GBC URA Radio Elects New Union Executives

30-09-2011                      

Management and staff of GBC URA Radio, Bolgatanga  have officially elected new local union executives with a call on staff to live in harmony and in concept with each other so as to propel the development of the station. The Regional Industrial Relations Officer, Richard Asuame who gave the advice asked the entire staff to rally behind the new executives to facilitate their work. He urged the new executives to refrain from acts of intimation but rather use their current position to foster unity and peaceful co-existence among the entire working body. He said the welfare of the workers is paramount and that efforts must be made to ensure that workers grievances are resolved amicably devoid of threats, pressure and apathy. Mr Asuame also encouraged the new executives to be committed to duty and moreover respect each other’s view. He promised an open door policy and advised the executives to contact him where necessary. Mr Asuame later commended the entire staff for their show of maturity during the elections.   During the elections, Mr. Osman Muntawakilu was elected as chairman of the union after clinching 39 votes to beat his main contender, Abdul Malik Yusif Bansi who had 7 votes out of the total number of votes cast. The 1^st Vice Chairman position went to Mr Asaah Philip who had 33 votes, whilst his main competitor, Wegwi Batasia Raymond had only 9 votes.  The Position of general secretary went to Isaac Asare who surprisingly attained an overwhelming 32 votes to beat his rival, Norbert Atuk Ansoaba who had 14 votes. Ziebe Gladys had 25 votes to beat Veronica Barik for the position of 1^st Trustee. The 2^nd Trustee position went to Abdul Nso Wahab who went unopposed. Dangmaa Felix Lambert and Ayamba Florence also went unopposed to attain the position of Assistant Secretary and 2^nd Vice Chairperson respectively. The newly elected union chairman, Osman Muntawakilu commended the staff for the confidence repose in him and pledged that he is going to work tirelessly to promote internal democracy. According to him, the protection of the collective bargaining rights of its members is his major priority and that collective efforts would be made to address some of the numerous challenges facing the union.  He asked members of the union to iron out their differences and fight the challenges that confronted them. The station’s union election follows the dissolution of the old executive body.

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Serious Congestion at the Bongo District Hospital

29-09-2011                         

Danger looms at the Bongo District hospital in the Upper East Region as patients admitted at the female and children’s ward compete for bed, a situation which health experts have described as awkward and unacceptable. Radio Ghana’s visit to the hospital saw some patients receiving medical attention on the floor, whilst more than two children are made to share a common bed. Sick attendance had no option than to assist the health professionals to perform their duties. The situation has remain a major source of worry to health professionals manning the hospital because most patients particularly, children stand the risk of contracting other infectious and communicable diseases. The situation at the Male ward of the hospital was not different as most of the beds were without mattresses. The Medical Superintendent at the hospital, Dr William Budu, told Radio Ghana that until something is done to arrest the situation, the lives of patients will continue to be in serious jeopardy. He appealed to authorities concern to act swiftly by assisting the hospital with additional ward to ease the congestion. He said though the sharing of beds by patients at the facility is unprofessional, the least they can do is to accommodate them since they cannot treat them on out patient basis.   A similar problem, he narrated occurred at the Zebilla and Builsa hospital, but took the intervention of their respective district assemblies to bring the situation under normalcy. Dr Budu therefore appealed to stakeholders’ particularly the district assembly to come to the aid of the hospital. A health administrator at the facility, Ms Estella Abazesi, said the 61-bed capacity hospital, operates with additional sub- district hospitals and receives about 100 cases a day. The hospital, she further lamented, is currently manned with only one doctor supported by other three Cuban doctors. These doctors, she indicated, are being assisted by other staff nurses that cater for patients with seasonal ailments like malaria, anaemia and pneumonia among other complicated diseases. She said though there are plans to expand the facility, the hospital lack the needed material and financial capabilities to execute their set objectives and urged all and sundry to assist in that regard. When contacted by Radio Ghana, the Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr John Koko Awoonor-Williams said the Bongo hospital which used to be a health post is not properly structured, adding that it’s lay out do not befit a status of a district hospital and requires expansion work to be able to function as expected. According to him, facilities at the hospital are woefully inadequate, thus putting intense pressure on the limited available resources. He therefore hinted that his outfit is working tirelessly to avert the situation and entreated patients to bear with the current situation. To this effect, an emergency meeting involving stakeholders in the health sector would soon be held to chart the way forward. Dr Awoonor-Williams also commended staff of the hospital for their selfless devotion and commitment to work and encouraged them to continue to offer quality health care to the people.

