the President to assist her to acquire a loan under the One-district, One-factory initiative to set up a modern processing plant and also expand her farm to include the rearing of Guinea fowls, following demand from Cote d’Ivoire.

President Akufo-Addo, in response to the appeal, advised her to submit a business plan to the Presidency for study.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has hinted of a new law that will ensure that every child of school age gets access to education, at least up to senior high school SHS).

For more news go to: www.graphic.com.gh

KNUST VC challenges Agricultural Economists to lead research into agriculture challenges

Prof. Kwasi Obiri-Danso insists conducting research will resolve the challenges in the sector

Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is pushing Agricultural Economists to lead research into the numerous challenges facing Ghana’s agriculture and help proffer solutions.

Prof. Kwasi Obiri-Danso in his speech read on his behalf at the 2nd National Conference of the Ghana Association of Agriculture Economists (GAAE) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, says policymakers will have an informed basis to deliver suitable interventions that will ensure the modernization of our agriculture, ensure our food security and expand employment.

He reminded the participants of the multidimensional nature of the challenges facing agriculture today and advised that a stakeholder approach be adopted in finding solutions.

He lamented the drop in agriculture’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country from about 60% to less than 20% and a decline in agriculture growth rate from a high of 7.4% in 2008 to as low as 2.5% in 2016; a situation he says highlights the major challenges in the agricultural sector.

The Vice-Chancellor believes any challenge facing agriculture will impact on national food security, household food security and employment.

He commended GAAE for choosing a relevant theme for their meeting and encouraged them to be proactive in conducting research that helps the country improve her agriculture.

The 4-day conference is on the theme “Ghana’s Agriculture, Food Security and job creation”.

The conference brought together Agricultural economists, rural sociologists, agribusiness experts, agronomists and industry players from all over Ghana.
Source: Bernard Buachi

Ghana Institute of Journalism gets new Rector

Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo is the newly appointed Rector for GIJ

The Governing Council of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) has appointed Professor Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo as the new Rector of the Institute.

Until his appointment, he was professor of Public Relations (PR) and Marketing at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.

A statement signed by Mrs Patience Sowah, the Acting Registrar of the Institute and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday said.

A brief of Prof. Kwansah-Aidoo indicates that he was a communication scholar with extensive research interests in media and communication studies.

Prof Kwansah-Aidoo, established Monash University’s Public Relations programme in the early 2000’s before moving to Swinburne in 2007, where he became Associate Dean, International, in 2011.

The New GIJ Rector had published widely in the areas of PR, media, and communication as well as authored and co-authored several books.

“Prof Kwansah-Aidoo considers himself an African ‘world citizen’, having studied and worked in different countries and continents”.

He was a Visiting Scholar at Texas Christian University, an external examiner for a number of universities abroad, and Visiting Professor at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration,” the statement added.

According to the statement Prof Ansu-Kyeremeh, Chairman of the GIJ Governing Council, urged the New Rector to "Put the Institute on a new pedestal for academic excellence and growth”.

He said the Council went through an elaborate recruitment process to arrive at the selection of the new Rector and therefore had high expectations of him.

The Chairman of the Council commended the interim management team that had been in charge of the Institute since February, this year.

At a welcome meeting with management, and later with the entire staff, Prof Kwansah-Aidoo pledged total commitment to his work and to the founding ideals of the Institute, assuring to work with all staff to advance the potential of GIJ.

The Ghana Institute of Journalism was established in 1959 as a citadel of training and learning for journalists.

In 2006, the Institute was granted a charter to award its own degrees and diplomas. The Institute continues to play a pivotal role in the nation's human resource in critical areas such as communication, media, and journalism.
 Source: ghananewsagency.org

University of Ghana to 'cough' $160million for Africa Integras

The University of Ghana is said to have lost an arbitration in London in relation to the Africa Integras Project and therefore expected to pay $160 million to Africa Integras as termination costs.
The project was to consist of the construction of an expanded facility for the College of Humanities, a complex for the new College of Education, a new building complex for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, a complex to house the Institute of Technology and Applied Science and a building for the College of Health Sciences to aid the university in relocating the medical school to the UG campus from its present location in the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The project was structured as a 25-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract but when the leadership of the university changed in 2016, the new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu sanctioned the project, citing issues with viability and favourableness with the project contract.

The $64 million infrastructure project then came to a standstill due to the disagreement between the current Vice-Chancellor (VC) and his predecessor over the viability of the project.

The matter then went for arbitration in London.

UG lose at London Arbitration

Graphic Online has gathered that the Arbitrator in the dispute between the University of Ghana and the project developers in what is generally described as the “Africa Integras project", made a definitive and binding ruling in London on August 2, 2018.

The ruling is said have dismissed the two claims by the University of Ghana and awarded termination costs of more than $160 million to the project developers.

The Arbitrator is said to have rejected the UG argument that the Concession Agreement signed by the two parties was not enforceable.

The University of Ghana had sought to present the agreement as not being enforceable, claiming that its own procedures followed in preparing the Concession Agreement were flawed and did not follow due process.

The Arbitrator is said to have found nothing wrong with the process followed in preparing the Concession Agreement and concluded the project had been approved by the University Council in July 2014.

The ruling in London delivers a huge image blow to the University of Ghana and possibly a major financial loss to Ghana.

