NPP Education policy must focus on dropouts

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• Omanba Kwaku 8 years ago

  Well spoken, Professor. Dropouts are a major concern everywhere in the world with Ghana not being an exception. The negative statistics are alarming with regards to dropouts, so the president's attention on it will do Ghanaia ...
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  Well spoken, Professor. Dropouts are a major concern everywhere in the world with Ghana not being an exception. The negative statistics are alarming with regards to dropouts, so the president's attention on it will do Ghanaians more good than harm.
  Long Live Ghana and and God Bless Nana Addo's Presidency!

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• Tekonline.org 8 years ago

  You stated:
  "...The sciences were also inordinately theoretically oriented in those days. And so the need to teach the sciences in a hands-on orientation cannot be overemphasized..."
  
  You do have a point. As Confucius once ...
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  You stated:
  "...The sciences were also inordinately theoretically oriented in those days. And so the need to teach the sciences in a hands-on orientation cannot be overemphasized..."
  
  You do have a point. As Confucius once said, "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand".
  
  Hands-on experimentation is without doubt the most effective way to grasp concepts in science.
  Unfortunately, science by its very nature, can be very inaccessible for experimentation, either by being cost-prohibitive, involving distances too great, sizes too small for the naked eye, or simply requiring tools not yet invented.
  
  A good example is teaching the existence of black holes, buried within galaxies trillions of miles away. Even the nearest star to Earth (other than our sun) within our own Milky Way galaxy is so far away that travelling at 1 million miles a day, it would take 72,000 years to reach such an object. Quite a lot of toilet papers for a school's science excursion!
  
  There is also the very small: protons, neutrons, atoms, molecules, viruses -- either impossible to view or requiring multi-million dollar tools like scanning electron microscopes (although the ordinary light microscope allows students to observe some tiny objects light bacteria and parasites).
  
  Then there is the plain impractical -- like demonstrating how the hydrogen bomb works, or how the Ebola virus infects.
  
  This is why effective science education requires some workaround approaches: multimedia, animation, and even virtual reality. It would be okay for students to watch on video other students in more affluent schools perform experiments. DVD players should be part of every school's collection of teaching materials. Then students can watch movies about black holes, what goes on inside the sun, the particles inside the atom, how viruses destroy cells, and so on. They can also watch famous professors give fascinating science demonstrations.
  
  But even more important is the QUALITY of teaching. Effective science education requires not only very knowledgeable tutors but instructors deeply PASSIONATE about science. Such teachers would naturally be able to relate the seemingly abstract scientific concepts to real life -- something all students care about.
  
  For instance, teaching the chemistry of carbon monoxide would only make sense if related to how the molecule causes death. The student would doubtless go home knowing why gasoline generators should never be used indoors.
  
  Similarly it takes a very good science teacher to let students know how to eat well, if they are taught not only the seemingly boring facts about vitamins but also HOW and WHY they are good for the body.
  
  Science labs can be quite expensive and very good, passionate teachers might be hard to come by, but by relying on multimedia tools, students can become familiar with even the most esoteric experiments. Schools without science teachers can be made to watch videos of top-notch professors explaining difficult concepts, as well as observe experiments and demonstrations done in remote million-dollar labs.
  
  Better tools are in the horizon as modern computer technologies like virtual reality become perfected. Through advances in computer science, students can now "build" and "manipulate" objects using computer simulation tools like V-REP.

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• LONTO-BOY 8 years ago

  I agree with your post. No disrespect for Humanities and Social Sciences, as a country, our education policies and national curriculum should focus on STEM( Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)subjects. We need to t ...
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  I agree with your post. No disrespect for Humanities and Social Sciences, as a country, our education policies and national curriculum should focus on STEM( Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)subjects. We need to take urgent measures to reform our education system and improve our knowledge in STEM subjects for productive manufacturing and innovative technology for a dynamic economy in a fast moving world of hi-tech.

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• LONTO-BOY 8 years ago

  Of course, the rise in school drop outs and unemployed teens in Ghana is very worrying. However, we cannot expect the NPP Administration/Nana Akufo-Addo to fix every social and economic problem by government policies. In Ghan ...
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  Of course, the rise in school drop outs and unemployed teens in Ghana is very worrying. However, we cannot expect the NPP Administration/Nana Akufo-Addo to fix every social and economic problem by government policies. In Ghana, students/children drop out for many reasons: poverty, poor academic performance, bullying/harassment, parental and family issues, lack of teachers, lack of education materials, poor state of school infrastructure, behavioural issues and so on.
  