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10 Schools in U/E Scores Zero Percent in the 2011 Basic Education Exams

BECE CANDIDATES

28-09-2011    

Public schools in all the nine districts of the Upper East Region that took part in the 2011 Basic Education Certificate Exams failed to attain a 50 percent mark with 10 schools scoring zero percent. Affected districts  include Builsa, Talensi-Nabdam, Kassena-Nankana West, Bolgatanga municipal, Bawku Municipal, and the Garu–Tempane district recording   the least  percentage of 16.1 score. The Bongo District came close by scoring up to 49.6 percent as compared to the 52 percent score attained by the Kassena-Nankana West in last year’s BECE exams.  At a press briefing held in Bolgatanga, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni said the growing abysmal series of student’s performance in the region could be only described as poor and shameful pointing to the fact that the trend has become so disturbing that there could be no better time than now to begin passionately question and effectively investigate the reasons behind the declining standards of education in the region. To her, the media as well as stakeholders in the educational sector of the region, needs to redouble their effort in helping to address the problem before it gets out of hand. She said the media need to devote more time, energy and attention to helping the region to unravel the elements that are responsible for the deplorable performance students in both internal and external examination. This, she explained could help in effecting a positive change in addressing the challenge. She said whilst the media takes step in dealing with the situation, stakeholders are required to play their monitoring and supervisory role in addressing the issue of perpetual lateness, habitual absenteeism ,irresponsible use of instructional  hours and other forms of indiscipline on the part of teachers in the region, which according to her occur unnoticed in some schools. Mrs Awuni also blamed the incessant appalling student’s performance to lack of thorough monitoring and supervision, stressing that poor student performance would have been impossible if the supervisory authorities that are assigned to the systems had mapped out measures for effective monitoring and supervision.  As a form of measure, Mrs Awuni announced that she would be embarking on surprise visits to school in the region with the company of the media to discourage the perceived misconduct and reported habits that are responsible for the dying basic educational system in the region. She also tasked the Municipal and District Chief Executives, to organize a basic-level education forum in each district in collaboration with parents to chart the way forward to achieving better education in the region. The Regional Director of Education, Mr. Paul Apanga, for his part, attributed the poor performance of students to lack of discipline and commitment on the part of teachers. He said teachers ought to sacrifice enough in the work and also assist in shaping the knowledge base of their students. Mr. Apanga also called on teachers to as a matter of concern adapt to more practical methodology of teaching. He also asked parents to play their role in ensuring that their wards are provided with the needed educational materials to augment government’s practical commitment to quality basic education.

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Government will remain committed to afforestation- Abongo

           

Narration: The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry, Albert Abongo has reaffirmed government’s commitment to the successful implementation of the National Forest Plantation Development Programme being implemented in all the 170 districts in the country, with an estimated working force of 28,000 nationwide. He said government would put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure that the programme becomes sustainable and beneficial to its workers and the entire beneficiary communities. Mr. Abongo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bongo gave the assurance when he led a team of delegation including officials of the forestry Service Division and Zoil, a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana to inspect ongoing afforestation projects  in  the Upper East Region. Here is a report by Isaac Asare.

