Ghana

Page 11 of 22
1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 22

Reduce JHS subjects to 6 — Education directors

Noticias

23 de agosto de 2017 / Fuente: https://citifmonline.com

The Conference of Directors of Education (CODE) has advocated the reduction of the number of subjects studied at the various levels of basic education.

It suggested that while pupils in the kindergarten and lower primary should study only numeracy, literature and physical education, those in upper primary and students in junior high school (JHS) should be made to study six subjects, instead of nine.

In a communique issued at the end of the 24th annual conference of CODE at Abesim, near Sunyani, last Saturday, the conference expressed the view that the use of chalk had outlived its usefulness in schools and, therefore, suggested that blackboards should be replaced with whiteboards and markers provided for use by teachers.

The communique, signed by the National President and the National Secretary of CODE, Mrs Margaret Frempong-Kore, and Mr Isaac Nsiah Edwards, respectively, did not assign any reasons for the proposal to the educational authorities to reduce the number of subjects being studied at the basic level.

However, in an interview, Mrs Frempong-Kore explained that at the Kindergarten and lower primary levels, the major problem now was literacy and numeracy.

“By the time that the child leaves the lower primary, if he cannot read, he cannot grasp other subjects taught at Upper Primary and the JHS levels,” she said.

She further explained that the conference also wanted the subjects taught at the upper primary and the JHS levels to be reduced from nine to six because there was a challenge about reading currently.

Justifying the contention of CODE for the subject to be reduced, Mrs Frempong-Kore said  the subjects had to be reduced to enable the pupils to concentrate on the basics of the subjects they would pursue at the senior high school (SHS) level. “With the low level of reading, studying nine subjects gets the students rather confused,” she added.

Free SHS policy

The CODE, in its communique issued at the end of  its meeting, said as much as CODE supported the free SHS policy, “we recommend an increase in advocacy through the distribution of hard copies of guidelines on the policy”.

It also called for the timely payment of all subsidies in relation to the programme to prevent delayed payments during its implementation, a feature that was associated with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), the progressively free SHS and the Capitation Grant.

It also expressed concern over the lack of textbooks and, in some cases, inadequacies in the provision of teaching and play materials and called for an immediate solution to the problem.

Pre-school education

“There is a big deficit in the supply of furniture at the basic level,” the communique stated, and suggested that the award of contract for the production and distribution of furniture should be done at the district level to ensure quality,  appropriateness and timely delivery.

“We are suggesting that the construction of new primary schools should have kindergartens attached, while the training of early childhood education teachers should be encouraged by increasing the quota for study leave,” it said.

TVET courses

The communique recommended that facilities at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions should be redesigned and improved to attract females and persons with disability.

“Effective inputs such as government of Ghana grants, vehicles, residential and office accommodation, as well as office equipment, should be made available to the education directorates for effective delivery of directors’ mandate,” it said.

It said CODE supported the licensing of teachers by the National Teaching Council to improve on teachers’ professional competence, but recommended that there should be more education on the issue.

Fuente noticia: https://citifmonline.com/2017/08/22/reduce-jhs-subjects-to-6-education-directors/

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Ghana: NPP’s free SHS will collapse secondary education – Okudzeto

Noticias

 

Ghana/Agosto de 2017/Fuente: Pulse

Resumen: El ex ministro de Educación a cargo de la educación terciaria, Samuel Ablakwa Okudzeto, ha dicho que el programa de educación gratuita del gobierno colapsará la educación secundaria en el país. Dijo que la financiación para el programa no es adecuada y que muchas de las escuelas de segundo ciclo carecen de infraestructura básica. Hablando en Asempa FM a mediados de la tarde del programa político el viernes, el MP de Tongu Norte dijo muy pronto, los padres preferirán las escuelas secundarias privadas a las públicas.

The former Minister of Education in charge of tertiary education, Samuel Ablakwa Okudzeto, has said the free education programme of the government will collapse secondary education in the country.

He said funding for the programme is not adequate and that many of the second cycle schools lack basic infrastructure.

Speaking on Asempa FM mid-afternoon political show Friday, the North Tongu MP said very soon, parents will prefer private secondary schools to the public ones.

