El vicepresidente del Banco Mundial para África, Hafez Ghanem, llegará a Ghana el domingo 24 de marzo, como parte de una misión de tres días al país.
El vicepresidente, Hafez Ghanem, hará una visita de cortesía a su excelencia el presidente Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo para discutir políticas macroeconómicas, fiscales y monetarias y resaltar oportunidades para invertir en educación y la economía digital en auge.
Ghanem también se reunirá con Su Excelencia el Vicepresidente Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, el Ministro Principal Yaw Osafo Marfo, el Ministro de Finanzas, otros Ministros de Estado y el Gobernador del Banco Central, el Dr. Ernest Addison para discusiones en profundidad sobre temas específicos del sector. También interactuará con funcionarios clave del sector privado para hablar sobre el entorno empresarial de Ghana.
El 25 de marzo, Ghanem también participará en una CSO africana y en una serie de diálogos parlamentarios que conectará a 15 países de África subsahariana y lanzará un informe del Banco Mundial. Aprovechar la paridad: desbloquear el potencial de las empresas de mujeres en África. También visitará los proyectos financiados por el Grupo del Banco Mundial dentro y fuera de Accra, como el Centro Digital de Accra, el proyecto de Agricultura de Mujeres en la Agricultura y las Granjas VegPro, todas en Akuse, en la Región Oriental de Ghana.
Esta es la primera visita de Ghanem a Ghana desde que se convirtió en Vicepresidente en 2018.
La cartera activa de la AIF en Ghana comprende 21 proyectos, que abarcan todos los sectores principales, incluidos la energía, el transporte, la educación, el agua y el saneamiento, entre otros. Todos los compromisos del Banco Mundial ascienden a $ 1,731 millones con aproximadamente el 66% desembolsado. Ghana también participa en un proyecto regional en educación.
Ghana necesita investigadores con recursos y con experiencia para enfrentar los desafíos nacionales a través de intervenciones políticas exhaustivas, ha dicho el profesor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, director de la Universidad de Ghana (UG) Carnegie Projects.
La Corporación Carnegie de Nueva York y la Universidad de Ghana, en 2010, comenzaron un proyecto para construir una nueva generación de académicos en África para promover la excelencia en la investigación de posgrado.
El profesor Ntiamoa-Baidu, en una entrevista con la Agencia de Noticias de Ghana, dijo que el proyecto había introducido actualmente el tercer componente, que consiste en desarrollar la capacidad de los becarios postdoctorales a través del archivo adjunto.
Explicó que los primeros miembros de la Facultad de carrera se unieron a profesores con experiencia para servir como mentores, dando a los beneficiarios el tiempo y la oportunidad de exponerse a la forma en que funcionan las instituciones terciarias en otros países o cómo investigan los laboratorios.
El Prof. Ntiamoa-Baidu explicó que la idea era animar a los profesores para que realicen más investigaciones, sean más productivos, tengan la experiencia y realicen investigaciones de vanguardia.
El proyecto había apoyado a 125 candidatos a PhD y 86 MPhil y varios miembros de la facultad de carrera temprana a través de becas y becas de investigación.
Dijo que, en conjunto, la Universidad de Ghana había recibido fondos de casi 10 millones de dólares de parte de Carnegie y otros donantes.
La Sra. Deana Arsenian, Vicepresidenta (Programa Internacional) de la Corporación Carnegie de Nueva York, dijo que la corporación había registrado 1.500 becas y apoyó el fortalecimiento del sector de la educación superior en África.
Dijo que durante los últimos tres años, la estrategia de la Corporación se había centrado en las oportunidades postdoctorales a través del apoyo a las instituciones para ofrecer oportunidades para avanzar en las carreras académicas.
La Sra. Arsenian dijo que la filosofía de Carnegie era que las necesidades de la educación superior en Ghana y otros países de África occidental eran enormes y que aún se necesitaba mucho esfuerzo para desarrollar habilidades.
Dijo que dado que las facultades universitarias eran muy importantes, la contribución de Carnegie había ayudado a profundizar el grupo de intelectuales altamente capacitados en África, lo que, a su vez, había elevado el potencial de investigación de las universidades africanas.
El Dr. Kwabena Kan-Dapaah, un beneficiario, dijo que se unió a la Facultad UG como Facultad en 2011 con una maestría, luego de lo cual ganó una beca de UG-Carnegie para comenzar sus estudios de doctorado.
