Day: June 25, 2024

A total of 1,538 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region are writing the ‘super mock’ examination sponsored by Mr John-Peter Amewu, the Member of Parliament (MP) of the area.

The students are writing in all nine subjects, which is expected to adequately prepare them for the final examinations next month.

Mr Samuel A. Azasu, the Hohoe Constituency Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that Mr Amewu, in addition to the examination, had supplied mathematical sets to the candidates in all 64 public and private schools in the municipality.

The MP had embarked on such activities since he assumed office and catered for the costs of marking the examination scripts, he said.

Mr Anthony Kondobrey, the Hohoe Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), urged the candidates to take their studies seriously and produce excellent results.

Mr Victor Kwaku Kovey, the Municipal Education Director
, said the examination aimed at improving upon last year’s results and commended the MP for the efforts in enhancing performance of the final year students.

Mr Francis Fiakpui, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said the examination would prepare the candidates ahead of their final examinations and urged them to put in their best to benefit from the Government’s Free Senior High School Policy.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) has made a momentous impact with its Community Challenge Awards, empowering students to develop innovative solutions to environmental challenges, fostering a culture of sustainability and community engagement.

This is the third edition of the Community Development Challenge, following previous programmes held in 2022 for upper primary schools, 2023 for junior high schools, and 2024 for senior high schools.

The 2024 challenge, a debate competition, involved 14 senior high schools and consisted of preliminary, semi-final, and grand-final stages.

Donkorkrom Agric Senior High School emerged as the winner in the grand finals, while Ayirebi Senior High School took the second place.

The Third Edition of the Community Development Challenge was held under the auspices of the Community Engagement Project and Innovations Unit (CEPIU) at Somanya, a flagship programme of the University.

The initiative aims to engage students from various educational lev
els in identifying and addressing community development challenges, with a focus on environmental protection, stewardship, and sustainable development.

It was on the topic: ‘Implementing strict regulations on corporations is the most effective way to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Responsible consumption and production, speak For or Against the motion.’

Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong, the Eastern Regional Minister, said the competition aimed to transcend winning or losing, instead it is focused on cultivating a deeper understanding of the collective responsibility towards the environment and the importance of sustainability in daily lives.

‘SDG 12 challenges us to rethink our relationship with resources and consumption as well as urges government, businesses and individuals to embrace sustainable practices with urgency and commitment,’ he said.

Professor Eric Nyarko-Sampson, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, said to be on a sustainable path, we nee
d to maintain our standard of living without depleting our natural resources or degrading the environment.

‘It behooved us to encourage more sustainable consumption and production patterns through measures including specific policies and international agreements on the management of materials that are toxic to the environment,’ he said.

He noted that products and materials must be designed in such a way that they could be reused, remanufactured, recycled or recovered.

The students, in their contribution, indicated that voluntary initiatives, corporate social responsibility, and industry collaborations could create a more sustainable and equitable future for all.

The Donkorkrom Agric Senior High School, which emerged as champion, took away a trophy, plaque, medals, stationery, cash, and certificate of participation.

While the Ayirebi Senior High School, the first runner-up, received a plaque, medals, and certificate of participation.

Some special awards went to the best debater, best eloquent speaker, be
st research team, and SDGs advocate.

The programme was supported by the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council and other partners to promote sustainable development initiatives in the region.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The School of Natural Resources of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) has opened a short course on landscape Restoration and Land Reclamation Governance (LRG).

The four-day LRG course, which runs between June 24 and June 28, 2024, is underway at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality and is aimed at exploring and helping to identify interventions to restore degraded landscape in the country, and in Africa by extension.

Being funded by the CIFOR-ICRAF, Global Landscape Forum, and the International Model Forest Network, the UENR together with the University for Development Studies (UDS) is organizing the course.

Participants attending have backgrounds in forestry, lands, agriculture, natural resources, mines, built and environment, and geosciences.

Interacting with the media on the sidelines of the opening session of the course, Professor Mrs. Mercy Afua Adutwumwaa, Derkyi, the RLG project lead, explained the course used a nature-based solution to achieve results.

Prof Mrs. Derkyi, also
the Director in-Charge of Quality Assurance and Academic Planning at UENR said the landscape restoration education would greatly help restore degraded landscape, and it went beyond planting or restoring the ecosystem.

