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10,000 schools to benefit from $219m education improvement projects
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has launched the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) to help improve the standards and quality of education in low-performing basic schools across the country.
The project, which was launched at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday with the support of the World Bank, is expected to improve the quality of education in 10,000 schools across the country.
Under GALOP, government will invest US$219 million on a comprehensive set of interventions that addresses constraints from teaching to learning in basic schools.
President Akufo-Addo said the project will ensure that teachers in the early grades are given the necessary support to continue learning in line with the new curriculum introduced by the government.
In addition, he said schools will receive teaching and learning materials, heads of schools will be trained on improved school management techniques, and supervision and assessment systems will be strengthened.
“Ten thousand low-performing basic schools, across the country, have already been selected to benefit from the Project, and I am confident that the implementation of GALOP would help drive standards and quality in these schools,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo observed that in spite of the numerous steps taken by his administration over the last three and half years to improve basic education in the country, a lot more work needs to be done.
“We must address the problem of low learning outcomes that reflect in the performance of some of our children at the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA), and Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE),” he said
The President said government has implemented significant reforms to improve access, quality of education, infrastructure, teacher training and professionalisation, curriculum development, school inspection, and technical and vocational education and training.
Through the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, President Akufo-Addo noted that 1.2 million Ghanaian children, the largest in the history of the country, are now in the country’s education ecosystem, 400,000 of whom would otherwise have been excluded.
“Over the last three and a half years, we have done a significant amount of work to boost education at the primary school level. In September 2017, we introduced a new curriculum for kindergarten to primary `school that reflects the realities of our aspirations. Under this administration, we have increased the capitation grant by 120 per cent from GH¢4.50 per child to GH¢10.00. We continue to invest in infrastructure, and in the supply of teaching and learning materials for our children,” he said.
The Minister of Education, Mathew Opoku Prempeh, said the government considers education as the shortest distance to migrate from poverty to prosperity and will be made available to all.
“As a country, we have had several challenges with quality learning outcomes reflecting in our poor performance in our early grade reading assessment, early grade mathematics assessment, programme for international students assessment and, with the West Africa Students Examinations, the results have not been very good,” he said.
The Education Minister said the government has introduced several measures to reform and improve the quality of education and indicated the GALOP will be one of the largest investments in the basic school sector to further help improve the quality of education.
Source: Ghanaian Times
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