Dijo que la beca de tres años lo llevó a dos lugares diferentes; un curso de trabajo en una universidad en Abuja y un año en los Estados Unidos, y finalmente obtuvo su doctorado en 2015.
El Dr. Collins Badu Agyemang, profesor del Departamento de Psicología y académico de Carnegie, felicitó a Carnegie Corporation de Nueva York por su inmenso apoyo a la Universidad de Ghana.
Desafió a todos los beneficiarios de los proyectos UG Carnegie para tratar de conectar los puntos entre sus hallazgos de investigación académica y las necesidades de la industria.
«Como investigadores, ciertamente debemos deconstruir nuestros hallazgos para que los responsables de las políticas y el público puedan beneficiarse de nuestros resultados de investigación basados en el contexto», dijo.
Schools tailored to girls’ needs in northern Ghana are removing barriers, encouraging girls to become independent thinkers, and motivating them to pursue higher education.
The average girl in Ghana only receives four years of education. Early marriage, pregnancy, poverty, and sexual harassment are all obstacles that force girls to drop out of school before the end of junior high.
At Oxfam, we know educating girls is critical to improving their lives. Each additional year of primary school a girl attends increases her future wages by 10 to 20 percent. Educated girls also are likely to marry later and have fewer children, and their children are also more likely to thrive.
With that in mind, we partnered with Ghana Education Service, the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district, and local communities to build a junior high school in the northern province of Sawla to tackle barriers preventing girls from finishing their educations. We aimed to demonstrate that safe, girl-friendly schools would empower girls and motivate them to stay in school—and maybe even pursue higher education.
That school became a model for girls’ success in Ghana.
Laying the groundwork
The first Girls Model Junior High School opened in Sawla in 2008, targeting girls from the poorest families. All 28 enrolled girls passed their final exams, and 24 went on to attend senior high school. In 2013, a sister school was established in the Kpandai district. By March 2018—a decade after the project began—there were 44 schools in districts across northern Ghana. They are all financed and administered by local authorities.
“It makes me feel more confident in myself when there are no boys around,» says Haddisah Ibrahim, 15, a student at Savelugu Girls Model Junior High School. Photo: Lotte Ærsøe/Oxfam IBIS
Haddisah Ibrahim, 15, learned about the Savelugu Girls Model Junior High School when a teacher came to her village. “He told us about the new school that was opening—that it was a good place where we could learn a lot. I wanted to go, and my father agreed.”
She’s now a student and likes that her school is girls-only. “It makes me feel more confident in myself when there are no boys around,” she says. “We don’t have to put up with all the noise the boys at my old school used to make.”
Her father can’t always afford to pay for her schoolbooks, but Haddisah isn’t discouraged. She borrows books from her classmates when she needs to. Hadissa is committed to finishing school and becoming a doctor. “One day I will return to this area and help treat the sick people in my home town,” she says.
A different style of teaching
Tackling endemic problems requires innovative solutions, so the schools have taken a novel approach to pedagogy. Teaching is based on learner-centered methodologies, a concept that has previously not applied very often by teachers in this part of Ghana, who lacked the know-how to implement it. Discussions and group work are core elements. The girls form study groups in the evenings. Parents are invited to support the girls’ education through school management committees.
Computers are integrated into lessons, and teachers are trained to encourage the girls to participate actively in the classroom, and even to challenge teachers with individual points of view. These schools go beyond the national curriculum to address sexual health and life skills.
Gladys Asare Akosu is a teacher at Savelugu Girls Model School. “Traditionally, girls’ education is not considered important in this part of Ghana. Many people believe that a girl should just get married as early as possible—they don’t see much sense in wasting time and money on the girls going to school,” she says. “That’s extremely unfair.”
For her, teaching here is different from what she’s used to. There are fewer students in each class, which makes it easier to focus on each child’s needs.
“As teachers, we do a lot to involve the students instead of just lecturing. We encourage them to participate in discussions,” she says. “Some of the girls were very shy in the beginning, but now they raise their hands and take part in the discussions. It is amazing to witness such a change in a young girl.”
Akosu knows adolescence is a fragile time for girls. Teenage pregnancies and child marriages are far too common in this part of Ghana, and consequently many girls drop out before they graduate high school. Compounding that is the fact that many of her students come from poor families and live far away.