Rather, it has to do with the economic and social benefits of the people to improve their general well-being as well.

‘Governance is about people’, she stated, and added that the course would, therefore, highlight the economic, ecological and social benefits of landscape restoration.

Prof Mrs. Derkyi said the School of Natural Resources was aiming to develop Bachelor of Science, Masters and PhD programmes in Landscape Restoration to help the nation restore her degraded landscape.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, has broken grounds to build a new classroom block for the Esiama Anglican Primary School.

The ultra-modern classroom block would come with a 12-unit seater toilet facility and a water project.

The move follows the dilapidated nature of the Esiama Anglican Primary School block, which is not conducive for smooth academic work.

The project, when completed, would be the third Primary school block facility initiated by Mr Buah in the area.

The MP pledged to build the new school when he visited the chief and elders during the last Christmas celebrations.

Mr Buah said Esiama was one of the oldest towns in the Nzema area where education started, which had produced many distinguished scholars in responsible positions in the country and abroad.

He said his tenure as the MP had witnessed major developmental projects in Esiama from asphaltic overlay of town roads, water project, schools, toilet facility, lighting system, among others.

He sa
id the former NDC administration spearheaded several key projects and brought some industries to the Nzema area.

The Tufuhene of Esiama on behalf of the Chief of Esiama, Nana Ainoo Kwagyan, lauded the leadership style of Mr Kofi Buah since he entered Parliament in 2009.

He said the MP had continued to spearhead development of the Esiama township in particular and Ellembelle in general.

Nana Kwagyan said the good works of the MP continued to follow him wherever he went and asked the people to pray for him since he was one of the greatest assets to Nzemaland.

The Chief lauded the MP for the numerous projects he had initiated so far with special reference to the street lighting system.

Nana Kwagyan called for a level playing field devoid of any manipulations in the run-up to the December 7 elections.

Nana Nyamekeh Fofole, Chief of Ambainu, who is a member of the Inspectorate and Monitoring team at the Ellembelle District Education Office, lauded the commitment of the MP towards education.

He was happy tha
t education continued to be the priority of Mr Buah for the overall benefit of the people.

Nana Fofole thanked the MP for sponsoring the annual District MOCK examinations for BECE candidates since 2009 and for providing Mathematical sets to BECE candidates.

He also acknowledged the construction of school blocks and the Ellembelle school bus initiative, all pushed by the MP.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Some Former Directors of Education, Heads of Senior High Schools, Teachers, and a cross section of the public have called for more teaching and learning materials to make the new curriculum for secondary education more functional.

They also called for more resident interpreters in Senior High schools and dormitories to ensure that inclusive agenda for students with special needs were duly met to advance access to quality education by all.

Other pressing concerns were the need for Agriculture and TVET to have strong appearance at all the levels of education while, the three-year system was reverted to four years to ensure that learners had ample time to run through the academic system in a more excellent manner.

The concerns came up during the Western Regional Stakeholders engagement on the secondary education curriculum organised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NaCCA in Takoradi.

Madam Efua Amoakoah, the Former District Director for Shama said material and financial resources must b
e provided to make the new introduction successful.

Time for learners must also be enhanced to make up for the first-year preparatory exercises, she added.

Mrs. Crescentia Efua Bilon-Sai, the Headmistress of the Twin City Special School said more interpreters at the dormitories would help such students to have readily available assistance in doing homework, personal learnings among other activities.

She said though the recommended standard was one interpreter for five students, the situation was not currently so at the various secondary schools.

Nana Egya Kwamina Xi, Chief of Apremdo quoting the Speaker of Parliament said, ‘no country can develop with a foreign language’ and reminded stakeholders in education to begin doing the right thing.

Madam Rebecca Abu Gariba, the Director for Corporate Affairs of the NaCCA said the course combination model in the new curriculum was to make available more career pathways for learners.

Meanwhile, Agriculture and physical education would be a subject for all levels
irrespective of preferred electives.

The new curriculum, to be implemented within the 2024/2025 academic year would eventually produce globally competitive individuals built with emotional, critical, analytical tools to make impactful decisions in society.

Source: Ghana News Agency