In a statement copied to citifmonline.com, Joyce Mogtari said the Education Minister’s attacks were borne out of arrogance, and the realization that Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang set very high standards that were difficult for him to surmount.

While enumerating what she believes were worthy achievements of the former Education Minister during the administration of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joyce Bawa Mogtari said Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang’s “diligent works and strong educational reforms have raised Ghana’s image in education to enviable heights.”
Mathew Opoku Prempeh in a radio interview last week said Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman was an embarrassment as an Education Minister.

“She doesn’t understand education…her four-year tenure under John Mahama was an embarrassment,” he said.

Some Ghanaians, particularly former government officials, have criticized the Education Minister over the comments.

A former Attorney-General Betty Mould Iddrisu, has for instance called on the Education to apologize to her predecessor. However, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman is yet to personally comment on the matter.

Read Joyce Mogtari’s full statement below:

I am still not sure what it is that supposedly provoked our Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, to embarrass himself and cause people to lower further their perception of him, with his public insults and vulgarism against Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.

They are from two different political ideologies, yes, but must that by itself cause a person appointed by the State and who should be a role model to others, to behave and publicly, in that manner.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang cannot be said to be your usual politician, but off course one who has a firm belief in the Social Democratic Philosophy of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Of the many appointees of state over the years, Professor Opoku-Agyemang, Ghana’s first female Vice Chancellor of a University, is thought among the few that did not only bring dignity to their positions but demonstrated that public service officers or political appointees can be focussed, measured, committed and dedicated to the job of implementing the vision of the leader/ President in a manner helps improve the lives of the Ghanaian people.

The academic credentials of the learned Professor, her contributions to society and her work as Minister for Education can obviously be fact-checked.

Why Hon. Opoku Prempeh will think and even want to describe as her as an embarrassment and one who does not understand education is simply mind boggling! I guess his comments are borne more out of arrogance and the realisation that the standards set by Professor Opoku-Agyemang at the Education Ministry are far higher for him to stand up to, let alone surpass.

Here is a brilliant female scholar, a professional, an educationist and a patriotic Ghanaian whose diligent works and strong educational reforms have raised Ghana’s image in education to enviable heights.

During her many years of academic journey, Professor Opoku-Agyemang served in a number of important roles including Head of the English Department, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Dean of the Schools of Graduate Studies and Research, all of the University of Cape Coast.

Her hard work and proven competence culminated in her becoming the first female Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and the first female in Ghana’s history to ascend to that position.

Of course, her pioneering ascension to the Office of Vice Chancellor, the highest position in academia, has served and continues to serve as a major inspiration for other females that they can rise to any position by merit once they set their minds to it.

Ten years ago, in March of 2007, when only five (5) scholars from across the world were selected to deliver presentations during the commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang was one of those five (5) prominent scholars. Her selection to this high-level event as an eminent scholar from Ghana was certainly no disgrace to her country. Indeed, she made her country proud.

As Minister for Education, Professor Opoku-Agyemangwould continue in her excellence. In only four years, she led the Ministry to introduce critical reforms and took charge ofthe biggest investment in education in Ghana’s history, from the basic to the tertiary levels.

Among many other interventions, the Ministry of Education introduced a historic BECE Private Candidates Policy and a policy of zero tolerance for teacher absenteeism, which saw a decline in absenteeism from 27% to a low of 7%.

Her Ministry also worked vigorously to end the shift system, by supervising the expansion of infrastructure and provision of required facilities at the basic level.

Again, under her stewardship as Minister for Education, Ghana for three (3) continuous years, topped the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) and in one of those years, all the three best WASSCE students came from Ghana.

The irony is that, if it were not for her ministry’s decision to expand infrastructure in existing public secondary schools and also the construction of absolutely new Community Day Senior High Schools (SHS), which have created enrolment space for at least 50,000 SHS students, it would have been difficult, if not impossible for the NPP government to roll out their Free SHS programme.

Is this a woman Dr. Opoku Prempeh should insultingly call an ‘embarrassment’ and a ‘disgrace’? Is this somebody who does not understand education? Is it because Professor Opoku-Agyemang is a humble and quiet person who does not wear her professorship in education on her sleeve?

What kind of arrogance would make a trainee- Minister who is still struggling to understand the mandate of his office, declare that a world-renowned and experienced educationist does not know anything about education?