In July 2014, under the leadership of the then Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, the University of Ghana entered into a contract with Africa Integras, a private investment company with headquarters in New York, to construct five buildings for the university on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

For more news go to: www.graphic.com.gh

Partner with us for Free SHS – CHOPSS tells government

Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh

The Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) is unhappy with the Government’s absorption of 15 private schools under the Free Senior High School Policy.

The Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh revealed on Monday that 15 private schools had been absorbed to improve the infrastructure deficit.

But General Secretary for CHOPSS, Joseph Dzamesi, said the 15 schools had essentially given up because of the lack of student intake.

“…Absorbed meaning these are headmasters who have given up. They don’t have students in their classrooms so they have given up control, facilities and everything to the government to run, ” he told Citi News.

Mr. Dzamesi stressed that the private schools are looking for a partnership, not to cede control of their schools.

“They [absorbed schools] have become government schools just like Achimota Schools or some mission schools that have been given to government to run. So that is not what we are talking about. We are asking for partnership and they have thrown that away completely.”

“We presented proposals to government and as far as I know, none of the proposals were taken,” he added.

The Education Minister has explained that any form of collaboration with private schools requires more time and engagement.
 The Ghana Education Service has a committee that asses the infrastructure level of the private schools and their human resources before any possible partnership or absorption can go ahead.

“The schools that come, they come with different levels of infrastructure needs. That is why the Ghana Education Service has a committee that goes to assess those schools that goes to assess those schools that even come and knock on their doors to be absorbed,” Dr. Opoku-Prempeh told the media on Monday.
“Government should have a capital outlay in making sure that the teachers there are qualified. The government cannot send public students to places where the teachers are unqualified. It means that the government should have the budget to absorb those teachers or to make sure they can post teachers to those places.”

UTAG gives government final warning over book, research allowances

UTAG has given the government one last chance to pay the book and research allowances

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has given the government one last chance to pay the book and research allowances due to its members.

After an emergency meeting on Tuesday, UTAG members were in favour of downing their tools over the failure of the government to meet their demands, but the Association has given the government until Friday, August 10.

UTAG earlier threatened to strike if the government failed to pay them their 2017/2018 book and research allowances.

The ultimatum they gave elapsed on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.

“We have received assurances from government through the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education of Finance and the Ministry of Education that payment would be made by Friday, 10th August” a statement signed by UTAG President, Dr. Eric Opoku Mensah stated.

If this promise is not honoured, the lecturers say they will strike.

“The leadership of UTAG wants to take Government by its word but if Government reneges on its promise, then we would not be available in the lecture rooms by re-opening of Public Universities for the 2018/2019 Academic Year.”

In the meantime, UTAG has urged restraint from its members.

“We are by this release urging all UTAG members to remain calm while leadership monitors the situation,” the statement concluded.

The book and research allowances are provided by the government to public universities for the purpose of the funding researches in academia for national development.

The National Labour Commission (NLC) had directed the ministries of Finance and Employment and Labour Relations to furnish it with measures put in place to prevent the strike.

The NLC also appealed to UTAG not to embark on a strike, as the commission made efforts to address the issue.

“If there is any intent to go on strike, I plead that they rescind it. However, the ministry involved must take practical steps to resolve the problem. This is a recurring problem….If there are arrears to be paid, certainly, people must be paid,” The Executive Secretary of the NLC, Ofosu Asamoah said at the time.
Source: citinewsroom.com

Double-track removes pressure to secure GHC1bn funding for infrastructure dev't – NAPO

The Minister of Education, Mathew Opoku Prempeh, says the double-track system government intends to roll out in September this year at the Senior High School (SHS) level will save the nation at least a billion Ghana cedis.

He suggests that although the government will eventually spend money to expand infrastructure to deal with the challenges brought on by the free SHS policy, the double-track system will, for instance, remove the pressure to rush through obtaining the funds and putting up school buildings.

Time, he said, is not on government's side.

“We did the sum based on the 2017/2018 pricing, and we realised that we needed one billion cedis. Between June and September when these facts became clear, we realised that even if we had one billion cedis there is no way we can construct 622 classroom blocks and fix it for occupation before the middle of September, meaning we have to start thinking. Time is not on our side,” the Minister said at a press conference, Tuesday.

The press event is part of the Education Ministry’s effort to quell opposition to the new system that government says has been necessitated due to huge senior high school enrolment figures with the start of the free SHS policy.

The free SHS policy makes secondary education completely free for qualified Junior High School (JHS) graduates progressing to the next stage of education.

Infrastructural and logistical challenges have resulted in crammed classrooms and dormitories across all 600 public secondary schools in the country.

Government says the double-track system is a temporary measure to mitigate the overcrowding, promising to put up more schools to deal with the situation soon.

Speaking at the press conference, Dr Opoku Prempeh revealed “we looked at our options and engaged Cabinet in our options. Our options were that some development partners have promised to support us because we have started free SHS.

“Some say they will come with money 250 million, some say they will come and help us construct model schools, the World Bank promised additional financing but between the promises and the delivery is an average of 30 months and we are still waiting and working through the Ministry of Finance with our development partners.”

The double-track system divides the entire student body and staff into two different tracks. So while one track is in school, the other is on vacation.

Critics say the system will extend the vacation for SHS students which could lead water down the intensity of the impact of the academic process. Others say it will put pressure on teachers.

Government has said it will engage additional teachers, thereby dealing with concerns that teachers will be overburdened.

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