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The Committee’s first visit was at Navrongo where they interacted with officials and staff of Tankara forest reserve. The visit forms part of the committee’s nationwide tour to the Northern Sector to assess the progress of work done and also interact with workers recruited under the programme. During the visit, workers at the Tankara plantation site made some reservations with respect to the difficulties they encounter in the course of their activities and mentioned delay in the payment of salaries, insufficient supply of logistics and resource constraints including lack of transportation as some of the challenges bedeviling their activities. According to them, issue of erratic rainfall pattern and indiscriminate setting of bush fires also poses a major challenge. Mr. Abongo in response to some of the concerns raised, commended the workers for their hardwork and dedication to work and urged them to put up their best and work satisfactorily as parliament takes steps to address their grievances. The MP for Asuogyaman who is also a member of the Committee, Rev. Dr Joses Akoto Asare appealed to officials of the forestry division and Zoil to assist in initiating motivational packages for the workers so that they would remain committed to their job. He also encouraged officials of Zoil to play their monitoring and supervisory roles effectively so that workers would not relent in their effort.  The Committee later took a trip to the Red Volta West forest reserve in the Bongo District where about 150 hectors of tick trees were under cultivation. After being briefed by the District Forestry Manager, Robert Derry, members of the committee expressed mixed feelings about the level of work done, which according to them was not to their satisfaction. This, the workers lamented were due to a number of factors including logistical constraints and delay in salaries among others. A Regional Coordinator of Zoil, Rukai Bukari said workers would be paid per work done and that all bottlenecks including outstanding payments for workers as at April, this year would be settled by the end of next month. She said her outfit is poised to the successful execution of the project in the region as it has so far covered almost 500 hectors out of projected target of 800 hectors and called for the support of the committee in ensuring that workers perform creditably in the next planting season. The Ranking Member of the Committee who is also the MP for Tano South, Mr Andrews Adjei Yeboah reiterated government’s determination in making tree planting an important component of efforts aimed at reviving the country’s degraded forest cover and subsequently to reduce the country’s wood deficit and also enhance the production of food crops and contribute to food security. He said the National Afforestation  Programme, which was launched last year, has so far established more than 20,000 hectares of tree plantations and has a target of covering  50,000 by the end of 2011. The initiative, he added, is therefore expected to help preserve the country’s forest cover and that government would continue to place high premium in its implementation. Mr. Adjei Yeboah, however entreated the general public to take interest in tree planting to help save the country’s forest from total extinction. The Committee members at the end of the tour paid homage to the Paramount chief of Bongo to announce their presence in the district.

UNICEF ORGANISES ORIENTATION WORKSHOP FOR MDAs IN U/E

26-09-2011     

UNICEF with support from the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council has organized a day’s sensitization workshop for Municipal and District Chief Executives, Presiding Members and Municipal and District Coordinating Directors in the region to brainstorm on social issues affecting the wellbeing of children. The workshop which was being held at Bolgatanga was among other interventions aimed at improving services in the area of health, nutrition, child protection, water as well as sanitation and hygiene as a way of enhancing the living conditions of the people. The occasion which brought together key stakeholders including departmental heads was used to showcase some of the best practices and successes chalked in some selected districts and regional health-level partners during the implementation of the said social issues and services in the region. Addressing participants, the Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo commended UNICEF and its implementing partners for continuously supporting the Municipal and District Assemblies to implement and improve social services in all the nine districts of the region, particularly in the area of health and nutrition, which he said is vital to enhancing the wellbeing of children. He described as laudable the collaboration of UNICEF and the Ghana Health Services for implementing the Integrated Community Case Management, citing the Kangaroo Mother Care and urged them to deepen such collaboration to help benefit more people in deprived communities of the region. Mr Woyongo also commended UNICEF’s partnership with the Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit and Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and other stakeholders and urged them to uphold to such partnership to ensure that there is increased water coverage and access to portable water in deprived communities. He said through such collaborative efforts, the problem of water shortage and open defecation is beginning to yield positive results in some communities, particularly with the introduction of the Community-led Total Sanitation Concept introduced to address the problem of open defecation. Mr. Woyongo assured UNICEF of the region’s commitment to partner them to address the social problems that are afflicting the people and expressed the hope that together they will continue to work in concert to reduce the social and cultural practices that are stumbling blocks to the reduction of disease and squalor in the region and the country at large. He said government will continue to collaborate with UNICEF and other national and international bodies and agencies to ensure better life of the people. He however encouraged them to redouble their effort in advancing the cause of children in the region. Madam Amama Kaleem Habib of UNICEF stressed the importance of organizing the workshop and charged the various Municipal and District Chief Executives to support UNICEF in the implementation of social services in their respective areas of jurisdiction and emphasized that UNICEF will continue to partner them where necessary. Participants at the course of the workshop were taken presentations on child protection activities and best practices of water, sanitation and hygiene among others related issues.   