One cannot help but recognise that such arrant disrespect for professional women, is not an individual character trait of Opoku Prempeh, but appears to be a reflection of the ruling Party, for if not, President Nana Akufo-Addo would have ensured that his Minister withdraws his embarrassing insult, and apologises to the former Minister.

But, didn’t the whole party and its senior officials sanction such public diatribes on the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei?

Listening to Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh speak on radio in defence of his actions makes one wonder the leadership he will be bringing to our educational sector, and whether we can expect anything better from the sector.

Our professionals, our women deserve better.

Joyce B. Mogtari

Accra
–
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Arrogant’ NAPO intimidated by Opoku-Agyemang’s achievements – Mogtari appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said they ought to demonstrate high sense of discipline, commitment and respect for the code of conduct of their profession in order to enhance quality education delivery.

‘The Ministry is determined to ensuring that teachers’ promotion is based on competency, hardwork and other relevant requirements per the National Teachers Council’s demands’, he noted.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OuOMcwc8cDqPlR8fqoMchqhOtioXnsFo”]This was contained in a speech read on his behalf at the fifth graduation of the Jackson College of Education (JCE), Kumasi, on Saturday.

In all, 2, 334 trainee teachers passed out and were awarded Diploma in Basic Education through Distance Learning, and were jointly awarded by the JCE and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW).

Master Abraham Korang of the Berekum Campus of the JCE, emerged the overall best graduating teacher, and his cumulative assessment grades were considered as the best so far in the history of the institution.

This year’s graduation saw the passing out of four physically-challenged persons, who were all given special undisclosed prizes.

Since its commencement in 2009, the College, a subsidiary institution of the Jackson Educational Complex, and the nation’s premier accredited private college of education running distance education, has produced over 6, 000 teachers.

Dr Opoku Prempeh reminded the teachers that teaching was one of selflessness and dedication, and that they were required to give their all for the benefit of their pupils and students.

He lauded Professor and Mrs Jackson, founders of the College, for complementing the government’s efforts to give professional training to teachers.

He advocated a strong public-private partnership in achieving educational goals of the nation, explaining that government alone could not shoulder the full responsibility of educational demands.

Professor Reynolds Okine, Principal of the UEW, Kumasi Campus, advised the teachers to shun all forms of malpractices that could dent the image of the profession.

The UEW, he said, would continue to assist and mentor the JCE to keep the institution on track to meeting its set objectives.

Professor Samuel Afrane, Council Chairman of the Jackson Educational Complex, encouraged the graduating trainee teachers not to refuse postings to rural communities.

–

Source: GNA

The post Promotion of teachers no longer automatic – NAPO appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They want the Minister of Education Matthew Opoku Prempeh to mediate in the crisis which affected the smooth running of the school.

A Winneba High Court on Friday ordered the Vice Chancellor of the university to step aside in an ongoing suit challenging the legitimacy of the school’s Governing Council and some administrators.

Lectures in the school have declared a strike to protest against the ruling.

[contextly_sidebar id=”z1Pe8mYYqY67VZ5AkDGZ36Dlxq08rzmd”]Speaking to Citi News the Minority Spokesperson on Education, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe lashed out at the Minister of Education for doing little about the situation.

“I am of the view that the intervention of the Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, will go a long way to resolve the matter. This is what I have been expecting from him for a long time now. If he had intervened earlier I’m sure matters wouldn’t have reached the level it has gotten to now. So I feel that if he does that help in bringing normalcy to the university.”

He said it is rather unfortunate that only two principal positions out of three appointed by the governing board have been asked to step aside.

“…Now they have asked two of the three officers appointed by that authority to step aside and honour over to the third person who is was also appointed. That is where I’m not comfortable because if three are appointed and we say they are not legally recognized then the three of them should go away not hand over to another person who was appointed by that authority. That is where the problem is and that is what UTAG is not happy about. Because if you say A and B should not be there why should C remain in office? That is where I expect the minister to come in,” he added.

Court orders UEW Vice Chancellor to step aside

Nortsu-Kotoe‘s remark comes on the back of a High Court order to the Vice Chancellor of UEW, Professor Mawutor Avokeh, to step aside until a case brought against him is determined.

The court order also affected the school’s Finance Officer.

The court made the order in a case brought before it by one, Supi Kofi Kwayera who insisted the Vice Chancellor and the Finance Officer were operating under the institution’s defunct governing council.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NAPO must intervene in UEW crisis – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the minister, “Technical Universities will be at the forefront in providing the technical workforce…from the project planning stage through implementation”.

