The Centre for Educational Research, Evaluation and Development (CERED) welcomed Ms. Vanessa Grace Bart-Plange, a graduate student from University of York-Toronto, Canada.

Ms. Bart-Plange is undertaking a six-week internship with the Centre between June and July 2018 as part of the requirement for her master’s degree. Whiles in CERED, Vanessa will additionally undertake her fieldwork on her dissertation titled “Sixty years of independence and still counting: Exploring stratification in Ghana’s public secondary school system and its implication for inclusive national development” here in the Central Region. As in UCC, her dissertation work is in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master of Arts degree in Development Studies.

As an intern, she will have the opportunity to gain necessary experience in grant proposal writing and proposal reviews, as well as build on her practical skills in social science research. During that time, she will also be mentored by Dr. Might Kojo Abreh, a Research Fellow at the Centre, as she explores the world of academia. Vanessa’s choice of UCC’s CERED for her internship was informed by the recent project the Centre conducted on setting Research Agenda for secondary schools under Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP) funding on behalf of the World Bank and Ghana Education Service.

The CERED internship is a mostly self-directed one which is intended to contribute to the professional and academic development of student researchers at the graduate level of education. Vanessa’s affiliation with the Centre will enable her to gain further guidance on how to conduct research, a tool that will be useful for prospects of academics.

The activities will also allow the internship candidate to create valuable relationships with scholars and practitioners in the field of educational research, monitoring and evaluation, and management in Ghana. Vanessa believes she is flourishing academically and professionally since the atmosphere provided for the internship is conducive to independent study and professional growth. The placement which began on June 4th 2018 is expected to come to an end on 13th July 2018.

Credit: Dr. Mark Owusu Amponsah