This is great work but extremely disappointed that Ghana came in last. All hope is not lost! Lets redouble our efforts to do better next time...water is h2o whether in Zimbabwe or Argentina
This is great work but extremely disappointed that Ghana came in last. All hope is not lost! Lets redouble our efforts to do better next time...water is h2o whether in Zimbabwe or Argentina
Jasmine 8 years ago
Adjoa, actually there's no hope. Let me make is simpler for you: if you brought me from a class of 1975 middle school to current Universities, that is, to compete with the students, I would beat them everytime.
I mean the ... read full comment
Adjoa, actually there's no hope. Let me make is simpler for you: if you brought me from a class of 1975 middle school to current Universities, that is, to compete with the students, I would beat them everytime.
I mean the standard has fallen so much it's almost beyond redemption unless there's complete "overhauling". But how would this be done when no one cares anymore of anything except money?
The state of the country directly shows this assessment is exactly the level we have.
Finally, nothing in this world works on hope alone. It is inconsequential.
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Brilliant piece!
Brilliant piece!
Jasmine 8 years ago
"The assessment results suggest that we Ghanaian adults have failed our children and the repercussion is the negative impact on our country’s economic growth."
Blame the stupid politicians who ONLY know how to steal, whe ... read full comment
"The assessment results suggest that we Ghanaian adults have failed our children and the repercussion is the negative impact on our country’s economic growth."
Blame the stupid politicians who ONLY know how to steal, wheh relevant issues crucial to the state are ignored or let into oblivion.
Wnat matters in Ghana now? Politics( Nonpolitics), since it's easy to steal everything. Hard work and dedcation are inexistent in Ghana, so how are we going to do anything good.
For a good note, ssk yourselves how many of those cadres state-sponsored and trained abroad are helping in anything apart from just wearing titles and going about boasting with them. The state doesn't even know how to harness the potential in this people.
The state of affairs in Ghana could be analyzed by Mahama's approach to pertinent questions on management circumstances in Ghana. Education and all others are just clone-situation that mirror the same thing.
Asians work hard, no joke.
Jasmine 8 years ago
Sorry for my multiple mistakes here, rushing to go.
Sorry for my multiple mistakes here, rushing to go.
Jato Kaleo 8 years ago
Looks like this article is based on media accounts of the OECD report and the authors' snippets from the report given to the press. Unless we see the full report, we cannot really know how Ghana relates to other countries and ... read full comment
Looks like this article is based on media accounts of the OECD report and the authors' snippets from the report given to the press. Unless we see the full report, we cannot really know how Ghana relates to other countries and what the report actually says about the standard of Ghanaian 15 year-olds in Maths and Science. These tests examine many other things too...
Btw, Tunisia has been taking part in these tests since 2000 and this is not the first time the study includes developing countries. But this is the first time Ghana is included and this is the study with the greatest number of countries - 76. The last one had 65 countries.
Anyway...
Adjoa 8 years ago
It would help if we are privy to the full report...the fact remains that the report concluded a abysmal performance of the African 15-year olds on Math and Science.
It does not hurt to redouble efforts to be better. There is ... read full comment
It would help if we are privy to the full report...the fact remains that the report concluded a abysmal performance of the African 15-year olds on Math and Science.
It does not hurt to redouble efforts to be better. There is always room to improve!!
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Jato Kaleo,
Good day.
The report is available on line.
I did look through the report when it was originally published on line, but tried unsuccesfully to retrieve it for Ghanaweb readers.
Fortunately, I cont ... read full comment
Dear Jato Kaleo,
Good day.
The report is available on line.
I did look through the report when it was originally published on line, but tried unsuccesfully to retrieve it for Ghanaweb readers.
Fortunately, I contacted one of US-based educationist friends who sent me the link (I also discussed parts of the report with my some of my friends in the American educational system when the report came out; the summary which those two Ghanaweb columnists are generally correct and appropriate).
In fact I could easily have found it if I had tried hard enough.
Here is the link to the report (you should download and read it):
Please go though the report like I did and let me know what you think!
Thanks.
Kweku troubke 8 years ago
What do you expect? When instead of teaching, schools are interested in students bushy hair and another stupid things. some teachers don't speak good English. I remember cififm used to have a correspondent who went to schools ... read full comment
What do you expect? When instead of teaching, schools are interested in students bushy hair and another stupid things. some teachers don't speak good English. I remember cififm used to have a correspondent who went to schools to interview teachers about their challenges in their districts etc, prior to the last general elections, and it was terrible listening to some of them. People just join training colleges for "allawa". Most of the teachers need education more than their students.
Why don't you also try the website of the World Bank?
Thanks.
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
Thanks Francis Kwarteng!
Thanks Francis Kwarteng!
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Prof. Lungu,
You are welcome.
Thanks.
Dear Prof. Lungu,
You are welcome.
Thanks.
Prof Lungu 8 years ago
REVELATION!
This touches on the pointless discourses some of us had with Baidoo on the other side.
From the same page (page 10) in the OECD document using the link you provided, where we find "Ghana has the lowest enrol ... read full comment
REVELATION!