In a speech read on his behalf at the graduation of some 2900 students at the Takoradi Technical University over the weekend in the Western Region, Dr. Prempeh stated that “each university will be supported by government to at least train craftsmen, technicians and technologists needed to man factories in the regions in which they are located. The collaboration between the technical universities and the factories will begin at the project planning and implementation stages. This will make the relationship between the TTUs and the new factories inseparable”.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9E2XAT5NTJIM6hoW13vQF8KvaCfJPZDO”]He added that “factories will seek technical advice from technical universities and students will use these factories for practical training.”

In his view,  all the Technical Universities must desist from offering same programmes across board.
He opined that “we must not allow all the technical universities to do same programmes without specialization. Each university must have a unique programme of specialization that differentiates it from others”.

He assured of a retooling exercise that will ensure that “your products are not only equipped with all the skills needed to build the national economy, but also are able and motivated to take on the challenge and opportunities for higher achievement in the science and technology-led knowledge-driven global economy through innovation and creativity.”

–

By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t will depend on technical universities to implement policies – Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is in line with President Akufo-Addo’s program to prioritize technical education to offer the youth employable skills in line with his vision on industrialization.

The Minister of Education has therefore reactivated a project to build and equip laboratories in various technical institutions across the country.

The project will involve the construction of buildings, and the supply and installation of equipment on various campuses.

The new government, determined to get the best deal for Ghana, has reopened negotiations on the contract signed to take off under the late President John Evans Atta Mills.

The project by Avic International Holding Company, will be funded by a $119.1 million credit facility by the Exim Bank of China, at an annual interest rate of 2%, with the Ghana Government providing counterpart funding of $7.8 million.

But, the New Patriotic Party government has raised concerns about the cost of the project. President Akufo-Addo gave a manifesto promise to continue or revive projects that can be beneficial to the country, whether it was started by the NDC or stalled by them.

“…But in so doing, our aim is to make sure that any such project passes the value for money test,” the Education Minister stressed.

As part of negotiations between Avic International, the Chinese multinational company, and the Government of Ghana, led by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Education, already some estimated $16 million savings have been made on the $119 million project, plus the supply of spare parts being extended to cover 5 years, instead of 2.

But, Government is still pushing for more, as they await a value for money audit commissioned by the Ministry of Finance.
The project for the rehabilitation and upgrading of equipment, will set up five sets of laboratories across various institutions.

These are (i) electrical and electronic laboratory (ii) mechanical engineering laboratory (iii) civil engineering laboratory (iv) automotive repair engineering laboratory and (v) welding engineering laboratory.

In line with this, the new Minister of Education paid a working visit Monday to Nairobi, Kenya, where a similar project has been successfully implemented through a Kenya-China facility.

The Technical University of Kenya boasts arguably of the best equipped technical institutes in Sub-Saharan Africa, with state of the art electrical engineering equipment and advanced mechanical engineering machine tools.

Collaboration between African universities

The Vice-Chancellor, Dr-Ing Francis W O Aduol, after the tour of the facilities, expressed great admiration for the quick action and positive attitude of the new Ghanaian government towards a project it inherited.

He also spoke about the need for technical universities in Africa to work together.

“The truth be told, there is very little collaboration between African universities. We usually look east or west outside of our continent. I really feel honored that you chose to come here and so early in your tenure. We want to build a long-term relationship with your institutions in Ghana,” he told the visiting Ghanaian minister.

The two men expressed keen interest about the need to create linkages between technical universities from the two countries.

In his remarks, Dr Opoku Prempeh, who is yet to start work fully behind his desk at the Education Ministry, said he chose to travel early to Kenya because the Avic project which began in 2010 in Ghana to upgrade technical institutions but yet to take off, calls for the new government to take an early but informed decision.

The delayed project is to build a Ghana Vocational and Technical Test Centre, upgrade 5 polytechnics (mainly technical universities now) and 10 technical institutes, offering teacher training and staff training for some 145 Ghanaians.

Since it is in line with the new government’s agenda to equip and improve such institutions in line with the manifesto pledge to create jobs and industrialize the Ghanaian economy, a decision must be made early.

Gov’t to review cost of project

Already, the new government has managed to cut down the implementation period of the turn key project by six months.

