Category: Literacy

A total of 1,147 students, over the weekend, graduated with PhDs and other degrees from the Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU), in Accra.

The graduating class of the 2021/22 academic year, comprised seven PhDs, 103 master’s degrees and 1,037 undergraduate degrees and diplomas.

Some 668 of the graduands made up of 110 postgraduate students and 558 undergraduate students, were from affiliated universities, including the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Coventry University (United Kingdom) and CASS Europe.

The PhDs were conferred on the seven by the CASS Institute of Management, France, and the master’s degree by the Coventry University, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany and the KNUST.

Ms Sussana Frimpong, who graduated with BSc. degree in Business Administration (Accounting option), was the valedictorian, with a cumulative weighted average of 75.65.

Speaking at the 31st congregation ceremony, Professor Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said the University had played a critical role in shaping the landscape of education in the country since attaining the status of public university three years ago.

The unwavering dedication and hard work of faculty and staff, he said, had pushed GCTU to heights of excellence over the years.

‘Today, we proudly celebrate the graduation of our 31st batch of graduates, which is evidence of the progress and growth of our university.

Each batch of graduates represents a step in the development of our institution, and we are honoured to have played a part in shaping the future of these remarkable individuals,’ he stressed.

Granted public university status through an Act of Parliament, in 2020, the GCTU is mandated to train students in the fields of technology and engineering.

Prof Afoakwa said the vision of the GCTU was to create a technology hub akin to the prestigious Silicon Valley of America.

To achieve that, he said, the faculty was being strengthened and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, including cutting-edge laboratories, research centres, and libraries, to provide students with the best of training.

Construction of additional high-rise buildings was underway to provide office accommodation, lecture rooms and hostel facilities for the more than 6,500 student population.

Additionally, he said, lecture rooms on its main campus and the business school, had been equipped with modern teaching and learning aids such as projectors and lecterns, to enhance interactivity of teaching and learning.

‘We also took delivery of 550 tables and chairs in April to provide comfort for students in lecture rooms,’ he said, adding that, an additional consignment of 800 was expected in the coming days.

On the partnership, the Vice-Chancellor said the University had signed a number of memorandum of understanding with reputable organisations to provide students with opportunities for internships, national service placements and future employment

‘These partnerships bridge the gap between academia and industry, equipping our students with practical skills and experiences that enhance their professional growth and employability,’ he said.

He encouraged the graduands to embrace new technological ideas to enhance their marketability in the job market and broaden their horizons in Ghana, adding that, the University had equipped them with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

‘Embrace every opportunity that comes your way, and let your light shine brightly wherever you go,’ he urged.

The Vice-Chancellor also assured that the University would continue to drive innovation, excellence and transformation in education and technology, and make a positive impact in Ghana and beyond.

Mr Samuel Dubik Mahama, Managing Director, Electricity Company of Ghana, urged the graduands to use the acquired knowledge in ICT wisely to solve societal problems.

He also tasked them to focus on job creation to enable them to employ others and help reduce the country’s unemployment rate, instead of relying on already established companies for employment.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Children in Kaangu, a farming community in the Nadowli-Kaleo District, trek about 18 kilometres (km) daily to access Junior High Education in Sombo, the only nearest community in the area with a Junior High School (JHS).

The children who could not endure the ordeal of trekking the long distance gave up on education and resorted to other activities, mostly farming or travelling to southern Ghana to engage in illegal mining.

The girls, who dropped out of school after primary six ended up marrying, but soon found themselves back at their fathers’ homes as they were too young to marry and could not stay in their marital homes.

Mr Camillus Tatuara, the Assembly Member of the Sombo East Electoral area, who made this known during an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Piree, said the situation was similar to the Piree community, which was about 4km from Sombo, where the children could access JHS.

He said while education was deemed to be a right of every Ghanaian child, it was not so for children in Kaangu and Piree communities, where children had to go through a grave ordeal to access JHS education.

‘The issue of a JHS is a big worry to us. There is no JHS here apart from Sombo. After primary school, the children at Kaangu and Piree must go to Sombo for the JHS but the distance from Piree to Sombo is about 4kms and from Kaangu to Piree is also about 5kms.

But the children at Kaangu must come and pass Piree before going to Sombo, so, in all a child from Kaangu must walk about 18 Km in and out every day to Sombo for the JHS and those at Piree must also walk about 8Km in and out every day’, he said

Mr Tatuara explained that children had to commute and cover these distances daily for three years and those of them whose parents could not buy bicycles for their wards, found it challenging to attend JHS.

Madam Matilda Dakpaanaa, a resident of the Piree community, said aside from the distance that discouraged some girls in the two communities from continuing with their education at the JHS, the lack of furniture in the primary school classrooms also contributed to the dropout among the girls in the communities.

She said when some of the girls got to primary five and six, they found themselves maturing and would not like to sit on the bare floor to study, a situation that compelled the girls to either escape to southern Ghana for head porter jobs or got married.

‘So, you see that many girls at ages of 14, 15 and 16 are getting married and such girls are not able to sit in their husbands’ homes because they are too young to marry, they come back to their fathers’ homes to stay, but already their education is ended,’ she explained.

Madam Dakpaanaa added that some of the girls who persevered to attend the JHS in Sombo also ended up getting pregnant for gambling their lives with sex at Sombo.

The residents, therefore, appealed to the government through the Nadowli-Kaleo District Assembly to provide the community with a JHS.

Goal 4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enjoins member states that were signatories to the goals to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.

Target 4.1 of the Goal required that ‘By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes’.

However, achieving this target by the government of Ghana would be a mirage if the government did not improve access to basic education in rural communities including Kaangu and Piree communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Examination Board of Cameroon General Certificate of Education has released the 2023 results of the end-of-year exams.

The Advance and Ordinary Levels General and Technical results were made public on July 24, 2023.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Angolan minister of Education Luísa Grilo underlined Monday the commitment of the sector to transforming the education system, with professionals capable of training creative men, inventors and discoverers.

Luisa Grilo was speaking at the opening of the level 1 training for the Girl Empowerment and Learning for All Project (PAT2).

She acknowledged the increasing need to train young people with critical thinking, responsible, individually and collectively.

The minister also said that training will contribute significantly to improving the quality of the education and teaching process in order to make it increasingly competitive, resilient and able to respond to development needs in a constantly changing world.

The minister said the training of teachers and other members of the school community is instrumental in meeting the new demands of teaching.

In her speech, the minister focused the role of professionals in the observation and monitoring the social behaviour of young people.

Cabinet official said that the training will provide very important topics to achieve this goal, such as the Awareness Strategy against Violence, for Sexual Education, reproductive health, as well as resources and didactic tools for use in the classroom to improve the quality of student learning.

Over 100 teachers from Magisterial schools, with emphasis on those from primary education courses all over the country, participated in this 1st stage of training of level 1 trainers.

The training reflects on the National Development Plan for the period 2023-2027, which will be a planning instrument for the next five years, ahead of the long-term strategy 2050.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)