This touches on the pointless discourses some of us had with Baidoo on the other side.
From the same page (page 10) in the OECD document using the link you provided, where we find "Ghana has the lowest enrolment rate in secondary schools (46%) and also the lowest achievement levels for those
15-year-olds who are in school (291 PISA points)", we find that high income does not actually correlate with high performance.
READ: "...High income doesn’t protect against shortcomings in education
One might be tempted to think that high-income countries have had all the means to eliminate extreme underperformance in education and should already have achieved the post-2015 education goal and targets. But the report shows otherwise. For
example, 24% of 15-year-olds in the United States do not successfully complete even the basic Level 1
PISA tasks. If the United States were to ensure that all students meet the goal of universal basic skills, the
economic gains could reach over USD 27 trillion in additional income for the American economy over the working life of these students..."
So, there we go!
Another gap in Baidoo's capitalism dogma!
francis kwarteng 8 years ago
Dear Prof. Lungu,
Here we go: I have always said Baidoo has no clue what he is talking about. I am not too sure if its ignorance, gullibility, or blindness.
The man will find a way to twist these facts your assemble a ... read full comment
Dear Prof. Lungu,
Here we go: I have always said Baidoo has no clue what he is talking about. I am not too sure if its ignorance, gullibility, or blindness.
The man will find a way to twist these facts your assemble around even if they should be brought to his attention.
What you have brought out of the report underscore THE BIG HOLE in his capitalist panacea. Thanks for bringing this up. Here is another one:
Title: "Higher education does not close the economic gap between Blacks and whites"
Author: Noreen Malcolm
Source: The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
........................................................................................................................................................
Higher Education Is the Major Force in Closing the Black-White Income Gap
New statistics from the Census Bureau confirm the powerful economic advantage that accrues to African Americans who hold a four-year college degree. The most current figures, for the year 2004, show that blacks with a college diploma now have a median income that is 90 percent of the median income of similarly educated non-Hispanic whites. Blacks with a master’s degree have incomes nearly equal to those of whites with a master’s degree. Blacks with a doctorate actually have higher incomes than similarly educated non-Hispanic whites.
These are extraordinary achievements that have been consistently overlooked by most commentators.
New figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau unequivocally show that possession of a four-year college degree not only greatly increases the incomes of African Americans but goes almost all the way in closing the economic gap between blacks and whites. This is dramatic and exciting proof of the sure progress that blacks achieve when they pursue and succeed in higher education.
Here is the set of statistics showing how improved educational attainment advances the incomes of highly educated blacks as compared to those with lower levels of schooling.
The first point to note is that blacks with a four-year college degree now earn on average nearly double the income of blacks who have no better than a high school diploma. African Americans with a two-year associate’s degree improve their incomes by 41 percent over blacks with just a high school diploma. But blacks with a four-year college degree outperform blacks with a high school diploma by 93.4 percent. In 2004 blacks holding only a high school diploma had a median income of $18,657. The median income of blacks with a bachelor’s degree (but no graduate degree) was $36,086.
How a College Degree Breaks the Back of Race Discrimination
But the important issue is the impact of a college education on the black-white income gap. Here the story is complicated. The overall median black family income in the United States is 61 percent of the median white family income. This very large gap in the income ratio has remained virtually unchanged for more than 30 years. Through both good economic times and recessions, there has been little fluctuation in the overall racial income gap. But, one asks, what is the effect of the increase in the number of blacks going to college on the overall black-white income gap? Don’t these gains in college completions tend to close the overall racial income gap? The simple answer is, no. It turns out that the much greater earnings produced by more blacks who have completed college make little difference to the median income figure (the person in the middle) because less than 18 percent of all black adults over the age of 25 have completed a four-year college education.
But now look what happens when we put aside the issue of the overall black-white income gap and confine our view only to college-educated blacks and whites. In 2004 blacks with a bachelor’s degree had a median income of $36,086. This is 90 percent of the median income of non-Hispanic whites with a bachelor’s degree, which stood at $39,987.
Why is the racial income so narrow for college-educated blacks and whites? Corporate America is strongly committed to diversifying its work force and particularly its management ranks. Thus, there is a strong demand in the business sector for highly educated African Americans. This demand tends to narrow the income gap between the races for those who hold a college diploma.
Recent Widening of the Racial Income Gap for College Graduates
Unfortunately, the encouraging news we report, regarding the narrow income gap between college-educated blacks and whites, is tempered when we see that from 2003 to 2004 the racial income gap between black and white college graduates actually increased. In 2003 the median income for blacks with a college degree was $36,694. But in 2004 the median income for blacks with a four-year college degree actually dropped 2 percent to $36,086. At the same time the median income for non-Hispanic whites with a college degree increased from $38,667 to $39,987, an increase of 3.4 percent. It is hoped that this is a one-year statistical anomaly and not the start of a long-term trend widening the income gap between college-educated blacks and college-educated whites.
How Gender Impacts the Black-White Income Gap for College Graduates
When we break down the income figures for black and white college graduates by gender we find that the superior performance of black women is responsible for the progress that has been made. In 2004 black males with a bachelor’s degree had a median income of $40,329, which was only 79 percent of the $51,184 median income of similarly educated white males. Thus, a very large racial income gap persists for black men who nevertheless have beaten the odds and earned a college degree.