Parental support is integral to the schools’ success. If a girl misses more than a day or two of school, the headmistress gets in touch with the family. Akosu says it’s not uncommon for educators to go on home visits to prevent girls from dropping out.
“I really enjoy being part of the change that we are making here,” she says. “Hopefully our work will help eradicate the old prejudices toward girls’ education. These girls just have so much to offer.”
Shafaw Mohammed, 15, pictured with her mother Zinatu Alhassan, says her favorite subject is English. «I dream of becoming a journalist when I finish my studies.» Photo: Lotte Ærsøe/Oxfam IBIS
Increasing the chance for success
Ninety-five percent of the girls registered at the Girls Model Junior High Schools have graduated, and the majority are continuing their education. In the schools’ surrounding communities, girls constitute just 10% of the children who graduate from junior high school.
In total, more than 1,642 girls are now enrolled at the model schools, and the goal is to continue scaling up.
”The Girls Model School is a baby for us in Savelugu,” says Municipal Chief Executive Hajia Adishetu Seidu. “When we educate girls, we break the cycle of poverty. Women take care of their families, they share everything they earn, and they make sure that their own children also go to school.”
Source of the article: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/creating-a-model-for-girls-education-in-ghana/
“It was found that while teachers saw themselves as professionals, they did not think that teaching in Ghana qualified as a full-fledged profession. This apparent ‘paradox of contradiction’ is vital knowledge for understanding individual actions by teachers and their attitude to collective actions by teacher organisations such as the Ghana National Association of Teachers and the National Association of Graduate Teachers” (Cobbold, 2015).
The challenge of professional identity that has bedeviled the teaching profession in Ghana seems to be one of the basis for the setting up of the National Teaching Council (NTC) under the Education Act 778. According to Act 778, the NTC shall be responsible for the licensing, registration and employment of teachers. Act 778 was passed in 2008 and therefore it’s been almost ten (10) since the passing into law the need to license and register teachers. It is therefore refreshing that the council is putting measures in place to start a national teacher’s licensing regime. It must be indicated that, teacher licensing is not something new in the educational sector worldwide. In most advanced countries, it is difficult to secure a teaching job both in the public and the private sector without possessing the requisite teaching license. It is important to specify that, possessing a degree in education does not automatically make one a teacher in most advanced countries. Comparing it to the law and medical professions, the teacher is supposed to possess a license that qualifies him to teach in any educational institution. Even though, some sections of civil society including IFEST have had issues with the licensing process adopted, there is a general consensus on the need to start a teacher licensing regime in Ghana.
The decision by the NTC and by extension the Ministry of Education to pursue a licensing regime for Ghanaian teachers, to me, is purely an economic decision. It is an economic decision that will go a long way to impact the teaching profession positively and soar the teachers’ reputation and standards in the labour market. The provision and hiring of teachers in every labour market lends itself to the forces of demand and supply with the government being the largest employer. This means that, most professions enter into working contracts with government spearheaded by their professional organisations or associations. In the teacher front, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Concerned Teachers Association etc are some of the teacher unions which supply teacher labour to government and therefore bargain with government on behalf of their members.
However, at any point in time, certain factors will determine the demand for teachers. These include the number of schools, the number of students enrolled in schools, policies pertaining to curriculum and teacher-pupil ratios, prior commitments to employed teachers, educational agencies funding capacity, and the prices that must be paid for various types and quality of teachers among others. Preferably, the demand for a teacher by the government (Ministry of Education) should be specified by the attributes of teachers desired, especially teacher qualifications which comprises their training, degree level, licensure, and experience. That is, practically, wage differentials would be informed by the specific attributes of the teachers demanded by the employer.
In every labour market, the forces of demand and supply interplay to fix the market wage and in instances where demand for the services of a particular profession exceeds the supply of the people ready, licensed and qualified to provide that service, there is an upsurge in the market value of such profession. This is one of the determining factors for the kind of remuneration paid in the labour market. For example, a shortage in the supply of licensed teachers would ideally lead to improvement in the remuneration for licensed teacher, ceteris paribus, rendering them “hot cake” in the labour market. This suggests that, licensing teachers is supposed to impact on their market value because it is supposed to regulate the level of entry into the profession. That is, one cannot hold himself/herself out as a teacher without going through the requisite licensing process and a group of teachers with the requisite qualification and duly licensed by the NTC should have a higher market value in the labour market as compared to those who have not been licensed, ceteris paribus.