“With this wrong implementation, with this wrong thought out implementation of free SHS, we are going to collapse the quality of secondary education and very soon when we take what is happening at the basic level, the private secondary schools will be preferred to the public secondary schools. And that will be a sad sad day for secondary education.

According to him: “There is a report that says we should begin to target rather than this wholistic approach in providing free education. I think this is the time to look at those studies dispassionately and objectively because I think it is a very sensible argument.”

“Instead of the government would target the vulnerable, and I have said that are we sure that the wards of members of parliament, ministers of state, the governor of the central bank, managing directors, top chief executives, all the middle class and all of that, are we sure their children need free education,” he quizzed.

The government has announced that the free SHS programme will start in September 2017 with first year students.

It has also announced as part of the policy that 30 percent admission into elite schools will be reserved for students in public schools.

And on the funding, president Nana Akufo-Addo has said Ghana’s oil revenue will be used to fund the Free Senior High School programme.

“Are we sure they would be proud that government is paying fees for their children. Meanwhile, at this same time, we have people in the second year and the third year who are in the vulnerable category and run the risk that they can drop out of school.

He accused the government of making continuing students worse off by starting the programme with only first year students.”

According to him, the Mahama administration provided support for all secondary school students and that the support has been withdrawn.

Fuente: http://www.pulse.com.gh/campus/education-in-ghana-npp-s-free-shs-will-collapse-secondary-education-okudzeto-id7173521.html

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Hablar de sexo en Ghana

Esenam Amuzu

Por: Esenam Amuzu

La falta de educación sexual perjudica seriamente a la juventud del país

La educación sobre sexualidad y salud reproductiva es una cuestión política seria en muchos países occidentales. En ese terreno se ganan o pierden elecciones por temas como el aborto y los valores “familiares”. Pero en Ghana (y en muchos otros países en desarrollo), la planificación familiar es un asunto de vida o muerte, especialmente para las jóvenes y adolescentes.

Hace seis años, cuando yo era una niña que vivía en barrio pobre del sur de Ghana, era normal oír historias de aborto adolescente. También de chicas de catorce años dando a luz. Y de hombres de dieciocho años que apaleaban a sus novias prepubescentes porque estas se negaban a lavarles la ropa. A nadie en posición de autoridad (padres o maestros) parecía preocuparle que adolescentes solteras, a menudo sin edad legal de consentimiento, fueran víctimas de tales hechos.

Esa era mi “normalidad”. Muchas compañeras de clase quedaban embarazadas y dejaban la escuela. Otras morían al abortar en establecimientos sin licencia. Y me pregunto por qué, si yo veía estos problemas tan claramente, los adultos que me rodeaban no podían hacer nada al respecto.

En la parte de Ghana donde me crié, la educación sexual era muy limitada. Las jóvenes y adolescentes carecíamos de acceso incluso a la información más básica sobre salud reproductiva. El tema no se enseñaba en las escuelas, debido a “sensibilidades culturales”. Y los padres y educadores tampoco eran mucha ayuda; muchos creían que hablar de sexo con las niñas las haría más promiscuas. Así que en vez de ser el primer recurso de ayuda, la familia y los maestros eran el último. Muchas de nosotras nos consultábamos mutuamente; otras buscaban en Internet, donde la información no siempre es exacta.

La falta de educación sexual perjudicó seriamente a la juventud de Ghana. Un estudio reciente del Guttmacher Institute (Estados Unidos) revela que el 43% de las muchachas y el 27% de los muchachos han tenido relaciones sexuales antes de su vigésimo cumpleaños. Lo más sorprendente es que el 12% de las jóvenes ghanesas de menos de quince años han tenido relaciones sexuales al menos una vez (contra el 9% de los varones). Entre las adolescentes sexualmente activas, sólo el 30% usa algún método anticonceptivo, y sólo el 22% usa un método moderno (por ejemplo, condones). En un país con altas tasas de parto adolescente y niveles asombrosos de infecciones sexualmente transmisibles (entre ellas el VIH), estos porcentajes son sumamente preocupantes.

El control de la natalidad puede salvar muchas vidas, en particular de mujeres jóvenes

El control de la natalidad puede salvar vidas, en particular de mujeres jóvenes. Por ejemplo, el Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas calcula que un incremento del uso de anticonceptivos en los países en desarrollo evitaría 70 000 muertes maternas al año y 500 000 muertes infantiles. En Ghana, ampliar el acceso a anticonceptivos modernos es fundamental para mejorar la salud a largo plazo de los niños y las futuras madres.

Para empezar, los gobiernos deben hacer hincapié en la salud sexual de los jóvenes, mediante la provisión de educación integral en cuestiones de salud reproductiva, incluidos los métodos anticonceptivos, la comunicación en la pareja y el modo de hallar información y apoyo en relación con el VIH y otras enfermedades de transmisión sexual. Los gobiernos también deben reforzar la colaboración con organizaciones de la sociedad civil.

Pero los jóvenes de Ghana no podemos esperar que todo lo hagan los mayores: también debemos hacer campaña por nuestra parte. Por eso hace unos meses colaboré en el lanzamiento de una iniciativa juvenil llamada My Teen Life [Mi vida adolescente], que busca dar a los jóvenes voz en la discusión de temas de sexualidad en las zonas rurales del país. Este proyecto ha tenido un prometedor comienzo, gracias al generoso apoyo de la iniciativa suiza Global Changemakers. Ya educa a padres y tutores sobre cómo hablar de salud sexual con sus hijos; capacita a madres adolescentes; y trabaja para cortar el círculo vicioso de pobreza y maternidad precoz.

My Teen Life ya ha llegado a más de 100 adolescentes y sus familias, y ha formado a un primer grupo de madres adolescentes para generar ingresos con la confección de joyas y pantuflas. En los próximos meses y años, esperamos llevar esta y otras iniciativas sociales a muchos más, en Ghana y otros países africanos.

Estas iniciativas buscan llegar a las chicas por vías cerradas para los programas oficiales. Hasta hace poco, en Ghana sólo se ofrecía información sobre “planificación familiar” a parejas casadas. Si bien eso empieza a cambiar, las estructuras familiares patriarcales todavía impiden a muchas mujeres, incluso casadas, acceder a servicios de calidad.

Dentro de nuestras pequeñas capacidades, My Teen Life es una forma eficaz de llegar a las jóvenes. Las ayudamos a aprender y comprender lo que sucede cuando crecen, y a tomar las mejores decisiones para su futuro. Empoderamos a todas las adolescentes con que trabajamos para que no dejen la escuela, e insistimos en que si dan expresión a su sexualidad mantengan el control de lo que sucede con sus cuerpos. Todavía queda mucho por hacer, pero mis colegas y yo creemos que el cambio es más duradero cuando las soluciones a los problemas de los jóvenes salen de los propios jóvenes.

Fuente: https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/08/16/planeta_futuro/1502887247_458553.html

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Free SHS A Challenge To Bridging Gap In Education Between Northern And Southern Ghana

Noticias

Ghana, August 15, 2017/By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM/Source: https://www.modernghana.com

The razzmatazz that heralded the 2012 and 2016 general election can still be recollected fresh.Free education. Free education. Free education.Now it’s here…Indeed,if government says yes,who can say no(apart from God).Thank you your Excellency Nana Addo.Thank you sedulously tax payer.

The handwriting is bold enough.Free Senior High School (SHS) is here to stay despite your right to say.This is a fact all «priviledged person’s» must accept or feel free to to burn the sea!»Chai, I feel you well well Mr . Education Minister like Don Jazzy feel Omotolla.Hard talk be what?

The baseline remains September 2017.(Ghc400 million cool and we’ve started).This is albeit the gritting concerns on the table yet to be addressed.

Infact,I should say that government’s decision to expand access by redefining basic education to include secondary education is commendable.It’s a constitutional must-have.Financially distressed parents can now sleep with all two eyes closed.The ‘School Fees BP’ of poor parents will reduce.I celebrate government for this effort.