“Parading Sick Children On TV for help, is a disgrace to Ghana” Dr. Awoonor-Williams

26-09-2011     

Narration: The Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr John Koku Awoonor Williams has appealed to government to put in place pragmatic policies to provide health care to the poor who undergo expensive surgery.  This he said will reduce the number of poor and needy individuals, especially children who are paraded on television for medical support.  Dr Awoonor Williams made the appeal at the launch of Nania Life Care Foundation in Bolga.  The foundation is an NGO, which aims to assist the people of Northern Ghana to meet critical health care needs. Correspondent Isaac Asare was at the launch and has the rest of the story for Radio Ghana.

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The launching ceremony which took place at Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital attracted chiefs and elders from the three regions of the north, representatives from the various health NGOs and officials from the regional health directorate among other key stakeholders. Dr Awoonor Williams said the health sector of the region is faced with numerous health challenges with malaria accounting for 53 percent of out patient cases, 41 percent of all admission and 41.7 percent of all deaths among children under five, whilst women continue to die as a result of pregnancy related complications. The situation he indicated gives a cause to worry as people continuously refuse to access health care due to apathy, ignorance, superstition and poverty. He said the region has for the past years made remarkable strives in addressing some of the health challenges in the region and attributed the success story to the collaborative efforts of health staff and donor agencies. Dr Awoonor-Williams commended other stakeholders for their assistance over the years and called on other health related NGOs and organizations to partner the health sector in bringing health service delivery to the doorstep of the people, particularly those in deprived communities of the region. He commended Nania Life Care Foundation for the bold initiative taken to help contribute their quota to addressing the health needs of the poor and vulnerable in society. The Executive Director of Nania Life Care Foundation, Aisha Salifu said her outfit is committed to the needs and ideals of the people of northern Ghana and it is determined to partner the health sector of the region in the improvement of human life through enhancing the possibilities of improved food, shelter, health, income and security. According to Ms Salifu, the foundation would promote the equal status of men and women, particularly enhancing women's income and influence and also provide a forum and support to young professional and other personnel desirous to work in especially marginalized communities in both village and urban areas. Healthcare practitioners in the region through the support of the foundation would be provided with training assistance to enhance their knowledge and capacity as care givers and moreover, help coordinate the activities and interests of healthcare and developmental practitioners, to make contact with similar bodies in other countries and to make representations for and on behalf of disadvantaged groups. She said Nania Life Care Foundation is prepared to partner with any public institution that is interested in advancing the welfare of people in the three regions of the north and called on organizations and individuals to support the foundation to achieve its desired objectives.

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Upper East Regional Branch of the PNC Opens Nomination

Upper East Regional Branch of PNC opens Nomination

27-09-2011       

 Upper East PNC to open nominations

The Upper East Regional branch of the Peoples National Convention will from the 5th to the 15th of next month open nominations for regional and constituency party executive positions throughout the constituencies in the region.  The Regional Secretary, Henry Fatchu told GBC' Radio Ghana in Bolgatanga that the opening of the nominations follows the party's regional executive committee meeting which forms part of the party's organizational process towards the 2012 general elections. He said the regional executive committee meeting has also agreed that nominations be opened for party members who want to become parliamentary candidates so that primaries can be simultaneously conducted with constituency conferences. According to Mr. Fatchu, women running for any position will pay nothing for filing, with the exception of nomination forms and dues. 

