De-Klerk Advises Nana Addo On Free Education

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Created on Friday, 31 August 2012 10:03

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De-Klerk Advises Nana Addo On Free Education

Former South African President F.W. de Klerk has volunteered critical advice to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo on his flagship free education policy.

{sidebar id=11 align=right}According to the South African statesman, the key consideration for any free educational policy should be quality: “The emphasis should be on quality education and not let lack of money stand in the way of any child to reach his or her full potential,” he told DAILY GUIDE on the sideline of a public forum organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs on Monday, where he was the guest speaker.

He also acknowledged how difficult it was to implement functional educational policies because education tended to compete with other budgetary priorities in every government: “Free education is not always possible to achieve, because it depends on money, it depends also on other budget priorities,” he noted.

F.W. de Klerk’s presentation at the IEA focused on the challenges facing the development of Africa and the practical steps needed to be taken to transform the fortunes of the troubled continent.

The past South African leader who was instrumental to the dismantling of apartheid in that country said, “Africa must change its attitude to human development; it must continue to catch up to the rest of the world in terms of education.”

According to him, African countries must work towards doubling the percentage of children who went to high school and university.

“I believe that Africa is capable of accepting these challenges-and Ghana, once again, is showing the way,” noted the Nobel laureate.

The NPP said its major policy penned for implementation if voted into power in December 2012, was education and from September 2013 education from the kindergarten to the senior high school level would be free. Already, calculations made by the research team of the party put the budget requirement for this ambitious programme at over GH¢280 million annually until 2016.

Deputy Communications Director of the NPP Sammy Awuku, told DAILY GUIDE that the transformational agenda of the NPP was hinged on facilitating a knowledge based economy.

According to him, the NPP flagbearer has made education his topmost priority because he has realized that a bulk of the human resources in the country lacked the requisite skills necessary to transform Ghana’s economy.

Source: Daily Guide

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New Urban Dictionary for Ghana

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Category: The ClassRoom

Created on Thursday, 09 August 2012 00:00

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New Urban Dictionary for Ghana

{sidebar id=11 align=right}New words that have appeared in the Ghanaian lexicon mainly due to the actions or inactions of officials, people in higher and lower places. Some of these words have been around forever but got new or updated meaning. This is a funny take on happenings in Ghana. Enjoy!

1. To do a Spio: Any individual who claims he has a doctorate degree knowing he has never defended a dissertation for a PhD nor ever attended and graduated medical school. Having 1,000 masters degrees does not equal a PhD.

2. Gyan-Gyan tuan folly: Premature celebration of an event. Example when one celebrates a penalty while the ball has not crossed the goal line.

3. Gargantuan: Old word but resurrected to mean anything of gigantic proportions usually achieved by unnatural means. Example my neighbor hit the jackpot with a gargantuan win from the national lotteries.

4. To do a Painstil: Show off in an expensive vehicle that ends up breaking down in public. Or running out of gas while driving an expensive gas guzzling car.

5. Wayomised: Verb describing swindling acts usually of gargantuan proportions

6. To do Focking Boy: Any sane or semi-sane man or woman who exposes privates in public. Example Britney Spears did a Focking Boy when she hit the town with no panties.

7. All die be die: Desperate rally cry to supporters

8. Ecomimi: Stumbling or struggling to pronounce big words

9. Over de barrrrrrrrrr: New name for anyone who skies a penalty kick. Example Asamoah “Over de Bar” Gyan.

10. Judgment debt: When one government cancels a contract signed by a previous government and Ghana ends up paying multiple times over to settle the initial cancellation and associated interest that usually exceed the original debt.

11. Claim a logo: AKA take your ball and run. Claim something is yours to end a game when things don’t go your way. Example Nana Konadu claimed the NDC logo when she lost the primaries.

12. To do a Balotelli: Refuse to celebrate ones achievement in a field of endeavor. Opposite of Gyan-gyan tuan folly.

13. Land grab: Steal or acquire parcels of land in choice areas using ones position of influence. Both NPP and NDC have been accused of Land grab when in power.

14. Chin Quan Chang: Chinese nationals doing galamsay in Ghana.

15. Made in China: Any inferior product on the Ghanaian market. Can also refer to any product sold in Wal-Mart

16. They are from Nigeria: Initial public reaction to anybody caught in armed robbery, internet scam, 419 or advance fee fraud in Ghana. Usually accompanied by they are Nigerians using Ghanaian names.

