Give Unto Ceasar Things That Are Ceasar?s

-Best Sign Of Postive Change

I was born a Christian, baptized and confirmed a Presbyterian, attended Methodist and Catholic schools as well as Local Authority schools. Over the years, I have dabbled with various religions and found the truth. There is only one God, and He speaks my language. So I don?t have to learn anybody?s language in order to communicate with Him. He says if two or three people meet to pray, He is present. Fortunately I have a small family of five, which is more than meet the barest minimum, and we speak in our native language. I came across the above caption in my readings.

So far the best news I have heard from Ghana is the proposed acquisition of 70,000 computers for our schools. I have also found out from the Ghana Telecom website, which is beautifully built, that they are working with the schools to get them online and that is an excellent collaboration to get them abreast with information worldwide. I hope the nice GT website will translate into Customer Service. For fast access to the Internet, they have introduced DSL and Broadband and this should enable students to go online and retrieve information for their school assignments as well as anything educational. GT also has a parental consent software that will deny access to bad sites. Early exposure to bad sites like pornography will encourage sexual activities at a time the country is experiencing population explosion and HIV. Ghana?s population is projected to double by the year 2024. There are a few search engines like Google, which will retrieve any information. Education will definitely get a boost with the installation of these computers. Businesses should take advantage of the DSL services. It makes communications easier. You can download forms and documents very fast. You can send an e-mail faster, with no paper, and save a few trees. One thing I noticed is the high cost of subscription in Ghana. In New York, home use is about $29.95 a month, but this is dropping. Ghana Tel and their competitors should see this new technology as a means to propel the country forward into the Golden Age of business and drop their prices for more companies to subscribe.

A couple of years ago while I was driving on a road next to the airport in Accra, I saw a group of people from afar. I thought it was the staff of Ghana Airways on demonstration, but as I got closer, I saw a lot of children peddling and I almost wept. I know I will not allow my child to work on school days or when classes are in session. I used to take up vacation employment when I was in secondary school in Ghana. So as basic education is being provided free from September, it should also be made compulsory, as it was in the beginning. In New York, under the Guilliani administration, the Police had the authority to question any child of school going age found on the street when classes were in session. They would be taken to special receiving schools before being sent to their own schools. Some people thought it was harsh as the child could end in the precinct until the parents came to pick them up with a tangible explanation. But I thought it was a good idea. Don?t think the schools in New York are the best. Some are so bad the city have had to close them down. Some have been under performing in both English and Mathematics but at least they are given the chance to go to school. There are also programs for kids to attend school on Saturdays as well as during the summer holidays. And that?s the way it should be. The children loitering on the streets in the cities of Ghana should be compulsorily sent to school or else the government would not have done its duty of ensuring basic education for every Ghanaian child. A law has been passed for making begging in the streets an offence in Ghana and so should selling by children of school going age. Perhaps they have no parents and should permanently become the property of the State. If we can provide places for refugees, we can also provide places for these children.

While there are still problems to be solved by the present government, I think it should be given credit, at least, for the supply of computers to schools.

Isaac Kusi
New York

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