  Apart from a package of education reforms and measures intended to prevent many students/children dropping out of school, there must be a massive investment in education in setting up vocational and technical schools. Parents have to discipline their children and show keen interest in their education. This may help curb truancy and ensure that they do their homework.
  
  The Government should offer incentive packages to companies and firms to introduce apprenticeship schemes to help students acquire skills and experience necessary for employment.

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• Obeng Samuel 8 years ago

  NVTI must be retooled to train the Youth in vocational trades.

  NVTI must be retooled to train the Youth in vocational trades.

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• YAS 8 years ago

  I am very glad that this issue is being raised by nobody but this particular author. Im saying this because Im sure The president and his Ministers will listen to him, However, my concern is the promise both NPP and NDC made ...
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  I am very glad that this issue is being raised by nobody but this particular author. Im saying this because Im sure The president and his Ministers will listen to him, However, my concern is the promise both NPP and NDC made to my fellow Zongo,s regarding making Arabic Teaching an academic issue in Ghana. What the Zongo,s needs are good Science and circular high Schools in their community to make them productive and contribute to the development of their areas. Ghana needs nurses, doctors Accountants, Teachers and other skiis. Thank yu so much.

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• Tekonline.org 8 years ago

  We need to train teachers for coding education. Computer programming is becoming the greatest unmet need everywhere on the the planet.
  
  Many East African countries helping curb youth unemployment with software skills, parti ...
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  We need to train teachers for coding education. Computer programming is becoming the greatest unmet need everywhere on the the planet.
  
  Many East African countries helping curb youth unemployment with software skills, particularly App development:
  
  www.smallstarter.com/browse-ideas/mobile-apps/

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• KB 8 years ago

  Shut up! They will only do exactly what they promised Ghanaians.

  Shut up! They will only do exactly what they promised Ghanaians.

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• BERNARD 8 years ago

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• Moojo 8 years ago

  If we must definitely focus on the dropouts. This is because we don't want a new breed of streethawker. Opportunity should be given to all dropouts in all our regions so that no one is left behind.

  If we must definitely focus on the dropouts. This is because we don't want a new breed of streethawker. Opportunity should be given to all dropouts in all our regions so that no one is left behind.

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• Abeeku Mensah 8 years ago

  Ex-president Mahama did not establish or implement a new Ghana education service, GES; he inherited it. The problem of youth unemployment is not borne out of anything anyone administration did but out of a an education syste ...
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  Ex-president Mahama did not establish or implement a new Ghana education service, GES; he inherited it. The problem of youth unemployment is not borne out of anything anyone administration did but out of a an education system that for decades gave a damn about application of classroom acquired skills in the real world but more to do with how many secondary school "O" level graduates scored 18 or below cumulative aggregate to get into 6th form, how many "A" level graduates scored an aggregate of 6 or less to gain admission to government run universities and how many university graduates boast of a 1st class or 2nd class university degrees. You, Dr. Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe and I and every presumed Ghana educated folk with roots from the Ghana education system was capable of rewriting every book from memory and yet incapable of knowing what any theory therein meant. Those who drop out of Ghana's schools do so for any number of reasons. Some go to school hungry or sleep deprived, then there are those suffering from dyslexia, sight and other medical ailments to those being chased out of school because of inability to pay fees on time. Then there are those highly gifted who are hands-on doers being bored stiff with all that jive of theories. In industrialized nations some schools at the middle/junior high and secondary/senior high school levels do have auto mechanical shops and a host of technical education curriculum as part of mainstream schooling. There's unexplained unemployment levels in Ghana because most, if not all, of our Masters and PhD level graduates are simply not capable of even presenting to government or financial and banking institutions business plan that a grade one/class one student would not throw into trash bins. Everyone wants an advanced degree expecting to go run someone else's business or government agency and hoping to be seen as the big , bad wolf in town. When was the last time anyone of Ghana's educated elite class gave respect to a carpenter, plumber, masonry worker or classic blue color workers? Yet it is these blue color workers and their work products that continue to drive developments in every civilized industrialized nation. We created a system that rewards mostly classroom educated yahoos than doers; we end up with engineers siting in A/C offices while clueless labor workers toil at construction work that require supervision from project managers or field engineers.

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• kujo 8 years ago

  Also chew and pour is to much esp. In Ghana universities. Something must b done.This is bcos exams determines a stdnts fate so they chew , pour ,write ,pass and forget.ohhhhhh Ghana education

  Also chew and pour is to much esp. In Ghana universities. Something must b done.This is bcos exams determines a stdnts fate so they chew , pour ,write ,pass and forget.ohhhhhh Ghana education

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• Wesley 8 years ago

  Yes my brother

  Yes my brother

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