Ghanains hard on sacked Director General of Education for using GES Official page a day after been sacked
Some citizens are questioning why Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa must continue using the official platform for Ghana Education Service (GES) to send appreciation message to the public a day after his position was terminated by President Akufo-Addo with immediate effect. Apexnewsgh.com report Some of the messages in the comment box who couldn’t pretend being happy or hide his feelings said: “Masa, wasn’t your termination of secondment with immediate effect? Why are you still using GES official page? He asked “You’re way above the retirement age going back to KNUST means nothing. The old shouldn’t be interested in offices in the name of re-engagement.Thanks for your service” Below is Mr. Amankwa’s full appreciation message Good morning Directors and Staff of GES , I believe most of you have sighted/read the letter from HE the President terminating my Secondment from KNUST to GES and asking me to go back to KNUST. Some of you may also be waking up to the news this morning. I have and continue to receive your calls and numerous messages. I have not been able to pick your calls or reply to your messages due largely to the shear volumes. What gladdens my heart is that the messages are not dirges but goodwills and prayers and very soothing and reassuring messages. I wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone of you for your dedication and the extremely good work relationship that existed between us. I highly appreciate your unfathomable love to me. We worked as a team and together we’ve changed the face of not only pretertiary education but also GES. You supported me in many ways to enhance my resumé to bring it to a distinguishing first class, world class CV. And I am highly grateful to you all. I leave you with a verse from my favourite and guiding hymn: MBH 602 by Anna Laetitia Waring: Father, I know that all my life is portioned out for me,And the changes that are sure to come I do not fear to see;But I ask Thee for a present mind intent on pleasing Thee. MAY YOU ALL STAY BLESSED. 🙏🙏🙏 Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com
Just In: Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa appointment terminated
Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), appointment has been terminated. According to a letter issued from the Office of the President on Monday, October 17, 2022, “The Ministry of Education has informed this Office that the exigencies that required your skills and expertise as Director-General of the Ghana Education Service do not exist any longer”, the letter said. The letter further said, having been appointed in April 2017, specific reference was however made about Prof. Opoku-Amankwa’s secondment in January 2021 from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The contract was extended again in June 2021 but this extension according to the letter was in “contravention of the Human Resource Policy Frame and manual of the Public Services Commission as it purports to extend your secondment beyond the 3-year maximum limit.” Prof. Opoku-Amankwa has been instructed to return to the KNUST. “The President thanks you for your service to the nation and wishes you the very best in your future endeavours”, the letter from the Presidency signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, concluded. Copied in the letter are the Vice President, Chief of Staff, The Minister of Education, Board Chairperson, Ghana Education Service, the Vice Chancellor at KNUST and the Registrar of the same institution. Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com
BECE: 19,999 candidates participating in the Upper East
In the Upper East Region, candidates numbering Nineteen Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine (19,999) are taking part in the 2022 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as its officially kick start today Monday October 17, 2022 According to the Upper East Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service Nathaniel N-yaaba, out of the 19,999 students participating in the examination, a total of 10,000 are girls whiles the boys are numbering 9,999. Regional Minister Stephen Yakubu also visited the Bolgatanga Technical Institution (BOTECH) to offer his encouraging words to participating candidates. He asked them to feel free and write their exams and avoid any fear or intimidation whiles writing your exam. He encourages As a regional team, the Minister visited the students together with the MCE for Bolgatanga, Municipal Education Director, the Regional Chief Inspector of Schools, The Exam Officer, the Basic School Coordinator and the GES Regional PRO. Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com
Prof. David Millar presents draft concept paper for PBL in NAVASCO as part of his Birthday Anniversary
As part of his birthday Anniversary, President of the Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies Professor David Millar who also doubled as an old student of Navrongo Senior High School have put up a ‘draft concept paper’ for what he called a Novel Approach to Teaching and Learning in Secondary Institutions in Ghana Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Navrongo Senior High School (NAVASCO). According to Professor Millar, “The records show that University for Development Studies, Tamale was first to introduce PBL in her Medical Programs in Ghana, and University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, was first to do likewise in a Social Science Programs. The same records show that PBL is alien to Secondary Institutions”. “The public have bemoaned the education standards in the country and the general perception is that they are