17. I got that right: TB Joshua claiming to have prophesied an event after it had already happened. BTW can I get next week’s lottery numbers?

18. You are invited: NPP inviting dignitaries to presidential inauguration way before actual election

19. S3 asa:. An Akan word meaning it is finally over.

20. We are in mourning: An excuse not to get anything done in Ghana because Ghanaians are mourning President Atta Mills. Example SHS placement suspended because of death and funeral of President Atta Mills. According to Samuel Oppong, “Because of the President’s funeral and a whole lot activities people will not pay attention to the placement system”. Really!

Okofrompa Asantiniba Kwame Appiah MSLC, GCE O’Level, A’Level (2X), BSc, MSc, PhD, CNA, CFA, CPA, OIG, CNN, ATF, FBI, CNN, RIP, S3 asa!

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A-level results 2012: A and A* grades fall

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Category: The NoticeBoard

Created on Friday, 17 August 2012 00:00

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A-level results 2012: A and A* grades fall

The proportion of A-levels resulting in the top A or A* grades has declined for the first time in two decades

Jeevan Vasagar, education editor

The share of A-level entries getting the top grade has fallen for the first time in two decades in results published on Thursday for more than 300,000 candidates.

The results show that 26.6% of grades issued this year are A or A*, a fall of 0.4% compared with last year. The overall pass rate at all grades has risen for the 30th successive year, to 98%.

{sidebar id=11 align=right}The race for places in clearing has begun, with Ucas announcing that 357,915 students have been accepted on to university courses this year, as of midnight, down 6.95% on 2011. The sharp drop in acceptances to university may be partly due to a gap between predicted grades and outcomes this year.

For the first time since the A* was introduced in 2010, boys outperformed girls at the grade. Eight percent of boys' entries achieved an A*, compared with 7.9% of girls' entries in results for 335,000 candidates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The A* grade requires marks over 90% in a candidate's second-year exams.

Since 2009, the exams regulator, Ofqual, has adopted a new approach intended to contain grade inflation by comparing examiners' marking of candidates against the performance of that year-group at GCSE, as well as previous years' A-level results. The approach was introduced for the new AS-level specification first awarded in 2009, and the revised A-level first awarded in 2010.

In this year's results, entries for maths increased 3.8% compared with last year. Maths entries have risen by 45.6% since 2007. Maths, the second most popular A-level subject after English, was taken by 85,714 candidates this year. Entries for biology, the third most popular subject, were up 1.7%. Physics and chemistry were also up on last year.

{sidebar id=12 align=right}The take-up of foreign languages continues to decline. The number of grades awarded in French was down 5.2% on last year, and German down 7.6%. The sharpest decreases in subject entries were for critical thinking, down 35.1%, and general studies, down 13.24%.

Despite a drop in demand for university places after the introduction of higher tuition fees, getting a place on a degree course remains intensely competitive. This year there have been more than 629,000 applications for about half a million university places.

Mary Curnock Cook, the Ucas chief executive, said: "Despite the fall in applications this year, entry to higher education remains competitive and we expect to see an active clearing period. Over 25,000 courses are showing vacancies for UK applicants. More than 50,000 people found a course in clearing last year."

Under reforms introduced by the coalition, universities will be able to expand to take on as many UK students as they wish who achieve grades of AAB or higher at A-level. This change was intended to inject some competition into the university sector, modifying a system in which universities have a fixed quota of places for UK undergraduates each year.

The universities minister, David Willetts, has urged institutions to take advantage of the reforms and compete against each other for undergraduates. However, this change may have a limited impact on the most selective universities, many of which recruit students with higher grades than AAB and have no plans to expand.

Oxford and Cambridge have ruled out expanding under the AAB reform. Among Russell Group universities, Bristol plans a significant expansion – admitting an additional 600 UK undergraduates this year – while University College London intends to add another 300.

Some universities have sought to attract high-performing students with scholarships, including the offer of a £1,000-a-year award at Coventry, and a £2,000 scholarship offered by Kent to any student who achieves three As at A-level.

