This is despite their stern threat a fortnight ago over the non-payment of their salary arrears.

[contextly_sidebar id=”6uKsMVIjkGNZmWJRKAVzFAZryM51Ildy”]According to the Coalition, the government had failed to honour its pledges to pay the monies on two occasions.

Speaking to Citi News after the expiration of its March 30 deadline, the Communications Director of CCT, Adokwei Awulley, said they have received concrete assurances from the government that the arrears will be paid from April 15.

“We have spoken to the Minister of Education. We had the audience with the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations and we also made some verification at the Controller and Accountants General and the Minister of Finance… and in all these deliberations they were urging us to calm down. They said payment will start on the 15^th of this month where about 14,000 teachers whose documents have already been validated will be paid. It will continue every month until October 2018,” he said.

“We are holding on for now until the meetings then we will see the way forward. Hopefully, through the deliberations that we have, 15^th April 2018 deadline will yield something positive,” he added.

Ali Awudu said the Ministry of Finance had signed an agreement with the group earlier this year pledging to complete validation of all documents and paying the arrears accordingly.

He, however, noted that their efforts to reach the Ministry to ascertain the progress so far, have proven futile.

“We cannot any longer hold the wrath of teachers if, at the end of March 2018, the arrears are not paid. The Ministry of Finance should brace itself for an industrial unrest if the March 2018 agreement is not fulfilled. An industrial action is therefore imminent unless otherwise averted by obeying the agreement dated January 16, 2018,” he said at the press conference.

The group had considered a legal action against the government over the matter but backed down after the government indicated that it was taking steps to pay the arrears.

More than 60,000 teachers are expected to be paid the arrears.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the government would continue to support education through various reforms in the district and the country as a whole.

Mr Sackey, who was speaking at the 80th anniversary of Nyanoa Methodist Basic School at Nyanoa announced that the school would soon be placed on the school feeding programme.

The Nyanoa Methodist Basic School was established on March 2,  1938.

The Member of Parliament for Upper West Akim Constituency, Mr Derek Ohene Assifo Bekoe, urged parents to show commitment towards the education and welfare of the pupils.

The Nyanoa Circuit Supervisor, Mr Emmanuel Teinor commended the performance of teachers and the pupils for the increase in the school enrolment and appealed to the education directorate to reduce the congestion in the school.

Mr Eric Amofa, the headmaster of the school, called for collaboration among stakeholders and support for the school children.

He appealed for the provision of more classrooms as most of the classes were congested.

The school has a total of 550 pupils, with 420 in the primary level and 130 in junior school. 

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Source: GNA

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In 2017, the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah, announced plans by government to merge the two bodies as part major policy changes in the tertiary education system.

[contextly_sidebar id=”kbU90TofEcFmV0wK3LHJl9JghwYItWuo”]The move is also to limit the many bureaucratic procedures in their operations.

Speaking to Citi News, the spokesperson of the Committee, Professor Jonathan Nar Ayertey, said the committee was hopeful that the recommendations made will be implemented.

“Our recommendation is that the two bodies should be merged. As part of our work we had interactions with a large number of people… our conclusions are based not on what NAB wants or the NCTE wants but listening to all the presentations. Our view is that they would operate better if they were put together under one unit. They will still carry out their individual assignments but this time, there would be one organization that will superintend over all of them, Prof Ayertey stated.

This new regulatory body is expected to be known as the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), which will be headed by a director-general, with three deputies, each of whom will be assigned clear-cut roles.

The Committee is chaired by a former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Prof. Jerome Djangmah, and it has Prof. J.N. Ayertey, Mr. Kwesi Eshun, Mrs Lucy Brimpong Ayeh and Ms Ecclis Andoh as other members.

Mandate of the NCTE and NAB

The NCTE was established in 1993, to among others advise the Education Minister on the development of tertiary institutions in Ghana.

It also recommends national standards and norms, including standards and norms on staff, costs, accommodation and time utilization for the approval of the Minister.

Additionally, the Council is required to monitor the implementation of any approved national standards and norms by the institutions, and to advise the Minister generally on rates of remuneration and other conditions of service of staff  members of the institutions.

The NAB, on the other hand, was established under the National Accreditation Board Act 2007, Act 744, as the government’s agency responsible for the regulation, supervision and accreditation of tertiary institutions in the country.

It also advises the President on the granting of charter to private tertiary institutions.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an NGO, made available the money for the project through the Ghana Baptist Convention (GBC).