However, the new government has raised questions about the cost of the project and the Chinese company, “Avic, has shown admirable enthusiasm to have this renegotiated to meet the new standards set by President Akufo-Addo. What I think is great about this new approach of reviewing potentially good projects with the view to get the best deal is that it takes away the fear of the contractor that the projects may be abandoned and it gets a better deal for the Ghanaian taxpayer, as well,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh said.

Regarding this particular Avic International project, “The focus really is to expand the scope of the project so that it covers more institutions, so that we can train more students and, by so doing, save the country some good money,” the Education Minister added.

In various meetings the Minister held in Nairobi, costs were compared, equipment and facilities were inspected, and issues with implementation were freely shared.

For instance, the Kenyans procured several state-of-the-art equipment, which were being under-utilized.

They are now looking at ways to commercialize the use of the machines by manufacturing tools for industry and training personnel for industry, as well.
The commercialization aspect is one area the visiting Ghanaian minister said his country would be keen to study.

The Minister also visited the National Youth Service, Kenyan’s version of the National Service Secretariat and the Youth Employment Scheme combined. There are also equipment supplied by Avic International have been commercialized generating income to cover retooling and maintenance costs.

Ghana’s Minister of Education secured a deal with the Kenyans to have trainers for laboratories to be built in Ghana travel to the East African country to be trained.

As part of the contract, the Ghanian trainers are to receive three months training in China. Experience from the Kenyans suggested that it would be better to divide the program and let the Ghanaians first receive part of the training in Kenya, where the English language and environment will be more familiar.

The Technical University of Kenya, a polytechnic converted in 2007, offers hands-on training to 10,000 students during day, and an additional 5,000 in the evening.

The East African country has 10 technical universities, 11 national polytechnics, and 76 technical training institutions.

In line with the Uhuru Kenyatta government’s manifesto pledge to establish one technical training school per one constituency, 130 new institutions are being built, which will provide five different workshops per school.

Kenya, which is the industrial hub of East Africa’s regional economy boasts of only 10,000 engineers with a plan to increase that number to 35,000 or more.
Like the Ghanaian story, Kenya is determined to tackle the disconnect between industry job requirements and skills set on offer from the schools.

“We have a shortage of engineers; graduates who can’t find jobs; and employers looking for graduates. It is this mismatch that we seek to correct because what this continent needs heavily today are people with degrees who can produce with their hands,” said the Vice-Chancellor of the Technical University of Kenya.

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NAPO hits ground running with Laboratories for Technical Institutions appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh at his vetting on Monday hinted at the possibility of setting up a rival body to conduct examinations in the country, for the purposes of enabling competition that will improve quality.

But speaking to Citi News, the Director of WAEC, Rev Samuel Ollenu, said setting up a rival body would rather lead to a fall in standards.

“We as an examining body have braced ourselves for a proposal like that, but fortunately from the point of view of educational measurement, it is not recommendable because when that happens, we are going to make the examination malpractice issue a complex one, and you are also going to lower educational standards in the country,” he said.

According to him, several consultations they have held on the matter, have seen stakeholders kicking against the move.

“We have been interacting with other examining body and there is one in the UK which we spoke to them about this issue, and they said they wish the thing hadn’t even gone that way because it’s creating so many problems. My colleague in Nigeria when he heard the news, what he said is that, what Ghana has and we they are envious of, we want to destroy it. He said if we go that way, the prizes that we have been picking all these years, we may not be able to do that again because standards will fall.”

Citing tertiary education in Ghana, Mr. Ollenu said standards at such level continue to be intact, due to the work of the National Accreditation board, which checks the proliferation of such institutions in the country.

“We have a number of private universities in the country, and had it not been for the presence of the National Accreditation Board, standards at that level would have fallen so much. So forming a rivalry examining body would mean that the standard of education is going to fall drastically,” he added.

WAEC has constantly faced criticism for exam leakages in the country.  The West African Examination Council (WAEC) was established 1952 after the Governments of Ghana (then Gold Coast), Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia enacted the West African Examinations Council Ordinances in 1951. Liberia became the fifth member of the Council in 1974.

The enactment of the Ordinances was based on the Jeffrey Report, which strongly supported the proposal for the setting up of a regional examining board to harmonize and standardize pre-university assessment procedures in the then British West Africa.

Tread cautiously in creating alternative exam body – GNAT

Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has urged the government to “tread cautiously” in getting an alternative to the country’s only examination body, the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

–

By: Godwin A. Allotey & Umaru Sanda Amadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Rival exams body will lower standards – WAEC appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.