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell group of universities, said: "This is the first year that student number controls have been lifted for those students getting AAB or above and even now it is too early to tell how the new approach will affect the final numbers of students entering any individual university or any particular course.

"Our leading universities will not decide en masse to expand at the first opportunity, but some with the capacity and demand are now choosing to recruit more students, in some cases on particular courses."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "These results are a real testament to the commitment and hard work of young people and their teachers. The government should recognise this rather than continually undermining such achievement with talk of grade inflation and dumbed-down qualifications.

"The increase in entries in maths and science subjects is welcome but it is still a significant concern that modern language learning continues to decline."

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "More students than ever are taking A levels and for many, getting a B or C grade is a real achievement. When you have a cohort with a wider range of ability, it is not surprising that the percentage achieving A and A* drops slightly. There will always be fluctuations in grades and I would not be overly concerned about half a percentage point decrease in top grades.

"The continuing fall in numbers taking modern languages is a real concern. A-level students are savvy and have their eye very much on the job market. They've heard the messages loud and clear that employers want mathematics and science graduates, and these subjects have increased. If we are going to turn around the decline in modern languages, employers, universities and the government must send out the message that modern language skills equal employment opportunities."

Source: The Guardian UK

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Re-Name Legon After J B Danquah: A Passionate Re-Appeal

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Created on Thursday, 09 August 2012 00:00

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Re-Name Legon After J B Danquah: A Passionate Re-Appeal

{sidebar id=11 align=right}The decision by the Judicial Council of Ghana, led by Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, to name a court-building complex in memory of the late President John Evans Atta-Mills is rather curious, to put it mildly. And I hereby solemnly predict that this knee-jerk decision by key operatives of the ruling National Democratic Congress and their Fifth-Column collaborators to deny equal honor to the true heroes and real founders of Ghanaian democracy is bound to have deleterious repercussions in our country in the near future.

In the main, Justice Wood commends our recently deceased president for releasing the sum of $50 million, of the taxpayer’s money, to facilitate the timely construction of the aforesaid court complex. Needless to say, it was squarely within the functional purview of a democratically elected Ghanaian president to promote the integrity and efficiency of the judicial arm of the government.

Thus in complying with the proverbial call of duty, President Mills performed no charitable or voluntary service to both the judiciary and Ghanaians at large, contrary to what the Chief Justice would have the rest of the world believe, and for which the judiciary ought to be especially grateful.

My particular problem here, though, regards whether, indeed, the authority and/or decision to naming the aforesaid complex, or any other architectural landmark, for that matter, after our late leader falls under the job description of the Judicial Council of Ghana and Chief Justice Wood, or that the laid-down procedure for such a culturally crucial undertaking, falls squarely within the purview of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board in statutory consultation with the legislative arm of government, or Parliament, as it were.

As it stands, Justice Wood clearly appears to be shamelessly pandering to the whims and caprices of the newly-sworn Mahama-Arthur government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which, under the tenure of President Mills, was not particularly known to be professionally cordial with the judiciary. For, not only had several landmark decisions by the court, including the Ya-Na Affair and the Obetsebi-Lamptey Verdict, been publicly and vehemently denounced by the Mills-Mahama government, and the credibility and integrity of the Court cynically impugned, Chief Justice Wood herself had on several occasions been threatened with summary dismissal.

Then there was also that epically scandalous moment when the now-late President Mills either flatly refused to acknowledge Justice Wood, during a State-of-the-Nation Address, or simply determined that her presence on the floor of our National Assembly was flagrantly uncalled for. He would later claim that Mrs. Wood had been positioned on his blind side. So much for “Trokosi” diplomacy!

The then-Candidate Mills also marched lock-step with his mentor and chief patron, and Ghana’s longest-reigning dictator turned civilian and democratically elected leader, former President Jeremiah John Rawlings on countless occasions, during the Tsatsu Tsikata embezzlement cum causing financial loss to the state trial, into the premises of court houses, with legions of party apparatchiks slavishly in tow, to vehemently denounce and intimidate trial judges, including Justice Harriet Abban.

And so, really, for Justice Wood to suddenly emerge out of the proverbial woodwork, no pun intended, of course, and “hagiographize” the late President Mills ought to boggle the mind of any studious observer of the erstwhile Mills-Mahama government.

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of English Nassau Community College of the State University of New York Garden City, Long Island

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