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

Authorities of the University Basic Schools have presented six trophies won at the just ended Universities Basic Schools Sports Association games to the management of the University at a short ceremony held at the Council Chamber.

The UCC Basic Schools won five trophies in addition to the overall while their counterparts from the University of Ghana also took home five with University of Mines and Technology and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology taking none.

UCC Basic Schools hosted the three-day sporting events which featured athletics and football.

Speaking at the presentation, the headmistress of the Primary School, Mrs. Georgina Aglobitse said the activities during the period went well and could therefore not keep the glory to themselves but share with all relevant stakeholders.

Mrs. Aglobitse commended the trainers for their hard work saying “they are our secret. These teachers have worked extremely hard and need to be commended”.

The Director of Legal, Consular and General Services, Mr. Moses Abnory thanked the teachers for keeping to their promise to host and win the games, noting “Thank God that you promised and you have delivered”. He advised them not to sleep on their oars since their competitors would do everything possible to upstage them at the next meeting. He also commended the athletes for their outstanding performance and urged them to train at all times to keep them in good shape.

Prof. L. K. Sam-Amoah who received the trophies on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, described the feat as “this is an amazing feat you have chalked”.

Prof. Sam-Amoah said the Basic Schools were noted for their excellent academic performance, so if they have added sporting events to it, it showed that any school that did well academically could also do well in sports. He said: “we want you to know we really appreciate what you have done. Thank you so much for making the University shine”.

He also commended them for winning the games on three consecutive times since its inception five years ago.

The Directorate of Physical Development and Estate Management (DPDEM) in collaboration with the Training and Development Section has organised a two-day training programme on Construction Health and Safety Management for staff of the Directorate.

The training programme is aimed at providing staff of the Directorate with requisite skills and knowledge to ensure safety at the work place. In addition, it would equip them in Occupational Health and Safety with requisite skills and knowledge to successfully complete projects without significant injuries and damage to properties. Participants would also be taken through legal requirements on construction safety in Ghana.

In his open remarks, an Assistant Registrar at DHR, Mr. Isaac Adom-Konadu, who represented the Director of Human Resource, said the workshop would equip them with knowledge and skills to carry out their work without getting involved themselves in accident at the construction site. He said the University would continue to safeguard the welfare of staff, stressing that “Management will create a conducive working environment for all categories of staff to ensure that they derive job satisfaction”.

Mr. Adom-Konadu called on participants to take the training programme seriously to enable them educate their other colleagues in the Directorate. He was optimistic that the training programme would have positive impact on their work to benefit the University.

On his part, the Director of DPDEM, Mr. Philip Ntim, said Health and Safety, was a critical issue in the working environment. He said most organisations, especially the construction, mining and oil and gas industries have policies on Work and Safety that regulates how staff perform their duties.  “It helps workers to carry out their work perfectly without causing harm to them,” he indicated.

Mr. Ntim said health and safety was very important in UCC’s setting, because most of the renovation and construction works were done in-house and there was, therefore, the need to enforce some guidelines to protect life and property. He appealed to participants to make good use of the available resources, like crash helmet, safety boots and uniforms to avoid accidents at the working environment.

Mr. Ntim said a dirty environment was an indictment on the workers, saying “the working environment tells a lot about the attitude of the workers and their supervisors so the construction site should not expose people to harm or danger”.  He noted that a good health and safety policy meant increased productivity but most organisations considered the implementation of the policy as very expensive. He said the Directorate would develop a template to check the working environment after the workshop.

The Centre for Gender Research Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD) has organised a seminar for students of the University Practice Senior High School (UPSHS) as part of its outreach activities.

The seminar was aimed at sensitizing the students on issues of gender, drug abuse and pornography.

Opening the seminar, the Director of CEGRAD, Dr. Genevieve Adukpo, said the mandate of the Centre was to facilitate the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality in the University Community and also embark on outreach programmes to both public and private organisations. She said students of UPSHS have been attending programmes of CEGRAD and therefore, it was important for the Centre to also reach out to them at their premises.

Dr. Adupko said the presentations at the seminar would equip the students to help them in their development adding that “We want you to be responsible adults so this interaction will give you some form of exposure and knowledge on how to relate to each other”.

The Assistant Head, Domestic of UPSHS, Mrs. Rosemary Dare, said management of the school was poised to groom the students to become responsible leaders of the nation. She however noted that their efforts to realise this aspiration has come under serious threat because of negative practices like drug abuse, pornography, occultism, same sex activities among others which some of the students  have been found to be practicing.

Mrs. Dare thanked CEGRAD for coming to the School’s assistance through the seminar noting that “discipline is a shared responsibility”.

Delivering a presentation on Basic Concepts in Gender, Ms. Amanda Odoi of CEGRAD, said roles assigned to gender determined the categorical difference between male and female. According to her, one’s gender could attract different social recognition from one culture to the other. “Gender comes with needs that are either practical or strategic” she stated.

A senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UCC, Dr. Georgina Oduro, in her submission on Gender and Sexuality said sexuality had to do with identity, orientation, belief systems, and cultural values among others.  She said, it could also refer to socio-cultural, biological or sexual preferences, stressing that “these inform the meaning we give to sexual behaviour and sexuality goes beyond sex”.

On the sources of sexuality, Dr. Oduro stated it could be acquired from different sources including school, work, peers, religion, social media, movies, music, and fashion. She advised the students to understand changes in their bodies, explaining that “at the adolescent stage you may be tempted to engage in unhealthy sexual practices”.

Dr. Oduro called on the students to confront the realities by approaching a professional counsellor when they face any difficulty as far as their sexual life was concerned. She said unhealthy sexual lifestyles may lead to several reproductive health issues which may lead to Sexually Transmitted Infections, Cervical Cancer “Psychologically, you will be going through the trauma of getting pregnant, it may also cause disability like obstetric fistula and the social consequence is poverty” she explained.

Dr. Oduro warned that most relationships at the adolescent stage did not end in marriage so they should concentrate on their studies. She urged the students to use their time productively, set goals for their lives and stand out as responsible individuals to achieve great things after their education.

Taking the students through the Psychological Effects of Pornography, Occultism and Substance Abuse, Dr. Michael Anim, said a survey he conducted in a particular city in Ghana involving 700 youth portrayed that most of them were engaged in watching pornography. He explained that pornography has to do with writings, images, sounds, speeches, words about prostitute and prostitution.

Dr. Anim said marijuana, cocaine, tramadol and other hard drugs attack the conscious areas of the brain and produce certain psycho-social effects which make the body behave abnormally. “Such individuals don’t have meaningful life; they are too anxious, feel isolated, uncontrolled and feel stressful in life,” he noted.

Dr. Anim further noted there were some influential people in society who normally lure the youth into such acts. “They use strategies like brainwashing and indoctrination to entice you into same sex, pornography, drug abuse and other unhealthy lifestyles,” she explained.