following along with the fact that they are not relevant for purpose. A clarion call from stakeholders but especially from the Education Minister during his recent visit to the UN Submit (September 2022) added to the need for proactive strategies to salvage Ghana’s Education”. He said: “In sharing with these concerns the Old Students Association of Navrongo Senior High School (NABIA), is attempting at heeding the call by all a sundry to come out with innovations to help salve her Alma Mata”. Meanwhile, as part of his birthday anniversary, Profession David Millar presented the concept paper to the school management and staff of her Alma Mata NAVSACO. Apexnewsgh.com can confidently report that the management of the school was extremely excited when the draft concept paper was presented to them by astute Professor Millar, as they immediately requested for urgent implementation of the concept. Kindly read the full concept below PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) IN NAVRONGO SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (NASVASCO)(DRAFT CONCEPT PAPER) PUT TOGETHER BY PROF. DAVID MILLAR OCTOBER, 2022 PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) INTRODUCED IN NASVASCO: A NOVEL APPROACH TO SECONDARY TEACHING AND LEARNING IN GHANA 1.0 Prelude Problem-Based Learning (PBL) at the Second Cycle Institutions Level is not new in the Advanced Countries but it is relative new in Africa; and in Ghana not known to be practice anywhere at the Secondary Levels. This approach to teaching and learning is very prominent at various Medical Schools the world over. The records show that University for Development Studies, Tamale was first to introduce PBL in her Medical Programs in Ghana, and University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, was first to do likewise in a Social Science Programs. The same records show that PBL is alien to Secondary Institutions. Recent events in the Education Programs in Ghana has given rise to a need for major reforms towards emphasis on TVET and Hands-on Education for various educational offerings. The public have bemoaned the education standards in the country and the general perception is that they are following along with the fact that they are not relevant for purpose. A clarion call from stakeholders but especially from the Education Minister during his recent visit to the UN Submit (September, 2022) added to the need for proactive strategies to salvage Ghana’s Education. In sharing with these concerns the Old Students Association of Navrongo Senior High School (NABIA), is attempting at heeding the call by all a sundry to come out with innovations to help salve her Alma Mata. Hence, the Old Students Association, with her own voluntary contributions, mobilized from Old Students Local and International have offered to launch the PBL program at NAVASCO, in collaboration with GES, the School Authorities, PTAs, and the Student Body. This will be organised first as an ICT-Science Club for PBL (starting with Biology, Chemistry, and Physics as pioneer courses). The experiences from this experiment, if impactful, will then be expanded to other programs of learning. 2.0 What is Problem-Based Learning (PBL)?(This is sub-chapter is extensively from literature)The term “Problem-Based Learning” (PBL) was originally developed by Barrows and Tamblyn (1980) for Medical Education. It is based on the Constructivist Theory of Learning.PBL is a pedagogical strategy that uses open ended / ill-structured problems that mirror real-world problems. The authenticity of the problems helps students to transfer their knowledge and skills beyond the classroom, preparing them for the workplace and life in a rapidly changing world. The open ended nature of problems gives students the flexibility to approach it from different angles, to take different thematic sidelines according to their personal interests. This gives them control of the learning process, capturing their interest and motivating them to learn.Lewis et al. (1998) emphasises that the act of posing problems is integral to the process of solving problems. Finding or posing problems is a creative endeavour that can occur prior to, during, or after the act of problem solving. By keeping the problem definition open, the students can “frame and reframe” their perspective on a problem so they reach “goal clarity”. Educational psychologists have discovered that solving a problem is a back-and-forth (recursive) process, not a linear one (Pea, 1985). In this way the student takes ownership of the problem thus enhancing their engagement and responsibility for the learning process. Suggested principles of PBL (Slavery and Duffy, 1995)• Anchor all learning activities to a larger task or problem.• Support the learner in developing ownership for the overall problem or task.• Design an authentic task.• Design the task and the learning environment to reflect the complexity of the environment they should be able to function in at the end of learning.• Give the learner ownership of the process used to develop a solution.• Design the learning environment to support and challenge the learner’s thinking.• Encourage testing ideas against alternative views and alternative contexts.• Provide opportunity and support for reflection on both the content learned and the learning process.• Gudzial et al. (1997) consider the two most important aspects of Problem-Based Learning to be the authentic real world problems and students reflection on their experiences. • The teacher’s role changes from the provider of content to the facilitator of the learning process. Teachers present students with authentic problems and provide an
Johnson Ayine proposes an industrial attachment method for students under FSHS level during vacation across country.
