Thursday, November 12, 2009

ASSEMBLY DONATES BRAILLE TO BLIND STUDENT (PAGE 40, NOV 12)

THE Assin South District Assembly has donated a Braille valued at GH¢840 to Mr Albert Nartey, a visually impaired student at the Akropong School for the Blind.
Making the presentation at Nsuaem, the District Chief Executive, Ms Sabina Appiah-Kubi, said the donation was in response to Mr Nartey’s appeal for support towards his education.
She said the assembly also took into consideration Mr Nartey’s quest for education, despite his predicament.
Ms Appiah-Kubi expressed the hope that the Braille would assist him to achieve his desire.
Mr Nartey thanked the assembly for coming to his aid and said he would use it to enhance his education.

ILO ORGANISES FORUM FOR TAILORS AND DRESSMAKERS (PAGE 40, NOV 12)

THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has organised a day’s forum for stakeholders from the districts in the Central Region engaged in the Ghana Decent Work Project to prepare them for the use of local tailors and dressmakers in the provision of free school uniforms to children in basic schools in the country.
At a forum at Agona Swedru, International Project Consultant on Local Economic Development (LED) of the Ghana Decent Work Project, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, said the government’s decision to provide free uniforms presented an opportunity for micro, small and medium enterprises in the garment and textile industry in the participating project districts to expand their work and improve their competitiveness.
Dr Thompson said the workshop selected the ILO project-participating districts to enable them to develop their local enterprises to increase productivity and create employment as well as increase income.
He said the workshop was to create awareness for the tailors and dressmakers to take advantage of the programme, adding that the technical preparation would be followed later.
According to Dr Thompson, should they perform well, they might be given the chance in the provision of uniforms for institutions such as nurses, the police and military since those uniforms were procured outside the country.
The participants were of the view that the award of contracts under the uniform policy should be transparent and devoid of partisanship.
The National Project Officer for Local Economic Development (LED), Mr Emmauel Baisie, advised members of the Ghana National Traders Association to formalise their businesses to enable them to benefit from the programme.
In a related development, the District Chief Executive for Gomoa West, Mr Theophilus Adioo-Mensah inaugurated the sub-committee on Product and Gainful Employment, an International Labour Organisation (ILO) programme under the Decent Work-Ghana Project at Apam in the Central Region.
In an address, Mr Adioo-Mensah said the committee would play a vital role in poverty reduction in the district. He said as a public and private interface at the local level, it would serve as an institution for social and economic dialogue.
The DCE said the fundamental role of the committee was to identify local economic potential and formulate strategies for realisation of the potential for inclusion in the development plans and mobilise both local and other resources in support of the plan.
He said the government had the desire to create decent employment for the teeming unemployed youth because job creation was one of the pillars that held the National Democratic Congress (NDC) manifesto.
Mr Aidoo-Mensah, therefore, expressed the hope that the partnership with the ILO would be able to create gainful employment.
He charged the committee members to be innovative in their quest to facilitate employment creation.
An International Project Expert with the ILO, Mr Nii Moi Thompson, said the sub-committee in Gomoa West was the eighth to be inaugurated in the region, and promised to train the members on how to assess funds to support small scale businesses in the district.
The 15-member committee is being chaired by Mr Ekow Eyanful, who also promised on behalf of the other committee members to work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them.

30 HEADMASTERS ATTEND PROFESSIONAL DEV COURSE (PAGE 40, NOV 12)

THIRTY headmasters from basic schools within the Cape Coast metropolis and the Elmina Municipality have benefited from a two-day professional development and leadership training programme under the British Council’s “Connecting Classroom” project.
The “Connecting Classroom” project, run by the British Council in 18 African countries, is aimed at forging sustainable partnership between Ghanaian teachers and their United Kingdom counterparts.
It provides young learners the opportunity to engage one another to provide international communication skills for learners and impart to them knowledge as agents of positive change in society.
The project is being executed by the British Council in conjunction with the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA) of the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The Project Co-ordinator, Ms Ivy Apreku, told the Daily Graphic in Cape Coast that the project was also based on the principles of diversity, curiosity, respect, mutuality and dialogue.
She said the programme had run since 2006 in Ghana and about 75 schools had been involved.
Ms Apreku said 16 teachers from the United Kingdom on a study tour joined their counterparts in the programme, dubbed: “Leadership in Learning and Community Cohesion”.
The Director of the IEPA of the UCC, Dr George K.T. Oduro, said research by the IEPA indicated that most headmasters at the basic school level did not know how to promote learning.
He said the IEPA entered into collaboration with the University of Cambridge to design a project to strengthen the capacity of headmasters in learning and leadership skills.
Dr Oduro said the Ghana Education Service (GES) mandated the IEPA to prepare headmasters in basic schools in learning and leadership skills.
That, he said, was to provide means of making schools benefit from the programme.
He said by institutionalising the programme, the IEPA had provided a monitoring and supervision system for the benefit of people.
Dr Oduro said there were also a number of training programmes by different bodies and non-governmental organisations in building the capacity of school heads but the methodology and focus used were different and often confused teachers.
He, therefore, appealed to the GES to co-ordinate to know which direction the programme should go.
Dr Oduro called on the GES to come up with an agenda that clearly defined the philosophy underlying headmaster preparation in the country and the methodology that it deemed appropriate for achieving such a philosophy.

