Ghanan's Educational System Undergoes Name changes

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday launched a new Education Reform Programme that proposes eleven years of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) and four years of Senior High School (SHS) formerly Senior Secondary School (SSS).

The new system, which would be implemented from September 1, 2007, starts with two years of kindergarten for pupils at age four; six years of primary school at which the pupil attains age 12; to be followed by three years of Junior High School (JHS) till the pupil is 15 years. After the JHS, the student may choose to go into different streams of the four years of Senior High School which would offer General Education with electives in General, Business, Technical, Vocational and Agricultural Education options for entry into Tertiary Institutions or the job market.

President Kufuor noted that the reform was designed, among other things, to prepare the appropriate human resource in the form of skilled, technologically-advanced and disciplined workforce with the right ethics to service the growing economy.He said the Reform placed emphasis on Mathematics, Science and Technology, but to develop a well rounded society, the Arts and Social Sciences would continue to receive the necessary support in the curriculum.

"This should promote Ghana's surge into the Golden age of business and national prosperity. It should also reinforce Ghana's role as a beacon nation in the resurgence of Africa as envisioned in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)."President Kufuor said the expectation of the Education Reform, which coincided with the UN's Millennium Development Goals, was to advance the literacy rate to 100 per cent by 2015, pay special attention to girls' education to make them better mothers and heighten awareness of the environment to preserve national resources.

He said an Apprenticeship Programme, organized jointly by the State and Industry for skills acquisition would be available for students, who opted for employment after Junior High School, of which the cost of the first year would be borne by the State.President Kufuor said the Reform also acknowledged the mastery of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a priority and that as skills in ICT had become crucial for the survival of the global world, government would extend the national broadband backbone connectivity throughout the country to facilitate the development of ICT infrastructure in schools.

President Kufuor said teacher quality was critical to the implementation of the Reform Programme at all levels hence the Government was committed to improving the conditions of service of teachers to motivate them to give of their best.He said currently the upgrading and refurbishment of all the 38 Teacher Training Colleges in the country were underway and that 15 of them were being specially equipped for Science, Mathematics and Technology which constituted the new focus of the educational delivery programme.

He said the Government was establishing a National Teachers Council to regulate the profession and that a Distance Education Programme to upgrade teachers while still at post was ongoing to ensure that they were abreast with the best practices of their profession to serve all schools irrespective of their location in the country.

SSource:GNA

NPP & NDC will lead the country into chaos - CPP

A leading member of the Convention Peoples Party, (CPP), Dr. Kwaku Osafo, has stated that the country's current peaceful atmosphere would be threatened if Ghanaians make the mistake to vote for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2008 general elections.He observed that there is so much enmity between these two political parties that should any of them win power in the next general election, there would be no peace and development in the country.

With this therefore, he has advised all the eligible voters in the country to vote massively far the CPP as an alternative party to solve the problems between the NDC and NPP.Dr. Osafo made the observation when he interacted with some members of the Eastern Region press recently at Koforidua.Explaining, he said the NPP has been blaming the NDC for the country's woes and that the party to rule the nation was their party (CPP) and therefore they would not allow the NDC to come back to power.

He noted that the NDC has been describing the NPP government as the most corrupt government ever to rule this country and they have even asked the government to expand Nsawam prisons for their detention should the NDC come to power.This has created a big struggle for power between the two political parties, giving way for serious hostility which when not taken care of, would tear the country apart, he stated.The politician who doubles as economic development consultant therefore urged the public to consider the good works of the Osagyefo, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and vote massively for the CPP.

He observed that no country could develop without making industrialization its priority and called on the government to consider a programme of industrial revolution.The Eastern Regional Chairman of the CPP, Nana Owusu Sekyere, said the party when elected into power would revive the cultural revolution by rebuilding self confidence in the people.
Source:Chronicle

President Kufuor receives special message from Algeria

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday granted audience to a Special Envoy of his Algerian counterpart, President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, to deliver a message, at the Castle, Osu.

The content of the message was not disclosed but was believed to have centred on bilateral relations between Ghana and Algeria. The Envoy, Mr Ramtane Lamamra, who is the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, conveyed the Algerian leader's appreciation to President Kufuor for his participation and contributions during the recent NEPAD brainstorming summit held in Algiers.

He noted that as Chairman of the African Union (AU), his support and that of his other colleague Heads of State was vital for the successful integration of NEPAD into the AU structure. He said President Bouteflika was looking forward to continuing working with him on that. Responding, President Kufuor said the summit was a good one and that NEPAD should find its rightful position within the AU. He said it was his hope that the Algerian President would attend the July AU summit in Accra and bring his immeasurable influence to bear on the direction of the Union.

President Kufuor stated that the Accra summit would focus on working towards realising the Union of African States. Present was the Foreign Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.GNA

Youth urged to make use of their educational knowledge

The Minister of Education, Science and Sports (MESS), Paapa Owusu Ankoma on Tuesday urged the country's youth to use the knowledge being acquired at the various educational institutions to transform the nation and enhance development. He said the purpose of education was not only to acquire knowledge but also to make effective use of the knowledge for the benefit of society.

Paapa Ankoma was inaugurating a one billion cedi Library and Information Communication and Technology Centre (ICT) for the Kwahu Ridge Secondary/Technical School (KRISCEC) at Obo-Kwahu. He reminded the youth that they were in the transformation generation and advised them to take advantage of the facilities available to them in the school system to acquire the requisite knowledge for a brighter future.