Johnson Ayine proposes an industrial attachment method for students under FSHS level during vacation across the country. Johnson Ayine a Regional Communication Team member for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region has proposed to the government to adopt an industrial attachment method for students under the Senior High Schools level during their vacation across the country.Mr. Ayine made the proposal when discussing the government flagship programme Free Senior High School (FSHS) Policy on ApexnewsGh.Com flagship Programme dubbed ‘SPEAKOUT UPPER EAST REGION’ on Monday, September 26, 2022. According to Mr. Ayine, “as a country, we have not been able to adopt the STERM policy and am happy this current Education Minister is adopting it”. “When we made this our educational reforms and move from middle school to Senior High Schools, those days we were learning technical skills, technical drawing, there were practical tools and equipment that was furnished every senior high school. So, from form 1, you will go theoretical and practical. The Agric students were doing the practicals because they were on some school farm. Making his suggestion, Mr. Ayine said: “This double track we are complaining about students staying at home for a very long time and what have you, we now have an emerging revolution of artisanship.He said: “When you get to some hinterlands and they have light, there is a wilder there, they have carpenters there, they have mason there, and can we do some industrial attachment to these Senior High School students? So that when they are on long vacation we know that students A and B are going to learn welding which can lead them to become wilder. So, if we are able to start the industrial attachment to that level because we have not been able to feed all the Senior High Schools with the necessary equipment and tools. We can do these simple attachments so that when the school gets home, he cannot find an excuse that he or she is traveling to Kumasi”. He stressed “So, let me make this proposal to the government for us to see how we can implement it”. Mr. Ayine proposed Source: Apexnewsgh.com For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com
FSHS: If you want to destroy any nation, you don’t need to throw bombs, target the education system–John Paul Danka
A Regional Communication Team member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Paul Danka has said, “If you want to destroy any nation, you don’t need to throw bombs, you don’t need to cause war, target the education system and that ends it”. Mr. Danka made the pronouncement when discussing the government flagship programme of Free Senior High School (FSHS) Policy on ApexnewsGh.Com flagship Programme dubbed ‘SPEAKOUT UPPER EAST REGION’ on Monday, September 26, 2022 Giving some history about how the NDC government started the process, Mr. Danka said, in the 1992 constitution Article 25 (1b) the provision was made for the country to look at all forms of Secondary school education, the best way it could be affordable, accessible. He pointed out, that there was a need for then NDC government to start looking into the FSHS Policy in the constitution and later arrived at ‘Progressively Free Senior High School’ “1n 2015 thereabout my government and my president decided to look at the FSHS policy in the constitution. The Key word here was ‘Progressively Free Senior High School because we know our economy has issues and for that matter, if we really want to implement it holistically, we will have issues. So, we started with the assumption of most of the fees of these students which had to do with a little about 320,000 students. We absorb their fees for them and subsequently, we were looking for an additional 120, 000 Borden students we can absorb to see how progressively do what we can do that will not be a stress on the budget. So, that was the beginning of the Progressive Free Senior School”. Mr. Danka explained However, Mr. Danka noted that when it comes to policy, the NPP and NDC are like two doctors trying to cure a particular sickness, “NPP might decide use ‘quinine’ to treat malaria and we the NDC might decide to use ‘malafan’ and at the end of the day we looked at it from that angle of progressiveness and they came in and say, it is long overdue they want to implement it fully. So, that is how come we now have the full wholesale as FSHS. But if you looked at it progressively, almost every government did something as part of the introduction”. He stress According to the NDC Communicator, “Nobody is saying FSHS is not good, but the problem we are having here is that we cannot have those at the base level doing the implementation. They are always afraid of telling the policymakers that they have a problem or challenges with A, B or C and that is why we started talking about the review of FSHS as our position. There are others who even at some bigger platforms say John Mahama is going to cancel FSHS but we keep telling them they are wrong. Today are we not back into reviewing? What am doing with my brother, is it not reviewing? He quizzed “So, if is a national policy all that we are saying is that, accept that there is a challenge and then we can move on” Meanwhile, was also worried that if our schools begin to produce bad students, and they become nurses when we go to the hospital our lives will be in danger. “Today, you let any engineering student from the polytechnic or the University say that I have built a car my lecturer or my professor should come and test the car, none of them will come because they fear for their lives. He stated Source: Apexnewsgh.com For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com
Bawku conflict: CHOBS demand immediate closure of basic schools
The Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (CHOBS) has requested the immediate closure of basic schools in the Bawku Municipality over the security situation in the area. A teacher in the area told Apexnewsgh.com “the issue is that today is better tomorrow is worse, at any point in time anything can happen. You just hear shootings from town and bullets will be flying left right center and we would know where to put ourselves and we are teachers dealing with children in School. And sometimes, when it happens this way and you happen not to see how you control your children and you allow them to run, they will run into bullets and what have you. Meanwhile, a statement issued by CHOBS also said, the move has become necessary because as a result of the difficulty in getting transportation to and from school. “Following the insecurity and the subsequent ban of “yellow yellow” in the municipality, we wish to appeal to you to close down basic schools in the municipality pending the improvement of the security situation,” the Chairman of CHOBS, Abugri Busia stated in a letter to the Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service. The Upper East Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) has reviewed security measures in Bawku following the renewed fights in the area. At its emergency meeting held on Monday, the Council resolved to temporarily ban ‘yellow, yellow’ operations until further notice. It also imposed curfew hours to cover Nayoka, Kpalgu and Manga communities. Source: Apexnewsgh.com For publication please kindly contact us on 0256336062 or Email: apexnewsgh@gmail.com
GES called me more than twice to ask me if they should put his image on the paper and I said no—Alhaji Abdul-Wahab’s Personal Assistant reacts..
Haruna Abdul-Basit, the Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer for Buffer Stock has responded to the controversy surrounding Alhaji Hanan Abdul-Wahab’s picture in front of the Pusiga Mock Examination question paper. Apexnewsgh.com report Speaking to Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh.com on Tuesday, August 23, 2022, Mr. Basit said, his boss was not an agreement for his picture to be used for the Mock paper frontage, but the Pusiga GES keeps on mounting pressure to use Alhaji Hanan Abdul-Wahab picture for the question paper print out. He said, even after saying no to their demand of using the picture, they still mount pressure. Mr. Basit further explained: “Because of lack of funding, the government has not organized any mock exams for our students. So, the District Director of Education was nosing around looking for people who could sponsor so that they can try their hands on their students before they go in for the main exams. And you know that involves money to print the papers and motivation for examiners. So they prepared a budget and were looking round for help, and finally knocked at our doors and we said okay since it is about the development of our students, why not? So, we actually gave them something to try and organize”. “In fact, they called me more than twice to ask me if they should put his image on the paper and I said no. In fact, the GES themselves asked me, you put this on records more than twice whether they should put his image there and I said no”. He explained A picture of the Chief Executive Officer for National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Alhaji Hanan Abdul-Wahab has been sighted on social media with his picture on Ghana Education Service (GES) Pusiga District Mock Examination question paper for students who are preparing ahead for their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The picture of the politician and Buffer Stock CEO has generated some diverse opinions since it made its way on various social media platforms. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093/0256336062.
Picture of Buffer Stock CEO on Mock question paper as sponsor stirs controversy on social media
A picture of the Chief Executive Officer for National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Alhaji Hanan Abdul-Wahab has been sighted on a Ghana Education Service (GES) Pusiga District Mock Examination question paper for students who are preparing ahead for their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Apexnewsgh.com report The picture of the politician and Buffer Stock CEO has generated some diverse opinions since it made its way to the social media platform. According to the frontage of the Mock Examination paper, it is captured “FULLY SPONSORED BY HON. ALHAJI HANNAN FOUNDATION, PUSIGA, UER”. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093/0256336062.
Disregard directives issued by these persons” if they are still at post by Friday, 30 September 2022– Teacher Unions to Members
Teacher Unions in Ghana have asked their members to disregard directives issued by those whose contracts have been extended by the government. Apexnewsgh.com report The Unions have called on the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Anthony Boateng, to decline the one-year contract extension offered to him by the government. The unions further want all persons in the service due for retirement to be directed to proceed on retirement in accordance with the law. In a statement issued on Monday, 22 August 2022, co-signed by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) General Secretary Thomas T Mush; National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) President, Angel Carbonou; Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) President, King Ali Awudu and Teacher Education Workers Union (TEWU) Mark Dankyira Korankye, the unions called on the Deputy Director-General of the GES to “to direct all retired persons” in the service to “hand over immediately to the next in line and proceed on their compulsory retirement.” The unions, also directed their members to “disregard directives issued by these persons” if they are still at the post by Friday, 30 September 2022. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093.