ASIKUMA HOLDS CONFERENCE TO ATTRACT INVESTORS (PAGE 40, NOV 12)

DESPITE being endowed with vast fertile land, which supports the cultivation of varied cash crops such as cocoa, oil palm, maize, cashew, chilly (black pepper), coconut and cassava, the Asikuma Traditional Area lacks the needed investment to accelerate the development of the area.
It is for this reason that the Omanhene of the area, Nana Amoakwa Boudu VIII, has left no stone unturned since his installation to attract investors to the area.
For a start, under his leadership and with the active collaboration of the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District Assembly and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr P.C. Appiah-Ofori, a stakeholders conference has been organised at Breman Asikuma to find ways of attracting investment to the area to speed up its development.
The Breman Development Conference, which attracted prominent citizens from the area, was on the theme: “Uniting for accelerated development,” and brought together stakeholders within and outside the area, to deliberate on a number of issues affecting the development of the area.
The forum offered the participants an opportunity to provide information leading to a resolution for a five-year strategic plan for the district.
It was aimed at establishing partnership with the district assembly to implement decisions of the forum.
The forum also afforded the participants the chance to market the district’s available investment opportunities.
At the ceremony, Nana Amoakwa Boadu thanked the people for rallying behind to his peaceful installation.
He said he was prepared to lead the people to undertake projects to create jobs and reduce poverty in the area.
Nana Amoakwa Boadu said his other priority would be to improve upon education and the health delivery in the area, and therefore, advised the people to avoid disputes because they retarded development.
He urged the chiefs and land owners to be prepared to release land to investors to undertake investments.
Nana Amoakwa Boadu entreated the people to unite, live in peace and harmony for the progress of their communities.
The MP, Mr Appiah-Ofori, said he welcomed the moves by the Omanhene to mobilise the people and resources for the development of the area.
He said since the government alone could not develop the country, it behoved chiefs to mobilise their people to complement the efforts of the government.
Mr Appiah-Ofori stated that he would support efforts to revive the chilly project he initiated to generate revenue and employment for the people in the area.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Ms Georgina Aboah Nkrumah, pledged the assembly’s support for the Omanhene.
The participants in the forum called for the establishment of business and technical schools, a college of education and a nurses’ training college in the district.

AJUMAKO TO SERVE AS UEW CAMPUS (PAGE 21, NOV 12)

THE decision of the government to hand over the Ghana Education Service Development Institute (GESDI) at Ajumako to serve as a campus of the University of Education, Winneba(UEW), is irrevocable.
The Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, who made the declaration, said his ministry would, therefore, speed up the process for the benefit of the UEW, adding that the government had set up a committee that was working on the final process.
That was a personal assurance before he read a speech on behalf of the President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, at the 14th congregation of the UEW in Winneba, during which 5,439 graduates were awarded diploma and degree.
President Mills said the government would support the UEW and other universities to expand their distance education programmes to address the problem of limited access to tertiary education.
He commended the universities for using the medium of distance education to expand access to tertiary education.
He, however, expressed the need for them to co-ordinate their activities in that area to achieve maximum results.
The President said considerable efforts were being made to create congenial conditions for effective and efficient education delivery across the country, adding that the government was committed to rectifying all salary distortions to give teachers their due by applying the single spine salary structure.
The Vice-Chancellor of the UEW, Professor Akwasi Asabre-Ameyaw, said currently the student population stood at 33,271, noting that both students and staff lacked the requisite residential and office accommodation, and asked the government for massive financial support to improve facilities to facilitate the training of quality teachers.
He commended the staff, donors and individuals whose support had immensely sustained the university.
The Chairman of the University Council, Dr Emmanuel Kenneth Andoh, also known as Okofo Amoako Bondam III, the Omanhene of the Enyan-Maim Traditional Area, advised the new graduates to lead lives worthy of emulation.

Monday, November 2, 2009

I'LL HELP BRING PEACE, JUSTICE TO MANKIND — CARDINAL TURKSON (SPREAD, NOV 2)

Archbishop Peter Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson says even though his new appointment as the President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace is a daunting task, he would live up to the challenge to bring peace, unity and justice to mankind.
Speaking to the faithful at the Saint Francis de Sales Cathedral last Friday after his return from the Vatican, where he received the award, Cardinal Turkson said he accepted his elevation with humility, and expressed the hope that with God’s guidance and the support of the church and Ghanaians, he would live up to the task.
Cardinal Turkson told the congregation, which included the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana Leon Kalenga, Archbishop Emeritus of Kumasi, His Grace, Akwasi Sarpong, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Gabriel Charles Palmer Buckle, Bishop Daniel Cannon Allotey, the Anglican Bishop of the Cape Coast and the Bishops of Obuasi, Goaso and Techiman, that his appointment underscored his deep quest for peace and justice for mankind.
Cardinal Turkson serves as the Chairman of the National Peace Council in Ghana and as a member of the Eminent Persons Mediating for peace in the Dagbon crisis.
He said he had foreknowledge of his appointment and was not surprised when it was made at the Vatican Summit in Rome before he made a presentation at the conference.
He said what dawned on him most about the challenge were the approaches made by the Archbishops of Congo, Rwanda and Somalia to him to assist them in solving their crises soon after his appointment was announced.
Fraternal messages were read by the Catholic Bishops Conference and the Archdiocesan Priests Association.
Earlier, Cardinal Turkson had arrived to a rousing welcome by faithful at the Holy Child Senior High School Junction, near Ekon, from where he was driven in an open-top vehicle through the Savoy Street to the London Bridge road to the Emintsimadze Palace of the Oguaamanhen.
The Oguaamanhen, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, who poured powder into the palm of Cardinal Turkson, also presented him with a palm branch to signify his triumph return to Cape Coast with another feather in his cap.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta commended Cardinal Turkson for his humility, which, he said, had brought honour and glory to Cape Coast, the Central Region, Ghana and Africa.
He said the Oguaa Traditional Council would support him in all his endeavours to achieve higher and greater laurels in the hierarchy of the Church.
Cardinal Turkson said even though he would be out of the country, he would continue to keep in touch with his people for their mutual benefit.
Bishop Allotey later told the press that he would not be surprised to see the first black Pope in the person of Cardinal Turkson.

BOARDS OF FIVE HEALTH INSTITUTIONS INAUGURATED (PAGE 15, NOV 2)

THE Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, has inaugurated advisory boards for five health training institutions in the region, admonishing them to help address challenges facing the institutions.
Each of the five training schools has a seven-member board with representatives from the regional co-ordinating council, regional health directorate, traditional councils, communities, Ministry of Education, religious bodies and the training institutions themselves.
The five health training institutions in the region are the Nurses and Midwives Training College in Cape Coast, the Nurses Training College at Ankaful, the Community Health Nurses Training College in Winneba and the Health Assistants (Clinical) Training schools at Twifo Praso and Dunkwa-on-Offin.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe advised the board members to be proactive and dedicated to their work and help the institutions to meet internationally accepted standards.
She reminded them of such challenges as poor staffing, inadequate learning and teaching materials, lack of classrooms and hostels for students and accommodation for staff, tasking them to come up with constructive ideas for improving conditions in the institutions.
The regional minister said the government was quite aware of the challenges enumerated above and was making efforts to address them.
Mrs Benyiwa-Doe, however, implored the board members to be charitable and realistic in their demands and requests in the face of the limited resources at the disposal of the Government.
The acting Central Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Samuel T. Kwashie, said all misfits who sneaked into the noble profession would be smoked out.
He said two students who were caught with Indian hemp were handed over to the security agencies for investigations, whilst a third one practically dismissed himself when rolls of Indian hemp were found on him whilst on admission at the psychiatric hospital.
He said a case of stealing was also being investigated, adding that two final year students who gained admission with fake certificates had also been handed over to the police about two weeks ago, when the school authorities were alerted by the West African Examinations Council, after verifying their results.
He said the Central Regional Health Directorate had empowered the principals of the training institutions and continued to offer them strong support to ensure discipline in order to continue to produce disciplined, high performing and committed nurses.
A representative of the boards, Nana K. Owusu-Boampong, Deputy Regional Health Director (Administration) and member of the board for the Health Assistants (Clinical) Training School, on behalf of the members, promised that they would work with commitment, dedication and diligence to enhance smooth running of the institutions.