It comes with 24 tables and chairs, card boards, teaching and learning aids, and set of outdoor play equipment.

[contextly_sidebar id=”azbpbliXL2QZZuxKmOX795youWpRW2py”]The structure would create classroom space for a children population of 439.

Mr. Thomas Sayibu Imoro, a representative of the GBC, said at the handing over ceremony that the construction of the building became necessary because of the poor nature of the old structure the children were using.

He appealed to the Assembly to help add a teachers’ common room and toilets to it.

Mr. Charles Ayune Akurugu, a Deputy District Coordinating Director, stressed the importance of education to development, and pledged the Assembly’s readiness to partner NGOs in the region to bring progress.

He applauded the GBC and its’ funding partners for the education infrastructure they had been providing in the district.

Mr. Evans Sinkari, Programme Manager at CCFC, said classroom and residential accommodation for health professionals working in the rural communities, remained high on its agenda.

He advised parents in the community to enroll their children in the school and ensure that they took good care of the structure.

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Source: GNA

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This is to help whip up enthusiasm in paragliding among Ghanaians.

The sector Minister, Mrs. Catherine Abelema Afeku announced this at the 13th paragliding festival held at Atibie in the Kwahu South District in the Eastern Region.

The festival attracted 12 pilots from the United States of America, Japan, Romania, Ghana, Peru and Switzerland.

Mrs. Afeku urged aviation sports enthusiasts to take advantage of the school to enable them train as future pilots in paragliding which has over 400,000 pilots globally.

She was happy that the take-off area at Atibie has been expanded to accommodate more flights instead of one at a time.

Permanent canopies and wash rooms which hitherto were absent have been provided for the comfort of patrons.

She thanked the pilots for continually keeping faith with Ghana in an attempt to develop paragliding.

She paid tribute to all those who have helped to make the festival a permanent one as part of the Kwahu Easter festivities.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Eric Kwakye Dafour was grateful to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts and the Ghana Tourism Authority for bringing the paragliding festival to the Kwahu area.

He was however not happy that there were only few Ghanaian pilots taking part in the festival.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Akwasi Agyeman said the festival has given a new face and dimension to the celebration of Easter in Kwahu and witnessed an increased number of patrons over the years thus boosting domestic tourism in the area thereby creating jobs and improving the local economy.

He gave the assurance that the GTA would continue to develop and promote Ghana as a preferred destination with unique events and site attractions

Paragliding

The Ministry of Tourism introduced paragliding in Ghana in April 2005 during at Atibie.

It was organised to coincide with the Easter festivity that year on the Odweanoma Mountain. With the exception of 2009 the paragliding festival has been organised every year.

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Source: Graphic Online

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This follows a directive by the Ghana Education Service (GES), to heads of public Senior High Schools to charge final year students only half of the third term fees for the 2017/2018 academic year.

The General Secretary of CHASS, Reverend Abraham Osei Donkor, said: although bills have been given out to students, heads of schools would comply with the new directive and refund the excess fees to students.

“The directive is unambiguous. I don’t think it will create any problem. They are starting the exams on the 3rd of April. For most schools, especially the boarding house, the students are in residence. The Director-General said in the event students will stay in the school, we have to calculate the number of weeks they will stay and add it to it. That is what all the heads will do. They’ll work it out; where we need to refund, we will refund to the parents.”

The Ghana Education Service [GES] last Thursday said the directive was because the students, who will be sitting for the 2018 WASSCE examinations will spend only seven weeks in school instead of the full 14 weeks.

The Director-General of the GES, Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, said: “It is expected that the Regional Directors should ensure strict compliance with this directive.”

The memo indicated that adjustments would be made if students are prepared to stay through the Easter vacation.

“In the instance where the final year students will be asked to stay in school during the current holidays or will re-open on 16th April 2018, the fees should be adjusted to reflect the number of weeks they will be spending in school,” it said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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All the 9,199 nurses were posted to health facilities in various parts of all the 10 regions of the country.

A statement signed by the Acting Executive Director of the NSS, Mustapha Ussif, and copied to citifmonline.com urged all eligible nurses who registered for national service to log onto the scheme’s website (https://www.nss.gov.gh) to check their placements.

Nurses who confirm their postings are also to proceed to their respective user agencies and NSS regional secretariat(s) to complete the registration processes.