The minister urged parents to ensure that the huge investment being made in their children's education yielded positive results for them to contribute towards the development of the country. He said the educational reform program, which would commence in September this year would enable students to acquire technical, science and agriculture related skills. The apprenticeship training programme, he said would also enable them to acquire the required skills to become self-employed.

Paapa Ankoma promised to present 10 computers and accessories to the school and advised the students to concentrate on their studies to become responsible citizens. Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, MP for Mpraeso said the project, which started three years ago was jointly founded by the European Union (EU), the MPs Common Fund, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) and the Kwahu South District Assembly. He disclosed that a friend based in Holland also donated 14 computers and their accessories to the library.

Mrs Anita Jackson, Headmistress, said the school with a student population of 850 had only two bungalows for both the headmistress and the senior housemistress, thus affecting effective supervision and discipline. She said girls' population had increased tremendously and appealed for additional dormitory and administration block and the rehabilitation of the Twendurase campus. Mr Abraham Sowah, the District Director of Education said a nation's human resource was its wealth since the human resource personnel would implement all government policies and programmes for the development of the nation.

Nana Yeboah Afare Buagyan II, Obohene, appealed to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to rehabilitate infrastructure in the school, which he said was constructed 47 years ago. Mr Alidu Mohammed and Mr Fredrick Ayirebi two old students of the school and Mrs Mary Animwaa, the District Director of Education for Fanteakwa who hails from the town later donated a quantity of assorted books worth millions of cedis to the school library.GNA

Nkoranza citizens sensitised on HIV/AIDS

A total of 143 out of 255 patients screened at the St. Theresa's Hospital at Nkoranza last year tested HIV/AIDS positive. Mr. Hayford Kyere, Nkoranza District HIV/AIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Focal Person, disclosed this when he addressed about 200 hairdressers at a workshop at Nkoranza to create awareness among the people to guard against getting infected.

Fifteen out of the infected died before the end of the year, he said and emphasised that the pandemic was real adding that, people should therefore not deceive themselves that "HIV/AIDS is associated with evil and satanic issues". Mr. Kyere said persons between 45 and 49 years old had a prevalent rate of about five per cent, while it was about 3.6 for between 25 and 29 years old. The rate for those between 15 and 24 years old was 1.9 per cent and between 15-19 years old, bout 0.8 per cent. Mr. Kyere advised the people to be faithful to their sexual partners while the unmarried youth should abstain from sex or use condom to protect themselves.

Mrs. Eva Saku, Nkoranza District Public Health Nurse, urged the people to undertake Voluntary/Counselling and Testing (VCT) to determine their status and pointed out that HIV/AIDS was mostly contracted through sexual intercourse, which accounted for about 80 per cent of infection. Mother to child infection was 15 per cent while other causes such as the use and exchange of common razors was five per cent. Mrs. Elizabeth Dekyi, a Public Health Nurse, expressed concern about how some parents used one toothbrush for all their children and advised them to desist from the unhygienic practice to avoid contracting the pandemic or other communicable diseases.

Mr. Haruna Babbs and Madam Theresa Bossman, executive members of the Nkoranza District Beauticians Association, commended the District HIV/AIDS committee for organizing the workshop to sensitise the youth. The participants were provided with female and male condoms to promote their usage. The workshop attracted Mr. Daniel Agyarko, District Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Nyame Boateng, District Engineer, Mr. Kyere Boateng, Assistant Chief Executive Officer and Mr Ebenezer Amoah, District Planning Officer.GNA

Ghana's Clottey Out-punched Corrales

Joshua Clottey completely dominated Diego Corrales on Saturday night, knocking down the former world champion twice in a unanimous decision in their 10-round welterweight bout.
Clottey (31-2) sent Corrales -- making his debut at 147 pounds after moving up two weight classes -- to the canvas with a left hand to the head late in the ninth round.

Corrales (40-5) got back to his feet, but moments later another left by Clottey sent him reeling in the corner. Corrales survived the ninth but took a bloody left eye into the 10th and final round.
Midway through the 10th, Corrales dodged a Clottey left but stepped into his right and went down again, losing his mouthpiece. The former WBC and WBO lightweight and WBO junior lightweight champion again got back to his feet, but by that point, it was all but over.
Clottey, the No. 4 welterweight contender according to the WBO, won 97-90, 98-89 and 100-87 on the judges' scorecards.

"He was a tough guy, this was a tough fight," Clottey said. "But I knew from the beginning that it was just a matter of time. I knew I would have to break him down."
Corrales said after the fight that he thought Clottey broke his jaw in the fifth round.
"My corner asked me if I wanted to continue, and of course I did," Corrales said. "I have a lot of respect for Clottey. He caught me with two great shots."
The fight was the last of nine on the night in front of a near-capacity crowd at the 2,300-seat Shrine Mosque.

Corrales, Clottey even on the scales

Diego Corrales and Joshua Clottey both weighed in at 149lbs for their welterweight battle on Saturday night in Springfield, Missouri, USA on Showtime.29 year-old Corrales 40-4 (33) from Las Vegas, a three-time world champion, is making his first appearance at welterweight against 30 year-old Clottey 30-2 (20), 1 NC from Ghana.

Showtime will televise the 10-round welterweight bout in the USA at 9pm ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). Gary Shaw Productions and Tony Holden Promotions will promote the event sponsored by the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, from The Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri.