Day: June 30, 2024

Madam Christiana Ayinezoya Azure, the Talensi District Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has underscored the need to encourage the culture of reading to improve academic performance of students and pupils.

She observed that the spirit of reading among pupils and students in recent times had fallen and the situation was contributing significantly to the poor performance among schools especially those in Northern Ghana and called for action to address it.

‘Reading is the door to everything, once you can read and understand, and has the interest in reading, you can do many other things that will improve upon performance and sustain them in school,’ she added.

The District Director made call through the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the district level public primary schools reading festival, organised by the GES at Gbeogo School for the Deaf which brought together 10 circuits across the district.

The festival was contested by pupils of basic one, two and three from the 10 circuits.

It fo
rmed part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ghana Strengthening Accountability in Ghana’s Education System (SAGES) ,a systems strengthening activity in collaboration with the Ministry of Education reading project.

It was held on the theme, ‘Reading, a pathway to the world.’

The District Director indicated that reading boosts confidence and self-esteem of children as well as sustain their interest in school hence the need for stakeholders in education to device strategies to encourage reading among schoolchildren and young people.

Ms Jessica Seidu, a Teacher at the Winkogo Primary School, indicated that reading had been one of the major challenges facing children in the area and urged that the reading festival be sustained to encourage reading among children and improve upon their academic performance.

She appealed to parents to support their children to read by buying books for their children and encourage them to read those books to complement what was being taught in scho
ol.

At the end of the competition, Master Nbapuyele of the Pwalugu-Yinduri circuit emerged winner in the Basic One category while Ms Margaret Deezo of Gbeogo circuit and Ms Blessing Ayine of the Winkogo circuit were winners in the Basic Two and Basic Three categories, respectively.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Vocational Training for Females (VTF) Programme a not-for-profit organization has embarked on ‘work readiness’ seminar for final year students in technical schools to prepare them for the job market.

The work readiness seminar is part of the VTF interventions to provide support services to enhance employability and job creation of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) graduates.

The idea of the intervention is to prepare TVET students with essential skills needed for work in the labour market.

About 1000 final year Technical School students in Ahafo and Bono Regions were reached with the essential skills training to prepare them for the job market.

Participants at the five-day seminar were taken through how to prepare Curriculum Vitaes (CV), interviewing skills, good work ethics, teamwork, and punctuality among others to leverage their competitiveness at the job market.

Ms Linda Agyei, Director VTF Programme, explained that the labour market realities and dynamics required that students
were empowered with such essential knowledge to shape their thinking and understanding of the work environment.

This, she said, enabled them to prepare adequately for the expectations that await them after school adding that ‘many times employers are disappointed with the lack of essential skills on the part of new employees.’

Whether one works as a self-employed person or waged-employed, good work ethics such as punctuality, honesty, critical thinking, integrity, sense of responsibility, teamwork and diligence are traits that can endear one to the hearts of employers and customers’ alike.

Another key area she mentioned required the skills to communicate effectively and explicitly was interviewing where one must be well prepared and comported.

Mr Emmanuel Adentwi Jnr, lead facilitator at the seminar, encouraged the participants to take the lessons at the seminar seriously because they were additional knowledge.

The participants and teachers thanked the VTF for such initiative describing it as an eye open
er and a very relevant training.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A three-day workshop on effective internationalisation in Technical Universities, has been held in Kumasi with a call on participants to embrace innovation to improve technical education in Ghana.

The workshop formed part of the Ghana National Multiplication Training (NMT), an international training programme for Technical Universities in Ghana, which focuses on various internationalisation strategies that can be adopted by Technical Universities to ensure operational excellence.

The NMT Project forms part of the ‘Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies'(DIES) Programme, which is jointly coordinated by German Academic Exchange Service and German Rectors Conference (HRK), and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The aim of the NMT Project is to strengthen DIES alumni in their role as multipliers in higher Education management and to promote the sustainability of the DIES training courses.

The University of Potsdam in Berlin has been coordinating and implementi
ng the National Multiplication Training since 2017.

The Ghana National Multiplication Training 2024, which was in two parts was first held in Sunyani in February, this year with the Kumasi edition being the second part.

‘Effective Internationalisation of Technical Universities in Ghana,’ was the theme for the training.

It focused on building the capacity of participants on tools and practices of effective internationalisation of higher educational institutions and developing a project action plan that when implemented will enhance the internationalisation of their various institutions.

The project was developed and implemented by four faculty members from four universities in Ghana, including Dr. Vida Korang, Catholic University, Dr. Seweonam Chachu, University of Ghana, Prof. Anthony Amoah, University of Environment and Sustainable Development and Prof Joseph Adjei, Ashesi University.

The project team received expert advice and technical support from Prof. Dorcas Obiri – Yeboah, of University of Cape Co
ast and Prof. Peter Mayer, University of Applied Sciences, Osnabruick, Germany.

Key highlights of the training included presentations and practical activities on funding opportunities, international collaboration, enhancing research output, sustainability in international partnership, and the development of project action plan.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Reverend Sister Franncilia Uchenna, a Teaching Assistant, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Catholic University of Ghana (CUG), has advised nurses and other health workers seeking greener pastures abroad to be cautious of rising activities of human trafficking syndicates.

She said human trafficking groups were everywhere, saying the syndicates now targeted nurses and health workers desperate to travel abroad for greener pastures.

They advertised ‘juicy’ offers on the internet as bait to trap and traffic their unsuspecting victims abroad into commercial sex work, organ harvesting and other exploitative works.

She was speaking at a seminar the Department organised for the level 400 students of the University held at its main campus at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality.

The seminar provided an opportunity for the level 400 Nursing and Midwifery students to highlight their project work for their academic qualification.

Contributing to the topic ‘human trafficking: a global health concern’, a pro
ject work being undertaken by a group of the level 400 students, Rev Sister Unchenna regretted that traffickers now harvested and sold the sensitive organs of their victims, saying everybody and nurses remain the target of the traffickers.

The nine-member group working on the project include, Beloved Adekoya, Alabi Oluwaseun Pamilerin, Pearl Ekwuruibe, Victor Oluwafolakunmi Kola-Ajobiewe, Lovelyn Maduka Kosisochuku, Evidence Ofotan, Perpetua Oloba Omolola, Rev Sister Pia Panpogee and Grace Pufaa.

Rev Sister Uchenna said trafficking for organ harvesting was alarming and a huge global concern.

She advised nurses and health workers to remain careful in order not to fall victims.

She said the role of nurses in helping to reintegrate rescued victims were also integral, and advised them to remain observant on duty, and build cordial relationships with patients.

That would enable victims who sought healthcare to freely open up to the nurses to analyze and assess the psychological condition and help in their re-
integration into society.

The Rev Sister Panpogee, the leader of the group, also the Diocesan Coordinator for Missionary Childhood Association, Sisters of Mary Immaculate, Wa Diocese, Ghana, told the GNA they intended to serve as advocates to help fight human trafficking in the country.

Rev Panpogee also a Nurse at the St Theresa Hospital, Nandom in the Upper West Region mentioned unemployment, famine, poverty, political instability as some of the major causes of human trafficking and urged African governments to prioritize job creation to address the rising youth unemployment rate bedeviling the continent.

Rev Sister Oloba of the Sisters of St Louis, Nigeria, and a tutor at the St Louis School of Midwifery Kafanchan Diocese, and one of the students, expressed worry that ancient slave trade had resurfaced, and had been well modernized.

She said intensified public education and awareness creation were required to make the masses understand the dynamics and the modus operandi of the human trafficking syndic
ates.

That, Rev Sister Oloba said, would greatly help protect people from falling victims, and also help fight the menace.

Source: Ghana News Agency