This notion is engrained in the concept of signaling in information economics. Signaling is the idea that a person (prospective employee) credibly conveys some information about himself/herself to another person (prospective employer). It is a known fact that the teacher labour market cuts across both the private and the public sectors. In the public sector, a union of licensed teachers conveys a stronger signal to the prospective employer than a union of unlicensed teachers. In the private sector, a licensed teacher conveys an additional information to the prospective employer on his/her level of professionalism which will enable him/her to bargain effectively his/her remuneration as compared to an unlicensed teacher. This scenario is what plays out with the categorization of teachers into trained and untrained or professional and unprofessional but licensing takes it up a notch higher.
The fact is, according to Spence (1973), when employers are faced with information asymmetry and uncertainty, they tend to turn to statistical reasoning and to rely on easily observable signals, that are expected to provide reliable information on the true quality of candidates. Using the job signaling model allows an employer to make clear predictions in relation to the choices that he/she will make in the context of uncertainty. Since the 1970s, a large number of empirical studies have shown that signaling plays an immensely important role in recruiting. This explains the need for a teacher to have a professional license to be able to distinguish himself/herself from others who “pretend” to be teachers in the labour market.
This is the more reason why teachers in Ghana should welcome the licensing regime and ride on its positive impact to professionalise teaching in Ghana. When fully operational, a teacher licensing regime in Ghana will help regulate the entry and exit processes in the profession, maintain a high standard of professionalism which will translate into delivery of quality teaching during instructional sessions and also lead to a positive surge in the public perception of the profession. A perfect signal for bargaining in the labour market.
The teaching profession over the years has served as a stepping stone for most people in the labour market. The Bachelor of Education programme has also served as an avenue for people to gain admission into tertiary institutions who have no intention of pursuing a teaching career at the end of the day. These people have found themselves in other professions after graduation. There have been others who do not have a Bachelor’s degree in Education but find themselves in the classroom teaching. This identity crisis of the teaching profession has had a tremendous impact on the market value of the profession. Introducing a teacher licensing regime is one major step to soaring up the market value of the teacher and a further step to professionalise the profession.
Finally, it is imperative for the teachers in the country to own this policy, they should work hand-in-hand with the National Teaching Council to implement this policy effectively. It is my fervent wish that, in the not too distant future, the National Teaching Council will be an autonomous institution to enable it function effectively and efficiently. For me as an education economist and an education policy analyst, I can predict a far better prospect for teachers with licenses in the near future.Bottom of Form
*Artículo enviado por el autor a OVE
*Fuente de la noticia: https://tipseducacion.com/archives/202
El Viceministro de Educación ha dicho que todos los estudiantes, a pesar del estatus socioeconómico o la competencia académica, merecen ir a las escuelas de grado A.
«Ya no vamos a crear ciudadanos de segunda clase donde se atiende a los más brillantes para dejar atrás a los débiles», dijo el Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum en «Scorecard», un programa de Joy FM diseñado para evaluar el desempeño del gobierno bajo la presidencia. Nana Akufo-Addo.
El Dr. Adutwum reaccionó ante una sugerencia del profesor Peter Quartey, quien dijo que aunque apoya enviar a cada niño a la escuela, el gobierno debería hacer que los estudiantes de las escuelas de Grado C se conviertan en beneficiarios del SHS gratuito y permitir que los padres de los estudiantes de las escuelas de Grado A paguen las tarifas.
El profesor Quartey explicó que los estudiantes de tales escuelas tienen padres que no pueden cubrir todas sus necesidades.
Agregó que «las escuelas de Grado C no tienen los números que ayudarán a reducir la pesada carga de SHS en el gobierno para ayudar a sostener la iniciativa».
«Permitir que los padres con estudiantes en las escuelas de Grado A paguen para mantener a sus hijos, porque están dispuestos a pagar», afirmó.
Sin embargo, el viceministro de Educación no estuvo de acuerdo con la sugerencia.
«Lo que significa es que los niños de hogares pobres deben ser enviados a las escuelas con bajo rendimiento».
Afirmó que la sugerencia es terrible porque los estudiantes que no pueden ir a la escuela o son académicamente débiles, tampoco pueden tener acceso a una educación de calidad.
El Dr. Adutwum declaró que el sistema no se suscribirá al sistema que atendió al brillante y dejó a los estudiantes con el agregado 36 o inferior.
Explicó a los padres que quieren ayudar, pueden donar a las escuelas donde se encuentran sus barrios.
También aconsejó a los padres que sean consistentes en sus pagos de impuestos para agregar a los recursos asignados para Free SHS.
Dr Yaw Okraku-Yirenkyi, the co-founder and Director for the Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation (GRAF), has urged government institutions and other stakeholders to requisitely support talented young ones in Engineering, to unbridle their hidden potentials in the country.
He advised the Government to prioritise Science, Technology and Engineering education among others because, they are meant to produce innovators for development.
Speaking at the 2018 Robotic Inspired Science Education Awards (RISE) Ceremony on Saturday, he said the programme was mainly focused on overcoming the teething challenges impeding the progress of the foundation.
He said the foundation as its mandate, was solely focused on systematically, addressing the problems being faced, with regard to contributions and funding from the Government, philanthropists and other stakeholders.
“Ghana Academy Robotics Academy Foundation wants to create problem-solvers, not just a handful but many”, he noted.
Dr Okraku-Yirenkyi said the Foundation was more focused on building poised innovators who could translate theories into useful outcomes, which can be used to solve real life problems in the country.
He reiterated the challenges facing the foundation, saying, the Government crucial role in supporting their modus operandi, cannot be overlooked, if the foundation is to achieve its aims and objectives.
“Without doubt, the Government has a role to play to effect the needed change, however, the GRAF cannot and will not just sit and wait for the Government to act”, he added.
He stated that the Foundation had been achieving its objectives by organising Robotics Inspired Science Education workshops, competitions and motivational sessions encouraging the establishment of Robotics clubs in neighbourhoods, churches, mosques and rallying to participate in national and international competitions such as RISE and the World Robot Olympiad (WRO).
Speaking on the achievements of the GRAF since the year 2011, he said about 80 students have had the opportunity to participate in international competitions and training camps.
“At least, 4 Rise students have gained admissions to top class universities in the United States of America through the programme”, Dr Okraku-Yirenkyi added.
He stressed on the need for financial support from stakeholders and other benevolent individuals to assist in sending out trainers.
He also urged them to consider linking the foundation to respective institutions, organisations, groups and individuals who are relishing the opportunity to help them to achieve their objectives.
The three most prestigious awards under the Autonomous Rescue Challenge (ARC) went to the Methodist Girls Senior High, Mamfe in the Eastern Region Under 21 years, Dayspring Montessori International School-Under 16 years and Right to Dream Academy-Under 12 years. Prempeh College, Opoku Ware School, Archbishop Porters Girls among others were also awarded in their respective categories. Dr Elsie Effah Kaufman, a Ghanaian Biomedical Engineer and the Quiz Mistress for the National Math and Science quiz was the guest of honour at ceremony.
Source of the notice: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Support-robotics-inspired-science-education-to-unleash-Potentials-Foundation-699690
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is leading the process of harmonizing sexual and reproductive health education in Ghana.
It has consequently in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) among other stakeholders, whose work focuses on the area, put together a national guideline document for Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health Education (CSE).
This would be for both in-school and out-
of-school education purposes.
The move is to adopt a standardized approach towards delivering CSE in the country in line with the international United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) guidelines for CSE.
It forms part of a joint programme being implemented by UNFPA in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), aimed at empowering adolescent girls.
An orientation workshop on the national guidelines for the CSE has therefore been held in Accra for the relevant CSOs to collate their inputs for workable curricula to be developed to facilitate teaching and learning in the area.
The workshop, attended by 42 participants was organized by the UNFPA with funding support from Global Affairs Canada.
Mr. Niyi Ojuolape, Country Representative of UNFPA, said it was one of the key activities being carried out for the CSOs as part of a concerted advocacy effort to drive home the need for an updated CSE content.
He said in order to achieve greater national impact, it was imperative to harmonize CSE delivery
across the board, insisting that CSOs had a significant role to play.
Mr. Ishmael Kwasi Selassie, a facilitator for the workshop, said community-based CSE by the standard of the new guidelines was intended to be delivered to young people starting from age six and terminating at age 24.
“It is a systematic approach to equip young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values they need to determine and enjoy their sexuality, that is, physically and emotionally, individually and in relationships” he stated.
He said the objective was to provide young people with an avenue to acquire accurate and reliable information on reproductive health and rights.
Source of the notice: https://www.modernghana.com/news/895067/sex-education-in-ghana-should-be-prioritised.html
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