On the other hand, black women with a bachelor’s degree had a median income of $33,877, which was 111 percent of the $30,413 median income figure for non-Hispanic white women who held a college degree. It is clear then that the strong income performance of black college graduates is largely due to the earnings performance of black women while higher education has failed to produce similar income gains for black men in comparison to white men.
This is not to discount the value of a college degree for black men. African-American men with a bachelor’s degree or higher still earn on average nearly double the income of black men with a high school diploma.
The Racial Income Gap for Graduate Degree Holders
There is more good news to report. The Census Bureau also computes median income figures for blacks and whites with master’s, professional, and doctoral degrees. In 2004 blacks with a master’s degree had a median income of $49,716. This was 98 percent of the median income of non-Hispanic whites with a master’s degree. Furthermore, in 2004, the racial income gap for master’s degree holders closed substantially. In 2003 blacks with a master’s degree had a median income that was 88 percent of the median income of whites who possessed a master’s degree.
Once again, in percentage terms, black women fared much better against their white counterparts than did black men. Black women with a master’s had a median income that was nearly 109 percent of white women’s median income at that educational level. Black men with a master’s degree had a median income that was only 89.7 percent of the median income of white males with a master’s degree. However, black men with a master’s closed the income gap with white men by seven percentage points.
The black-white income gap for holders of professional degrees has traditionally been quite large. The economic opportunities for whites with a professional degree continue to be far superior than they are for blacks with a professional degree. White professionals — lawyers, dentists, accountants, and engineers, to name a few — are far more likely to serve economically well-off and better established white clients and therefore are in a position to charge higher fees and earn greater incomes. On the other hand, a great number of whites are still reluctant to seek out the services of black professionals. Therefore, many blacks with professional degrees perform services for an exclusively black clientele and in all likelihood are not able to charge fees comparable to those of white professionals. These factors explain to some degree the large income gap that has existed between white and black professionals.
But now there is significant progress to report. In 2004 blacks with a professional degree had a median income of $72,749. This was 95 percent of the median income of whites with a professional degree. In 2004 black professionals increased their median income by a whopping 18 percent.
There is also an income gap between blacks and whites who hold doctoral degrees. But this time the racial gap is in favor of blacks. In 2004 blacks with a doctorate had a median income of $74,207. This was slightly higher than the median income of whites with doctoral degrees, which stands at $73,993. The high demand for black academics at American colleges and universities produces a good job market with high wages for blacks with doctoral degrees.
Favorable statistics on the black-white income gap for college graduates always must be viewed in light of the fact that black college graduates still make up only a small portion of the entire black population of the United States. According to the latest count, there are 36.4 million people in the United States whom the Census Bureau classifies as black. Of these, about 11 percent hold a four-year college degree. Therefore, one must always keep in mind that the encouraging economic figures we report here apply to only one in every nine African Americans.
........................................................................................................................................................
This is great work but extremely disappointed that Ghana came in last. All hope is not lost! Lets redouble our efforts to do better next time...water is h2o whether in Zimbabwe or Argentina
Adjoa, actually there's no hope. Let me make is simpler for you: if you brought me from a class of 1975 middle school to current Universities, that is, to compete with the students, I would beat them everytime.
I mean the ...
read full comment
Brilliant piece!
"The assessment results suggest that we Ghanaian adults have failed our children and the repercussion is the negative impact on our country’s economic growth."
Blame the stupid politicians who ONLY know how to steal, whe ...
read full comment
Sorry for my multiple mistakes here, rushing to go.
Looks like this article is based on media accounts of the OECD report and the authors' snippets from the report given to the press. Unless we see the full report, we cannot really know how Ghana relates to other countries and ...
read full comment
It would help if we are privy to the full report...the fact remains that the report concluded a abysmal performance of the African 15-year olds on Math and Science.
It does not hurt to redouble efforts to be better. There is ...
read full comment
Dear Jato Kaleo,
Good day.
The report is available on line.
I did look through the report when it was originally published on line, but tried unsuccesfully to retrieve it for Ghanaweb readers.
Fortunately, I cont ...
read full comment
What do you expect? When instead of teaching, schools are interested in students bushy hair and another stupid things. some teachers don't speak good English. I remember cififm used to have a correspondent who went to schools ...
read full comment
Jato Kaleo/Adjoa,
Here is another link:
www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/universal-basic-skills_9789264234833-en
Why don't you also try the website of the World Bank?
Thanks.
Thanks Francis Kwarteng!
Dear Prof. Lungu,
You are welcome.
Thanks.
REVELATION!
This touches on the pointless discourses some of us had with Baidoo on the other side.
From the same page (page 10) in the OECD document using the link you provided, where we find "Ghana has the lowest enrol ...
read full comment
Dear Prof. Lungu,
Here we go: I have always said Baidoo has no clue what he is talking about. I am not too sure if its ignorance, gullibility, or blindness.
The man will find a way to twist these facts your assemble a ...
read full comment