Yes,the policy is laudable.But no matter how letter-perfect the policy on Fee Free Education may appear to be,in the absence of clear information and a government white paper on the implementation of the policy,the genuine concerns of critics should well be understood.It’s therefore,very important we hasten slowly in our attempt to render every dissenting view nugatory.Dissenters may not necessarily be ‘priviledged persons’ or ‘antagonist’, but citizens who care for the system.

Hiding in my little ‘somewhere’ as a village blogger fully raised in the ‘village situation’,I smile miserably at every mention of free education.I have always had genuine issues to raise about the policy.I see a good policy on one hand, and on the other hand,I prevision challenges for that ‘village student’.(My previous articles on the subject matter speaks volumes).As I’ve always maintained,the policy in itself is good.But a good thing may be done wrongly defeating its intended purpose.

We’ve also heard it all.The voice of the Minister of Education is loud enough…»You don’t need to be brilliant to enjoy free SHS…;Sit the BECE,pass, get placed in a public SHS,and you benefit from Free SHS».Two sides of the same argument,I guess!And this position seem to provoke my curiosity.

The emphasis is the usual «grade producing educational system».Pass.Pass.Pass.Well!

The ‘Cut off pass mantra’ is the clear reason why most people are classifying the policy as a scholarship package.Thus, you must meet a pass condition(Cut off grade) before you can enjoy the policy package.If you don’t meet the condition,count yourself out.

Expanding the argument by taking a closer look at the wisdom contained in article 25 (1) of the 1992 constitution,the very basis of this policy,which says «All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities….», I ask myself:Do we all have equal educational opportunities and facilities in this country?Article 17 (4 )(a) makes it beautiful by empowering parliament to enact laws that are reasonably necessary to provide «for the implementation of policies and programmes aimed at redressing social,economic or educational imbalances in the Ghanaian society.»

In an attempt to create such equal opportunities and redress the imbalances in our educational system as a country,particularly between the North and South,the Northern Scholarship was instituted in 1957 by Ghana’s first president Dr.Kwame Nkrumah as a gap bridging mechanism.Feeding grants and examination registration fees are covered under the scholarship.The policy, distributive as it’s, aims at addressing equity challenges and ensuring social justice.

But it appears we have now grown pass the stone age of «so-called Northern Scholarship to negotiating Free SHS policy that is going to be universally proportional in nature regardless of the existing systemic imbalances.The playing field will be levelled irrespective of environmental,socioeconomic and existing conditions.The policy is going to treat unequals as equals.The benchmark is simple,»pass your BECE and enjoy».

In effect,students who use stones as computer mouse are expected to score the same grade in ICT as those who enjoy ultramodern ICT facilities in the cities.Children from underserved communities and deprived backgrounds must compete in the imbalanced system with their affluent counterparts and obtain the same grades if not better…No more preferential treatment.Whether in «King’s or Queen’s JHS or Kotito Number 10 JHS»,you must pass the same exams with or without the needed TLM’s, facilities or learning support.That is now the system.

And it’s or should be said that,in such a system,I envision a deliberate attempt to further widen the already widened inequality gap in education between Northern and Southern Ghana.The existing gap in education between the two halves of our country may not be plucked any sooner.

Educational standard in the three Regions of the North and some deprived communities in Ghana is generally accepted to be low.Not because children from these parts of the country are born ‘stupid’,but the clear established gap in resources and facilities «cause am».

Taking the 2014 BECE results as an example,only 60% of students who sat for the examination qualified to enter SHS.In the three Regions of the North particularly,22% qualified from Northern Region,11% from Upper West and Upper East Regions.In the same year under review,80% of students qualified from Greater Accra and Ashanti Region to enter SHS.So you see the clear disparity?

Students from the north who hitherto didn’t patronise the ‘big public SHS’s» in the south for fear of the fees would now want to ‘dare there’.The requirements and the challenge of competing with students exposed to improved learning environments for limited space in such schools may,however, limit their chances.We are gradually going to have a system where students from advanced Junior High Schools get not only the best of the policy but the most out of it.The poor and disadvantaged students can’t catch up with the system.The very people for whose reason the policy is being implemented.