“Management wishes to urge all the posted nurses to accept their placements and consider them as part of their contribution towards building a healthy nation,” the statement added.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

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According to Professor Yankah, the stress and difficulties private universities go through will be a thing of the past because government is taking steps to liberate them from the “oppression” they have suffered for so long.

He was speaking on Thursday during his send-off party as former Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Central University College (CUC) at the New Senate Room, CU.

[contextly_sidebar id=”R7xKdGB8S24QWyTp34zXMLS4VxhxkgEg”]Professor Yankah observed that the attempt to set the private universities free “was a narrative that started whilst I was VC of the CUC”, adding that, “the experiences I went through were the experiences of all private universities in Ghana, and so if I got the opportunity to be there, I should make a move that would be of importance and significance not just to CUC but to liberate all private universities from oppression.”

He reiterated government’s commitment to helping private tertiary education by offering  a 25% tax waiver to private universities saying “that waiver is one of the things that started right here when I was VC, and we pursued it vigorously.”

The Chancellor of the CUC, Dr. Mensa Otabil, thanked Professor Yankah for his service to the university, saying “he is a man of peace, a gentleman, a man I deeply enjoyed working with.”

He reminisced on their working relationship by saying “the plans we hatched, and how we waited through many difficulties in the light of this university, managing important decisions affecting student, faculty, and staff life, and prayed through the frustrating process of acquiring a charter.”

The VC of the CUC, Professor Bill Buenar Puplampu, in appreciating the work of the former VC, observed the many achievements Professor Yankah chalked whilst with the CUC.

Among other things, he noted his role in instituting the Distinguish Lecture series that brought some significant people to the CUC podium, and the establishment of a Faculty Colloquia which helped galvanized research in the university.

Professor Puplampu also told of Professor Yankah’s role in launching a radio station for the School of Communication Studies of the CUC, and overseeing the review of the status of the University and its human resource situation.

He credited Professor Yankah with the opening of the Kumasi campus of the school and the construction of a befitting main gate for the Miotso campus and the acquiring of a presidential charter which made the CUC an independent institution.

As part of the CUC’s appreciation for the work done by Professor Yankah, he was immortalized into the school’s history after a block at the Miotso campus was named after him.

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Source: GNA

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According to the Upper East Regional Education Director, Patricia Ayiko, an order was given from the Headquarters of the Ghana Education Service instructing the immediate abrogation of their engagement.

Speaking to Citi News on the developments in Bolgatanga, Mrs Ayiko explained that the GES held that the recruits with such educational backgrounds will be of no use in the delivery of quality education.

“So headquarters said we should retrieve their appointment letters because the courses they went and did, they didn’t do the courses to come and teach because we don’t know what they are going to teach,” Mrs Ayiko stated

“We were authorized by the Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to return all those letters. So they can’t teach in GES that is why we have been asked to retrieve their appointment letters.”

Mrs Ayiko could not give the number of recruits affected but emphasized that those who refused to return their appointment letters won’t be allowed to keep teaching.

It is, however, unclear why the Ghana Education Service would engage recruits with such qualifications if their services were not needed.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This is because the students, who will be sitting for the 2018 WASSCE examinations will spend only seven weeks in school instead of the full 14 weeks.

A GES memo, sighted by Citi News, thus directed all Regional Directors of Education that “final year students should pay one half or fifty percent of the fees for the third term.”

“It is expected that the Regional Directors should ensure strict compliance of this directive,” the memo added.

Schools are set to re-open for the third term on April 16, and will vacate on July 20, 2018.

The final year students are expected to be in school up till June 1.

The memo added that adjustments could be made if students are made to stay through the Easter vacation.

“In the instance where the final year students will be asked to stay in school during the current holidays or will re-open on 16^th April 2018, the fees should be adjusted to reflect the number of weeks they will be spending in school.”

WAEC moves WASSCE to April to aid students’ preparations

The West African Examination Council, WAEC, announced in February that final year SHS students will henceforth write the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in April.

Head of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Rev. Samuel Ollennu, said the move will guarantee that the nine terms allocated to teaching and learning in second cycle schools are fully exhausted by students before the examination.

“We are here to sanitize you about the forthcoming examination, which this time around is not starting February but on April 3. Formerly, we were going to start in February but the government appealed to us not to”, he said.

In November 2017, the Minister of Education announced the proposal, citing that students need adequate time for preparation, and after consultation with the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the date was reviewed.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Final year SHS students to pay half of third term fees – GES appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.