A legal practitioner and Gender Activist, Mrs. Sheila Minka-Premo has stressed on the need to create more opportunities for female farmers to have access to land and other resources to enable them to improve their livelihood and generate wealth. She called for sensitisation of women on their lands rights to secure land tenure as well as strong advocacy to ensure the enforcement of relevant laws that had been enacted to improve the policy framework for women. Mrs. Minka-Premo made this statement at a public forum to commemorate the International Women’s Day Celebration held under the auspices of the Centre for Gender, Research, Advocacy and Documentation (CEGRAD) of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies at the University Main Auditorium. The event was on the theme “Land Rights for Women in Securing Decent and Sustainable Livelihoods.” The legal Practitioner noted that there were a lot of challenges that affect their ability to access and hold on to land for their livelihood. She added that apart from the few challenges for literate women who have the resources to purchase their own land, they do not have problems controlling and using land they have legitimately acquired and secured by registration.  She, however, observed that “a majority of women in Ghana who use land for agricultural purposes in particular, access to and over land is very challenging.” Mrs. Menka-Premo posited that even though there was no law that prohibited women from acquiring land for commercial investment in agriculture which is more lucrative because “ the purchasing power of the female farmer is limited and they have difficulty accessing loans and finance, they also have challenges in acquiring long term interest in lands for such investments.” She further intimated that marriage women had to combine domestic and customary law obligations which required them to assist their husbands with the cultivation of crops on their farms. According to the legal practitioner and Gender Activist, Ghana as a state party to the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (AW, was required to ensure the removal of discrimination against women in all areas of life including access to and control over land. she further stated that the state should retain a regulatory role in the disposition of stool lands to provide some degree of protection to rural livelihoods where women engage in agriculture are most vulnerable. With regard to recommendation to improve women’s land rights, Mrs. Menka-Premo called on the state to retain a regulatory role in the disposition of stool lands to provide some degree of protection to rural livelihoods where women engaged in agriculture were vulnerable. She also recommended a review of land policies and legislation to strengthen the rights of the poor, women and marginalised groups adding that “Affirmative action should be taken to ensure that women are represented in key positions to enable them push for needed changes. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro, who chaired the function underscored the contributions of women to the socio-economic and political development of Ghana and therefore called for more attention towards the utilisation of knowledge and skills of women through the educational system. He pointed out that “when women control the process of land acquisition, there will be less litigation since men are less tempted to engage in corrupt act.” He also tasked the Faculty of Law to conduct research on why the reviewed Intestate Succession Law Bill has not been passed by Parliament. The event attracted various organised women groups in the Central Region, some senior high school students, participants and resource persons for the Harmattan School and a cross-section of members from the University Community.  

The Central Regional Minister, Mr. Kweku Ricket Hagan has congratulated Master Kofi-Quakyi Oduro, a former student of the University Junior High School for winning the Central Regional best student for the President’s Independence Day Award for the 2015 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Mr. Hagan promised to make him an ambassador to inspire boys and girls in basic schools in the region to work towards achieving excellence in their education. He indicated that “Though we have good senior high schools in the country but our children cannot make the required grades to attend these schools so we shall make you an ambassador to serve as encouragement to your peers in the public schools.” He also promised to present a laptop to Master Oduro for his effort. The Regional Minister made these statements when a team led by the Cape Coast  Metro Director of Education, Madam Enyonam Afi Amafuga,  presented Master Oduro to him at the Regional Coordinating Council. He commended the headteacher and staff of the school for producing brilliant students and urged them to continue to make the Central Region proud. Master Oduro who is presently a student at the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, Legon was part of 20 students who were recently honoured by the Vice-President of Ghana, His Excellency, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur for excelling in the 2015 BECE at the State House as part of the 59th Independence Day Celebrations. The selection of the 20 award winners was based on their performance in the BECE, participation in co-curricular activities, particularly their involvement in school club activities, sports, community service and leadership roles, exemplary conduct, good moral behaviour, and other special qualities of excellence. With regard to his prize, Master Oduro said he received an iPad, plaque, certificate, medal, scholarship package for SHS, cash and products from Nestle Ghana Limited. He said the UJHS was also presented a certificate. The Headteacher of UJHS, Mrs. Kate Frimpong who was part of the team, said 14 students from UJHS have won the award for different years. She seized the opportunity to appeal for assistance for the school to improve its infrastructure. She indicated that the UJHS was normally placed in the private school category and therefore left out in terms of government’s support. Earlier, a similar presentation was made to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. George K. T. Oduro and the Registrar, Mr. John Kofi Nyan. They congratulated the school for always working towards achieving excellence and encouraged Master Oduro to aspire for greater laurels as he climbs the educational ladder.      

Ghana as a developing country must incorporate science, technology, and innovation into its economic and development strategies so as to accelerate its progress. “There is no doubt that science education is central to the lives of all citizens in the world. Presently, we live in a complex world and science knowledge has become so critical in making sense of it all”.  A Professor of Science Education at the Department of Science and Mathematics Education, University of Cape Coast, Prof. Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, expressed these sentiments when he delivered an inaugural lecture on the topic: Pre-Tertiary Science Education in Ghana: Curriculum, Teaching, Resources and Students Performance. Prof. Ghartey Ampiah who has 29 years experience as a professional teacher intimated that Science and technology therefore, have become major cultural products of human history, and all citizens, irrespective of their occupational needs, should be acquainted with them as elements of human culture. He averred that it was important for citizens of both developing and developed countries to have a certain level of science literacy to be able to cope with the demands and problems of a science-oriented society in the context of their lives outside school. He was of the view that, compulsory science literacy lessons taught in schools particularly at the primary and junior high school (JHS) levels will benefit students in their everyday life if properly designed.   He however, raised concerns about the kind of science that is taught as prescribed by the curriculum, the kind of people who teach the science, how they teach it and with what resources, and how students perform in science. “It is critical for students who learn science to understand it and also develop interest in it,” he added. The Professor of Science Education conceded that science curricula the world-over has been heavily loaded with content and the Ghana science curricula was not exceptional.  He added that attempts to delineate what aspect of science are important for all students to learn and what should be studied beyond basic science literacy, which will be beneficial to students who will not go on to offer careers in science have proved elusive to curriculum developers in many countries including Ghana. He said the expectations of pupils in the 2012 lower primary and upper primary school science were too ambitious considering their level of maturity. He therefore called for the need to revisit the 2012 primary and JHS science curricula.   He revealed that West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) results for the four science subjects; elective biology, chemistry, physics and integrated science, over the past five years (2011 to 2015) have shown disturbing results of a general decline in performance but the underlying factors were not being addressed. He cited unrealistic and overloaded science curriculum for basic schools, poor resources for instruction that is lack of computers, educational software, science laboratories for basic schools and SHS, poor quality of teachers and inappropriate pedagogy, low content knowledge of basic school teachers and lack of laboratory activities in basic schools and SHS as some of the reasons for the poor performance of pupils and students at the basic and secondary levels respectively.