According to the unions, the proposal lacks merit and is not backed by research to compel a change in the current educational system.

[contextly_sidebar id=”qn3uEl7owWaO7mu3wBTV9Wy1ODy9GfuO”]The Charismatic Bishops in a communiqué argued that, the current basic education system lacks the needed quality and integrity, and advocated for its replacement for guaranteed quality basic education.

But speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), David Ofori Acheampong, said the current system must be maintained but with the necessary improvement.

“It is not an issue of five years or ten year duration, society is supposed to be dynamic so at certain times, we have to make certain changes. But the point is that, we can sacrifice quality at the expense of the changes that we have made. Over the years, the challenges that we have had is that, resource allocation to education has been poor.”

He also added that “there is a whole issue of a language problem. We said that we should begin to teach our children from kindergarten to lower primary three in the local language.”

“For instance in Accra, how many of the teachers in Accra can speak Ga to teach Ga at the local level, so the concepts of some of the topics can be grasped at that level… Let us give the children the opportunity that was given to us when we went to form one. That is what we should be talking about and not the number of years. I believe that those are the serious issues that we should be concerned with,” the GNAT General Secretary argued.

Misplaced proposal

For his part, Vice President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu, described the proposal as “unnecessary” and “misplaced.”

According to him, the current system guarantees quality education, but admitted it needs increased investments to sustain its credibility.

“The first question I will ask is that, is it the system of education that brings quality? It is not. What brings out quality is teaching and quality learning. So for me, the call is absolutely a misplaced call that does not have grounding on any research.”

“Check the number of students in the university coming out with first class, second class upper and honours these days. All these people are products of the senior high school system. If we have deficiency in quality, let us identify the reasons for that and it is not fault the system of education. So I think the call is absolutely unfounded,” Mr Carbonu argued.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Franklin Badu Jnr/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Calls for ‘O’ & ‘A’ level school system misplaced – NAGRAT  appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Conference in a communique signed by its General Secretary, Rev. Kwesi Deh, said road tolls should be raised to at least the level of USD1 per car across the country.

“Raise the tolls, at least to the level of USD1 per car. Even Zimbabwe, in its financial difficulty, charges $1 per car as toll rate. g. Create an office and let the local dwellers cast the concrete: Use the people that live in the towns and villages, along that stretch of road, to cast concrete along that stretch,” he said.

The Conference also called for the construction of what it called “international standard” toll booths whose revenue will also be used to directly finance road projects.

“Build the road network by using concrete roads. 10 inches of concrete can be cast, with the width of 3 lanes (12 meters wide), for several miles. The Tema motorway is an example of a concrete road that has served Ghana for decades…Let Ghanaian roads be covered with multiple international-standard tollbooths that do not cause traffic. These tollbooths will be used to directly finance roads. Perhaps, every 40 to 50km should have a tollbooth,” it said.

The construction of these toll booths, according to the Conference, can effectively be done by naming a tollbooth by “the stretch of road that it is to finance.”

“For instance, several toll booths can be created on the Accra – Kumasi Highway as follows: Achimota – Nsawam toll booth (approx. 28.2km); Nsawam – Suhum toll booth (approx. 30km);  Suhum – Nkawkaw toll booth (approx. 77km); Nkawkaw –Konongo toll booth (81.4km); Konongo to Tech Junction toll booth (77km).”

The Conference believes the efficient management of these tollbooths will encourage Ghanaians to pay more for road tolls.

“Demonstrate a competent management of the tolls received from the different tollbooths. We have had toll booths like the Tema, Beposo and Weija toll booths. When people see the tolls well-managed, they will be prepared to pay even more.”

The Ghana Charismatic Bishops’ Conference which was founded by the Founder of Lighthouse Chapel International, Bishop Dag Heward Mills, and is chaired by Bishop Kwame Yirenkyi Ampofo, is made up of senior clergy who have been consecrated as Bishops.

The Conference has Bishops with their seats, comprising of a cathedral, and an office block in every region of Ghana.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Increase road tolls to $1 – Charismatic Bishops to gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.