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Regional HIV/AIDS Conference unveils shocking HIV statistics

15-09-2011 Regional HIV/AIDS Conference records shocking revelations

Narration: Available statistics from the 2010 HIV Sentinel survey conducted across the county has shown an unprecedented increase in HIV prevalence rate in the Upper East Region recording as high as 2.4 percent compared to the country’s median HIV prevalence rate of 1.5. This comparably leaves the region with one of the highest prevalence rate in the country, thereby thwarting the effort of the region’s health sector. The Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr John Koku Awoonor-Williams who made the disclosure at the occasion of a regional stakeholder’s conference on HIV and AIDS at Bolgatanga, lamented that until stakeholders attach strong commitment in dealing with the situation, the fight against the deadly HIV scourge would be a mirage. Here is a report by Correspondent Isaac Asare for Radio Ghana.
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The Regional conference which was organized under the auspices of the Regional Health Directorate was on the theme: ‘Reducing HIV Prevalence Rate and mitigating its Effects: The Role of Stakeholders. It was among other interventions aimed at highlighting the burden of HIV/AIDS and the threat it poses to the socio-economic development of Ghana particularly Upper East, Upper West and Northern region as well as other regions across the borders. It was also geared at increasing public awareness on the prevention, treatment, care and support for people living with the disease. Dr Awoonor-Williams said the scourge of HIV and AIDS cannot be overempahasised. Unlike most infectious diseases, HIV and AIDS do not forbid anybody and affects people during the most economically productive years of life ,the consequences of which have telling effects on all sectors of the economy. He said the deadly virus that causes AIDS has already infected and is affecting many Ghanaians, stressing that there is no individual ,family or community in Ghana which has not been affected by the disease either directly or indirectly. Quoting figures from the 2010 HIV Sentinel Survey conducted across the country, Upper East Region recorded a high percentage of 2.4 prevalence rate an increase high above the national prevalence rate of 1.5 percent and mentioned Bolgatanga, Bawku Municipal and Navrongo, as the red flagged areas in the region with women and children being the vulnerable group. He was sad to note that while all regions in Ghana showed a downward trend of HIV prevalence, the region recorded an increase describing the situation as worrying. What is more disturbing he observed, was that most people in the region do not know their HIV status, thus contributing to its spread. Dr Awoonor-Williams maintained that his outfit as a leading agent in providing healthcare to those who are in need, will not relent in their effort to provide Comprehensive Care of HIV Testing and Counseling, Prevention of Mother –to-child Transmission, Anti-Retroviral Therapy and Sexually Transmitted Infections management. He therefore encouraged individuals to visit the health centres take advantage of such opportunities since most infected persons have ignorantly succumb to the ravages of the disease. Dr Awoonor –Williams also called for the collective effort of organizations and individuals to come out with cost effective interventions and workable action plans to help stem the menace since government and for that matter the country’s health sector cannot shoulder the responsibility alone. he moreover stress the urgent need to mobilize resources to fill in gaps that will be identified in terms of resources to support HIV and AIDS activities in the areas of education, care, support and information sharing. The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, for her part, appealed to all to show love and compassion to people who have fallen victim to the diseases and not treat them with disdain. She also charged participants particularly dignitaries from neighboring Burkina Faso and Togo who were present at the conference to come out with interventionary measures on HIV/AIDS in order to enhance regional cooperation in the fight against the disease in the Ghana and the sub-region as a whole.
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NORPRA intensify Its Campaign on Accountable Governance

