Lack of trained teachers affecting quality education in U/E

  

Enrolment figures of Public basic schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality, had suffered a considerable decline over the past years, whereas that of the private schools are increasing over time. The current enrolment figure for public basic schools stands at 40,271, a figure lower than the previous year’s figure of 40,725 which is also lower than 2012 figure of 41,152. Most parents now prefer sending their wards to private schools primarily because academic standards at the public schools continue to fall despite efforts by stakeholders in education to address the challenge. The unfortunate turn of event is evident in the abysmal performance of students that took part in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Basic Education and Certificate Examination (BECE). For the past three years, schools in the municipality have failed to reach a 50 percent score in the BECE exam with female candidates being the worst performers. This came to light at an engagement forum in Bolgatanga, jointly organized by the Municipal Education Directorate and the assembly.  Lamenting on the declining trend  of education in the municipality, the Planning and Statistics Officer at the Municipal Education Directorate, Godfred Titiga, identified inadequate teaching and learning materials (TLM) and poor school infrastructure as some challenges affecting quality teaching and learning in schools. He moreover attributed the continuous fall of education to lack of trained teachers in the municipality. He said though the municipality could boast of a high teacher population, majority of them have not had any professional training. This, he observed has undoubtedly contributed to significant decline in the level of academic output at the basic level. Mr Titiga therefore called on stakeholders in education to take a second look at the situation and provide constructive recommendations to address it. He also called for an improvement in the provision of physical infrastructure, TLMs, classroom furniture, supervision, teacher award schemes, and extension of the school feeding programme to deprived schools in the municipality. Various stakeholders including retired educationists also proposed solutions to enhance quality education in the municipality. Key among the solutions was the need for teacher motivation and supervision in schools.

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Stakeholder’s awareness of the Public Health Act not encouraging: Survey Reveals

                                        

A baseline survey by the Diocesan Development Office of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese of the Catholic Church suggests that though there were a number of usable public health facilities in the Upper East Region, there was no documented statistics on them. Also, access to public health facilities is limited while a number of the public health facilities are concentrated in the Bolgatanga municipality. The implies that the municipal assembly will have difficulty in ensuring effective planning and implementation of facilities since there is no statistics on the facilities notably CHPs compounds, morgues, markets as well as water and environmental facilities. This makes the maintenance of these facilities a challenge. Briefing Radio Ghana on the interventions outlined in the baseline survey, the Regional Diocesan Development Officer, James Naabil Tobiga, said the absence of a comprehensive document on health facilities will lead to the duplication of efforts in trying to put up same facilities at particular areas. He added that most communities are likely to be faced with numerous health challenges including the outbreak of diseases. Mr Tobiga, blamed assemblies for failing to employ proper coordination with their stakeholders. He said the lack of documented statistics of public health professionals such as medical officers, sanitary inspectors and security agencies was a major concern. Mr Tobiga implored the assembly to come out with a document on the professionals and ensure their equitable distribution, particularly, in areas where their services are highly required. He also tasked the assembly to sponsor more people for professional training and bond them to serve the municipality after completion. He called for collective effort of stakeholders including the National Commission for Civic Education and the Information Services Department in reaching out to the communities. Mr Tobiga, further charged the assembly to show interest in the Public Health Act, Act 851 and constitute a comprehensive public health team and empower it to work effectively. He explained that the survey showed a low level of stakeholder’s awareness and collaboration on public health concerns and so the need to work at it. He said as a way forward, it was incumbent on the public health monitoring team to expedite action by educating the public on the act through radio discussion and capacity building for stakeholders. Mr Atobiga proposed that copies of the act or the abridged version be made available for people to buy.

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Retired Educationist condemns the politicisation of education in Ghana

 

A  Retired Educationist in the Upper East Region, Robert Ajeni, has challenged Ghanaians not to play chest with the country’s educational system.  He said education in Ghana has reached a stage where proper planning and implementation ought to be considered to make it assume it rightful place for the benefit of the country’s growth and development. Mr Ajeni, noted with concern the politicization of education which according to him was suicidal if concrete steps are not taken to eschew the act. He said what was important was for the country to develop the right base approach to tackling the issues bordering on education, particularly at the basic level. Mr Ajeni further noted that for education to strive, duty bearers have to engage stakeholders on regular basis to discuss the way forward. Education, he added should be put ahead of all other priorities as posterity will not forgive us if key interventions are nor taken into cognizance. He proposed motivational packages for teachers and urged government to give it a second look. Adherence, he noted, will entice teachers to put up their best as most of them are de-motivated though majority of them are serving in the remotest parts of the country. As the country  celebrates its 54th Republic Day today, Mr Ajeni acknowledged the contribution of teachers and charged government and key stakeholders to prioritize education and make it reliable, affordable and accessible to all.

GBC                                                                      END                                                          IA

NPP Guru threatens to sue Party if...........

        

Threats of legal actions against the NPP Party is far from ending, as another member of the party and an aspirant of the National Executive Council Election in the Upper East Region, has expressed his intention to file legal suit against the leadership of party if the recent confirmation of the three representatives of the region is not annulled by close of July 4, 2014. Over the weekend, the NPP organised a delegate congress at the regional level to elect members to represent the region at the National Executive Council.  In the process, delegates across the 15 constituencies of the region namely confirmed, Joseph Kofi Adda, Former MP for Navrongo Central, Rockson Ayine Bukari and Sulley Yirimea, to represent the region at the National Executive Council. One of the aspirants, Abdallah Otito Achuliwor, who picked a nomination form but could not meet the deadline for the submission, was left out. Mr Achuliwor at a press conference in Bolgatanga accused the Regional Executives of the party led by the Regional Chairman, Adams Mahama for his inability to meet to required deadline and described his denial as a calculated move to disenfranchise him and all others who had interest in any of the three positions. According to him, the regional executives made things easy for the three to enable them sail through. Mr Achuliwor, explained that there was no announcement for interested persons to pick nomination forms and besides when he got hold of the event from some party members, the forms were not ready.  He further lamented that, even though he made frantic effort to get the nomination form on that approved date, he could not get the nomination form and only had it two days before.  Beyond that, he was expected to produce signatures from 15 card bearing members across the constituencies in the region, which he fumed was not possible. Meanwhile, there was no vetting process, no campaign and worse of it all no election guidelines was made available to him after picking the forms. Mr Achuliwor echoed that in the face of the challenges the Regional Executives assisted the other aspirants to complete their forms. The practice, he said was unethical and a display of open bias in favour of the three aspirants. He stated that since due process was not followed, he was considering legal action against the party for failing to adhere to the party’s electoral laws and processes. Mr Achuliwor, seized the platform to appeal to the rank and file of the party to do away with petty squabbles in the party and unite so as to ignite the party’s chances in 2016.

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‘We are retired but not tired’: Senior Citizens cry out

Some senior citizens at the function

RM Dr Nsoh(left), Mr Robert Ajeni (Middle) and DRM Mr Daniel Syme (Right)

02-07-14       

The Council of State Member for the Upper East Region, His Excellency Adenzi Kanga has encouraged senior citizens to be bold in exposing the rot and ills of the country. For him, senior citizens are a source of knowledge and wisdom and it will be very suicidal if they shy away from correcting the wrong doings in society. Mr Kanga however urged senior citizens to be frank and not shy away from telling people the truth in order to avoid mistakes. His Excellency Kanga, who was addressing senior citizens at the 54^th Republic Day Celebration in Bolgatanga further implored senior citizens to avail their wealth of experience to benefit society, particularly the youth who due to socio-economic factors have devise dubious means of making a living.  He cited the behavior of players of the national team demanding appearance fee at a point where they were supposed to exhibit their patriotism. Such behaviours, he noted was uncalled for and blamed parents for failing to instill in their wards the sense of responsibility and nationalism. A retired educationist, Robert Ajeni, for his part, called for a paradigm shift in the way Ghanaians work. He said as citizens, we owe it a civic responsibility to develop the right attitude towards work and not resort to blame game always accusing government of her inability to ensure high productivity. The Out-going upper East Regional Minister, Dr Ephraim Avea Nsoh, acknowledged the invaluable contribution of senior citizens to the attainment of independence and lauded government for taken steps to honour them for their toil and sufferings whilst in active service.  Dr Nsoh, challenged all senior citizens to contribute their quota to national development and also develop ideas as a way of moving their respective districts forward. Senior citizens present at the occasion were fete and entertained with music as some exhibited their abilities in dancing. It was indeed a day to remember since they enthusiastically declared that though they were retired they were not tired of putting their expertise to bear to support the growth and development of the region.

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