The first of a new series of post-2015 reports, says 53 per cent of students in Ghana are able to complete Junior High School (JHS) education, while only 39 per cent are able to complete Senior High School (SHS) education.

This, according to the report, titled “Education for People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures for All” meant that a significant portion of Ghanaian youth are not able to progress from secondary school to the tertiary level.

The (GEM) Report is a new series of reports used by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to monitor the state of education in the new framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It examined the complex interrelationships and links between education and key development sectors and also highlighted education strategies, policies and programmes which were most effectively linked to the economic, social, environmental and political priorities of the new sustainable development agenda.

Launched at a ceremony at Winneba in the Central Region on Thursday, the report stated that education needed a major transformation to fulfill its purpose so as to propel progress towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who launched the report, said a national action plan for the implementation of the 2030 agenda was already in place and implored stakeholders to make inputs to it.

She called for effective collaboration between education stakeholders and the ministry to ensure that the country achieved the SDGs on education.

Prof Opoku-Agyenabg said the government had put in place policies and programmes which included Inclusive Education Policy, Complimentary Basic Education Policy and the implementation of the Free Tertiary Teacher Performance and Management Programme to help improve the quality of education in the country.

She appealed to graduate and under graduate students at the universities to conduct research into challenges in the education sector such that their findings spoke to specific issues and provided recommendations to specific challenges.

Professor Yaw Ankomah, a former Director of the Institute for Education Planning and Administration (IEPA), University of Cape Coast (UCC), who read excerpts of the report, said for education to be transformative in support of the new sustainable development agenda, it required a more rigorous approach.

Prof Ankomah said though Ghana had made significant strides with 92 per cent primary school enrolment rate, 319,000 children between six and eleven years were still out of school.

According to the report, while youth literacy rate in the country was 86 per cent, 699,000 youth of which 59 per cent were women remained illiterate while 633,000 SHS youth, with a larger proportion of them being females and 121,000 JHS aged adolescent were respectively out of school.

It said female enrolment at both secondary and tertiary levels as well as the inclusion of gender equality issues in education curriculum was still low, with 63 per cent of female adults in Ghana being illiterate while only three per cent had tertiary education.

That notwithstanding, the report commended Ghana for showing strong commitment towards funding education with six per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Professor George Kankam, Dean of the Faculty of Education Studies at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), who chaired the ceremony, said as much as societies in the World were undergoing deep transformations, education needed a new approach to meet the aspirations of the changing world.

–

Source: GNA

The post 53% of students unable to complete secondary education – Report appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Coalition, who described their action as “Street Evangelism”, say they seek to impress upon the Mahama-led government to expedite action on the passage of the Bill.

President Mahama at a UNESCO program in France earlier this week, said he is frustrated at the continuous delay in the passage of the Bill.

But the Executive Director for POS Foundation, Jonathan Osei-Owusu, described as unfortunate President Mahama’s claims he does not know the current stage of the Bill.

He said, “the coalition is doing this activity to first mark the day. As human rights activists, we want to know that there is a day of this sort where everybody is privy to information wherever you find yourself. And it has come at the right time particularly when our president has spoken to the whole world on the state of Ghana’s right to information.”

He added that, “It is very sad that we are marking such a day and our president told the world that he does not even know where the Bill has gotten to. I don’t know if our president was trying to hide something or doesn’t really know. We are in this country where bills have gone through certificate of urgency and have been passed”

‘Government has not demonstrated commitment’

The Right to Information (RTI) Coalition on Monday expressed disappointment in President Mahama’s leadership for failing to ensure the passage of the right to information legislation in the country. According to the Coalition, “President Mahama has not demonstrated strong commitment to the passage of the RTI Bill, despite his party’s promises in their 2008 and 2012 manifestos.”

Many advocates of free speech have criticized successive governments for their lack of interest in ensuring that the Bill is passed.

The bill, which has been in and out of Parliament for over a decade, is yet to be passed in spite of its potential of enhancing access to information in the country.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Coalition to hold demo over Right to Information Bill appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Bill, which has been in and out of Parliament for over a decade, is yet to be passed despite its enormous benefit of enhancing access to information in the country.

Speaking at UNESCO’s International Programme for Development of Communication talks in France, President Mahama said “unfortunately it will go down in history as the legislation that has stayed the longest in Parliament.”

Cabinet approved it

“Ghana has probably the highest saturation; we have aside from the Constitution put in the legislation to guarantee freedom of information and access to information.  I must say unfortunately it will go down in history as the legislation that has stayed the longest in Parliament. Cabinet approved it, we submitted it to Parliament, I don’t know where it is.”

The President noted that the bill has suffered some setbacks because of lack of consensus.

“It has been at the committee level, the committee decided to go round the country and consult on the Freedom of Information bill. Some say it is too liberal, some say it is too tight and it should be made more liberal and so Parliament is still working on it. It was submitted to Parliament in the term of the last president and it has continued in my term and I believe that it is something that we should complete and make available so that people will have a legal basis for demanding information if there is a reluctance to give the information to them,” he added.

Many advocates of free speech have criticized successive governments for their lack of interest in ensuring that the Bill is passed.

Group slams Mahama for delaying passage of RTI Bill 

The Right to Information (RTI) Coalition on Monday expressed disappointment in President Mahama’s leadership for failing to ensure the passage of the right to information legislation in the country.

According to the Coalition, “President Mahama has not demonstrated strong commitment to the passage of the RTI Bill, despite his party’s promises in their 2008 and 2012 manifestos.”

–

By: Godwin A.Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post ‘I don’t know where RTI Bill is’ – Frustrated Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

President Mahama who is the Co-Chair of the SDG Advocacy Group of the UN will take his audience through the importance of information and media to sustainable development, with a focus on Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda.

Goal 16 is dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

Monday’s talk by President Mahama is being facilitated by UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) and will be preceded by a number of panel discussions on various other goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Mr. Mahama is heading to Paris from New York where he participated in a number of SDG-related events aimed at contributing to the successful attainment of the SDG Goals.

While in Paris, President Mahama will hold bilateral talks with French President Francois Hollande, launch at the UNESCO, an exhibition on Nature Conservation in Ghana, with a focus on the Mole National Park and meet with French Investors.

–
By: FlagStaffHouse/Ghana

The post President Mahama takes SDG advocacy to Paris appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.