11-09-2011

Members of the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) together with some community volunteers yesterday embarked on a massive clean-up exercise at Bolgatanga to rid the municipality of filth. The launch of the clean up exercise which was to demonstrate their sense of civic responsibility and love for the region was also use to intensify their campaign for accountable governance and a search for new leadership for Northern Ghana dubbed: “Get Them Out in 2012 General Elections”. Addressing a section of the public aftermath the exercise, the President of NORPRA, Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, said the launch of their campaign was necessitated by the constant failure of the Members of Parliament both in majority and minority from northern Ghana to effectively champion the cause of northern Ghana and also their inability to articulate the concerns of their electorates, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups in their respective constituencies. To him, MPs manning the three regions of the north have turned deaf ears to the plight of their constituents and have on several occasions shirked their responsibilities by relying on interest groups and organizations to bring about development in their constituencies. Mr. Adongo Ayorogo moreover explained that the MPs have failed in their core mandate to check government’s diversion and misappropriation of public funds meant for development of northern Ghana. Additionally, the MPs have not been able to demand equitable allocation of resources to address regional inequalities in Ghana. This, he lamented has worsened the plight of the ordinary people of northern Ghana, who, he indicated are already grappling with issues of poverty, hunger, conflict and deprivation. He said government on the other hand has reneged on its campaign promise to better the living conditions of people of northern Ghana its pro poor policy interventions and attributed the challenge to lack of strong political will to back those policies. Successive governments he noted also failed in their quest to alleviate the plight of Ghanaians, though policies such as the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) and the programme to mitigate the social cost of Adjustment (PAMSCAD) were implemented. These policies, he observed, led to the total collapse of huge employment-guaranteed local industries such as the Pwalugu Tomato Factory and the Bolgatanga meat factory among others, thereby deepening the unemployment situation and vulnerability in northern Ghana. He said the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) which is a pro-poor policy being instituted by the Mills-Mahama led administration is bound to fail because signals are very clear that government has failed to deliver its part of the 4-year social contract it entered into the people of northern Ghana in 2008. He described as a serious breach of SADA contractual agreement, government’s failure to provide a promised seed capital of GH¢200 and a yearly allocation of GH¢100 for 20 years in support of the programme. He said instead of government exhibiting its strong political will to the programme, some people in government have rather taken delight in beating the intelligence of the people with the explanation that SADA is not an event but a process. Mr Adongo Ayorogo, therefore called on the government to deliver on its core mandate by ensuring that northern Ghana gets the chunk of the country’s resources since they are deprived in terms of resource allocation. He also challenged the people of northern Ghana, particularly the Chiefs to rise up and put government to the task and moreover demand accountability from duty bearers at all times.
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Colleges of Education advised to offset the canker of creeping culture of intolerance

09-09-2011

Narration: Colleges of Education in Ghana have been asked to contribute their quota to the fight against creeping culture of intolerance and insult on our airwaves. In order to offset the canker, colleges of education should not rest on their oars but rather inculcate the spirit of humility, tolerance, fortitude and decorum through their professional training programmes for the teachers to impart these values to the children. The National Chairman of the Principals’ Conference, (PRINCOF) Alfred Ndego gave the advice at the opening of the 16th Annual National Delegate Conference of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) at Navrongo in the Upper East Region. The 5- day conference is being attended by directors of education, regional executives and delegates of TTAG, representatives of the various branches of NUGS, NAGRAT and CETAG among other educational bodies. Correspondent Isaac Asare was at the conference and has come through with this report for Radio Ghana.