A good policy among other things,must aim at increasing the equity and fairness of all members and sectors of society by balancing the existing conditions.

The policy if not prioritised will create undue added advantage for our brothers in the south,whilst creating added disadvantage for those down north.

It’s on this note that I wish to call on the Northern Caucaus of Members of Parliament to seek clear answers and demand for a fair implementation of the policy along the existing imbalanced conditions.A wise man once said there no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.The gap between the north and south is already wide enough.Any any attempt to widen it the more can only spell doom for our common good .It’s not for nothing that nations usually rise against nations.

Let’s beware!
May God bless our homeland Ghana.
The writer of this article is a teacher by profession,a freelance journalist,youth/community advocate,blogger/writer and a student.

Read more of his works on ( ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com ).

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB)
(The Village Writer)
0241129910/0200704844

Source:

https://www.modernghana.com/news/795199/free-shs-a-challenge-to-bridging-gap-in-education-between-no.html

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Ghana: Supervision key to performance in public schools

Noticias

Ghana/August 8, 2017/By: ghananewsagency.com/ Source: https://www.ghanamma.com

Mr Stephen Abarika, the Eastern Regional President of the Girls Education Network (GEN), says supervision and monitoring in public schools are key to improving standards and performance of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)

He therefore asked all stakeholders especially circuit supervisors of the Ghana Education Service (GES), community leaders, chiefs and elders, schools management committees (SMCs)to upscale their role to ensure that the expected outcomes in the investment of education especially at the basic level was fully realised.

Speaking at the maiden meeting of the GEN, to map up strategies in improving girl- child education, he observed that with strong supervision from all stakeholders’ public schools including girl’s education would be improved.

Mr Abarika, who is also the project officer of AG Care, Ghana, a social and relief organisation of the Assemblies of God Church, said monitoring and evaluation had led to sustainable change in entry, retention, completion and transition of learners in some schools in the Suhum Municipality by AG-Care.

He observed that, the institution of the GEN network indicated that there was a problem with girl- child education, be it enrolment, retention and transition to the next level, apart from the basic level.

He called on partners working towards the girl- child education to step up grassroots stakeholder participation.

The GEN is a Network of NGOs working in the interest of promoting girl -child education in the Region.

It consists of AG-Care, Action Aid, and College for Ama, FLOWER, CRESCCENT, International Child Development Programme, World Vision, Plan International, World Joy and the Girls Education Unit of the GES among other organisations.

Among the objectives of the GEN is to use a common strategy and platform to address issues such as teenage pregnancies, early marriages, poverty and other challenges that militate the enrolment, retention and transition of the girl- child in having a sound education for empowerment.

Teenage pregnancy, remains one of the huge challenges confronting girl -child education in the Region.

According to Ghana Health Service report in 2013, more than 12,000 girls of school going age were recorded pregnant and therefore dropped out of school.

Source:

Supervision key to performance in public schools

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Adquirir nuevas capacidades para promover mejor la educación de las niñas en Ghana

UNESCO

África/Ghana/05 Agosto 2017/UNESCO

Los miembros del equipo de la Unidad de Educación de las Niñas (GEU, por sus siglas en inglés) del Servicio de Educación de Ghana (GES, por sus siglas en inglés) están mejorando su capacidad para promover la educación de las niñas y coordinar las actividades relativas a su educación en Ghana, en el marco de la Alianza Mundial para la Educación de las Niñas y las Mujeres UNESCO-HNA.

Desde 1997, el Servicio de Educación de Ghana (GES) cuenta con una Unidad de Educación de Niñas (GEU) encargada de eliminar todas las formas de discriminación por razones de género en el sector educativo, así como para mejorar la incorporación y la permanencia de las niñas en la escuela. No obstante, una evaluación de las capacidades llevada a cabo en 2016 reveló deficiencias de la capacidad institucional de la GEU para desempeñar su papel de manera eficaz. El informe destacó, en particular, la ineficacia de la GEU en coordinar las múltiples actividades relativas a la educación de las niñas que los agentes no estatales implementan en el país.