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Mr Ndego said as citizens we need to be mindful of our utterances and moreover watch our attitudes which sometimes inhibit our steps towards progress. Mr. Ndego who is also the Principal of the St John Bosco’s college of Education underscored the urgent need for college trainees to provide a positive posture on issues of great concern relating to how they want to carry the colleges of education into the 22nd century. He therefore envisaged a great passion to turn the country’s colleges of education into learning colleges and not schooling colleges. This, he, explained would help benefit students and communities in general. Indiscipline he noted is undoubtedly rife in our present society, hence the choice of the theme for this year’s conference: “Creating and Sustaining a Disciplined Environment for National Development”. Mr Ndego emphasized that as citizens of the country, we owe it a duty to protect our culture, value and environment, stressing that a country without discipline and peace arising from a sound environment, is poised to fail and therefore wallow in poverty, disease, conflict, hatred and underdevelopment. He however called for attitudinal change towards indiscipline and the environment and urged the colleges of education to rise up to the challenge. Touching on the recent stakeholders fora on Education, Mr. Ndego commended the various stakeholders particularly, the entire body of the National Union of Ghana students (NUGS) for strongly endorsing the cost sharing as the best option of funding tertiary education in Ghana. This, he indicated is a plus for NUGS and a positive sign of the type of cooperation stakeholders need to engage in and called on the support of others to ensure the successful passage of the Colleges of Education Bill into law. The Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo, called for concerted efforts in dealing with issues of morality, indiscipline and corruption at high places and institutes of repute since such practices impedes on the development efforts of the nation. He therefore appealed to stakeholders particularly the media to help expose acts of corruption in all sectors of the economy. Representatives from GNAT, NAGRAT, NUGS, CETAG and TTAG urged the government to speed up the passage of the Colleges of Education bill into law. They also encourage teachers to remain committed to their jobs and more importantly adhere to the strict standard of ethics to protect the image of the noble profession.

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Gov’t challenged to put in resources and effort in Science

Narration: A Regional workshop for Elective Physics Teachers in the Upper East Region is underway in Bolgatanga. The workshop, which is being organized under the joint collaboration of the UK Institute of Physics and the Ministry of Education, is aimed at improving the knowledge base of teachers involved in the teaching of physics in both Junior and Senior High Schools in the region. The workshop also seeks to create a platform for participants to get an insight into a more innovative and pragmatic ways of teaching physics, and above all, introduce to them a new approach to the teaching of the subject in schools. It is being attended by 30 selected physics teachers drawn from the various schools in the region, with resource persons and chiefs among others. Here is a report by Isaac Asare.
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The National Coordinator, UK Institute of Physics, Mr. Charles Kwame Appiah, who opened the 4-day workshop, told Radio Ghana that the workshop which is the 10th in the series to be held in the country was to promote physics education in Ghana. Participants he indicated would be taken through practical knowledge in semi conductors, transistors, operational amplifiers, logic gates and the use of animation in ICT among other related activities in physics. Participants, he further stressed, will in the future be given practical knowledge on how to repair electronic equipments used in the teaching of physics in schools. The move, he said, is to acquaint physics teachers with modern and technological ways of teaching physics as a subject, adding that physics is the basis for development. Mr Appiah briefed the participants about efforts being made by the UK institute of Physics to enhance the study of science and technology in its quest to meet the growing developmental needs of the nation. He said the strong historical underpinning of UK’s relationship had strengthened its academic and bilateral ties with the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Education and mentioned the establishment of Physics centers in Ada and Cape Coast as some of the achievements made so far. Mr Appiah also announced plans by the institute to establish a new centre in Wa, hopefully by the end of this year. This he noted symbolizes a unifying bond between the two countries. He said developed countries including UK possessed skills of manpower and technology which it was happy to share with other developing countries like Ghana, hence, the need for us to invest in science by putting in more resources towards its development. He said similar workshops held in Ada and other places was yielding fruitful results and urged participants to take the workshop seriously to help achieve the desired objective. He moreover called on participants not to concentrate solely on the theory aspect of physics but rather come out with interventions and methods to help address problems facing the teaching and learning of physics in schools. In a speech read on her behalf, the Acting Regional Director of Education, Mrs. Agnes Atagabe expressed worry about students’ lackadaisical attitude towards physics in the region. She said less than 20 percent of students that wrote the 2008/2009 WAEC exams passed whilst majority of them performed poorly in the subject. She attributed the challenge to lack of well resourced laboratories and inadequate qualified physics teachers to man the various schools in the region. She said in order for teachers to succeed in the teaching of physics, there is the need for them to adapt to pragmatic instructional strategies that will convince students to develop interest in the subject. Mrs Atagabe called for more of such workshops and hoped that by the end of the workshop, participants would have come out with suggestions that would help enhance the teaching and learning of the subject, to stem "fears" about its study.
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Gov’t to give ICT Education a major boost -Mr Woyongo

07-09-2011
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo has renewed governments determination to give ICT education a major boost to help accelerate the development process in the country. In view of this, government plans to connect all deprived Junior and Senior High Schools to the national electricity grid and also ensure that more schools are provided with computers and other teaching aids to facilitate the teaching and learning of ICT in the country. The Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo announced this at the opening of the 2011 Regional Girls Education Camp currently underway at Bolgatanga on the theme: “Empowering Girls through Education: The Role of ICT”. About 150 students drawn from the various districts across the region are attending the week long programme, spearheaded by the Girls Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service with support from Action Aid, Ghana, an NGO. Mr Woyongo commended the organizers for instituting the girl’s camp meeting since it is meant to empower girls from deprived communities to develop greater interest in schooling, build their self esteem and aspire to higher levels in life . He said government is committed to placing the youth especially, girls at the core of its policy initiatives and is therefore putting in place pragmatic policies to see to their welfare. By that, government hopes to invest in the youth through the creation of sustainable opportunities that would be beneficial to them and fill them with a sense of belonging. . He said government in its quest to adopt an ICT -led economy would ensure that students are made to acquire knowledge in ICT to enable the nation maintain its position in the middle income group. Subsequently, every community would be made to benefits from the growing communication revolution with a target of training most SHS graduates in ICT application, particularly in mobile telephony, so that they can in turn train other people in their communities on ICT. Mr Woyongo, therefore implored the youth to embrace ICT and desist from negative practices that goes along with its operation. The acting Regional Girl Child Officer, Mrs Rose Akanson stressed the importance of giving the girl child equal opportunities as that of boys since they are capable of changing the fortunes of the country’s economy through education. She said the era where women were confined to the kitchen at the expense of education is a thing of the past and that women are gradually assuming their rightful positions in society. Mrs Akanson however called on Ghanaians to prioritize the education of their wards particularly the girl child so that they can aspire to the top. She commended Action aid Ghana for the support over the years and urged other NGOs to take up the challenge of ensuring the welfare of girls in the region. The Programmes Manager of Action Aid,Ghana, Mr James Kusi Boama implore policy makers to redefine their commitment in making the education of the girl child their outmost priority. He called on others to partner government in that direction.
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Personnel in Science Education need to be motivated_ Dr Krueger

01-09-2011
The President of the Ghana Association of Science Teachers, Dr Christian Anthony Krueger has requested government and other insurance companies to consider instituting block insurance policy for all manner of people involved in science education in the country’s schools and colleges. This, he said, will at least boost the morale of teachers and moreover make them to be committed to their jobs. Dr Krueger who was speaking in an interview with Radio Ghana at Bolgatanga, described as challenging, the task of personnel involved in science education particularly laboratory technician since they are expose to lots of risk. Apart from the hazards associated with their jobs, the work of the laboratory technician requires time, energy; material and monetary resources to deliver, therefore a de-motivated science teacher or laboratory technician will not go the extra mile to spend time after official hours to prepare adequately for his students. The work of the laboratory technician he further noted is so crucial that without them the science teacher will not be able to prepare adequately for laboratory based practical lesson. Suggesting the way forward, Dr Krueger indicated that the science teacher and the laboratory technicians do not necessarily need money as means of job satisfaction or motivation but rather facilities must be provided to promote satisfaction in their job.
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Oxfam FARMplus Project on course

02-09-2011