Para dar solución a esta cuestión, así como a otros problemas estructurales, tales como el financiamiento público insuficiente para la educación de las niñas o la falta de modelos femeninos en algunas escuelas y comunidades, la Oficina de la UNESCO en Accra ha organizado un conjunto de formaciones sobre reforzamiento de habilidades con miras a mejorar la capacidad del GEU en la promoción de la educación de las niñas en Ghana, mediante la Alianza Mundial para la Educación de las Niñas y las Mujeres de la UNESCO-HNA.

Entre los días 24 y 28 de abril de 2017, se organizó un primer programa de formación, en Larteh, región oriental de Ghana, dirigido a 32 funcionarios de la GEU (30 mujeres y 2 hombres), entre los que figuraron nueve funcionarios de la Sede y algunos miembros del personal de diferentes regiones y distritos.  La formación hizo hincapié en la gestión de los programas centrados en los resultados, la movilización de recursos y la elaboración de informes. Dicha formación fue posible gracias a la colaboración del Instituto de la Sociedad Civil de África Occidental con una combinación de técnicas, tales como, presentaciones mediante PowerPoint, trabajo en grupos, cuestionarios, rompecabezas, estudios de casos y debates plenarios.

Los participantes debatieron acerca de la manera en que la formación contribuyó a mejorar sus capacidades: «He adquirido las capacidades en materia de movilización de recursos locales para poder financiar las actividades en mi ciudad», afirmó Vida Owusu, responsable de la educación de las niñas en Kumasi. «Aprendí también a coordinar mis actividades en el distrito, así como a redactar mejor los informes». Otro participante, Christiana Azure Ayimzoya, responsable de la unidad de educación de las niñas en el área metropolitana de Accra, indicó cómo pensaba aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos: «Ahora sé cómo movilizar recursos para llevar a cabo programas que favorezcan a las niñas de mi región», afirmó. «La elaboración de informes es otra de las habilidades que he adquirido mediante este taller. Cuando regrese organizaré un taller de reforzamiento de capacidades para los responsables de la educación de las niñas de mi región».

Con miras a garantizar un seguimiento adecuado de la formación, el personal de la UNESCO y los facilitadores tienen previsto efectuar visitas de seguimiento a las oficinas de los participantes a fin de determinar qué han hecho de manera diferente después de haber participado en la formación. Dichas visitas también permitirán que los facilitadores proporcionen el apoyo técnico necesario a los participantes en sus respectivas oficinas. La segunda formación está prevista del 21 al 25 de agosto de 2017, y está dirigida a 35 responsables de la educación de las niñas. En total, mediante la Alianza Mundial para la Educación de las Niñas y las Mujeres UNESCO-HNA, el proyecto tiene como objetivo la capacitación de 235 miembros del personal con miras a mejorar sus capacidades a la hora de promover y coordinar las actividades relativas a la educación de las niñas en Ghana.

Fuente: http://www.unesco.org/new/es/media-services/single-view/news/learning_new_skills_to_better_promote_girls_education_in/

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Ghana: Education Minister says teacher promotions no longer automatic

Noticias

Ghana/July 18, 2017/Source: https://www.ghanamma.com

Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, warns teachers in public schools that promotions will be based on merit and not automatic henceforth.

Education Minister Dr. Opoku Prempeh has recently stated that teachers teaching in public schools ought to endeavor live up to their responsibilities and the teaching standards of their trade.

He’s stated that teachers need to show a high sense of discipline, commitment, and respect for the their profession so that they may be able to upgrade the quality of education delivery.

“The Ministry is determined to ensuring that teachers’ promotion is based on competence, hard work and other relevant requirements per the National Teachers Council’s demands”, he noted.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh’s comments were relayed in a speech read on his behalf during the graduation ceremony of the Jackson College of Education in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

In the Education Minister’s speech, he reminded teachers that theirs was an altruistic profession, one of selflessness and dedication towards the benefit of their pupils.

On the other hand, Prof. Samuel Afrane, Council Chairman of the Jackson College of Education, urge graduates to embrace rural postings..

Source:

Education Minister says teacher promotions no longer automatic

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »
Page 11 of 22
1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 22