Registrar General: Wrong Move

Since the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development asserted that the private sector is the engine of growth, the expression almost assumed the status of a cliché in Ghana, yet the private sector is really hemmed in for sustainable practices. State institutions set up to support the private sector tend to subject the sector to practices that disempower, rather than empower. Sometimes, one wonders if such institutions bombard the private sector with harsh requirements simply to sabotage government’s plans to boost private sector development – employ the teeming masses trapped by vicious poverty.

Business registration in Ghana is a most frustrating experience; even the literate get treated like illiterate. Forms must be filled by an officer of the Department. Regardless of how meticulous an applicant attempts to be, flaws would be detected, and the forms would eventually be filled by an officer. The baffling aspect is that the forms are quite straight-forward. Then there is renewal of registration; this article targets the flat penalty fee of GH ¢350.00 for defaulting businesses.

I just visited the Department in Western Region, where an official showed me a stack of renewal/re-registration forms discarded by business owners who had been upset by the fine. I was informed that all the processes had been taken care of until the payment stage when the businesses were given a bill upped by GH ¢350.00. I asked myself whether the businesses in question would redeem themselves or abandon the registration activity. The question was prompted by this admission from the official: “There is nothing we can do about it” [emphasis mine]. That is the innate statement used not only to distance self from the rigidity that characterises administrative procedures in Ghana, but to also legitimize nauseous bureaucracy which actually pushes back national development. I will explain my point.

The paper utilised in preparing the discarded registration forms alone cost the tax-payer a fortune. Should the businesses involved decide to abandon the processes, a hefty sum from already limited funds would be wasted. The businesses may not suffer, because they would simply register new businesses, in which case, the only loser would be Government – in reality, the tax-payer. The Government is encouraging entrepreneurship in Ghana in a bid to offload some employment responsibilities to the private sector. The recent decision by the Registrar General may imply business shut-down, negating Government’s effort to partner the private sector in boosting existing business. The loss of revenue would hurt the Government badly.

If one believes the official about the Department’s helplessness in the implementation of the directive, then the directive comes from a higher office, so one would logically conclude that Government is sabotaging its own effort in empowering the poor and the youth. My argument is probably incongruous but not impossible, though my respect for this Government sways me from such belief. I am always highly suspicious of the weather and politicians, but I pray that my suspicion remains just that.

In other words, there is a pragmatic solution than the one embarked on by the Registrar General or whoever might be behind that directive. I will never advocate that tax defaulters or exploitative businesses be allowed to go scot-free; however, I am against the idea of the flat penalty fee, for now. I am naïve when it comes to economics, but I know that Government should seize every opportunity to recoup money owed it rather than dissipate funds or close down avenues to funds. What if the penalty was reduced to GH ¢50.00 as a warning against a hefty sum next year? It should be accompanied by intensive public education about honouring taxes and a warning that, henceforth, a pinching penalty awaits businesses which default in registration. If that motivates even half of defaulters to renew on time, imagine the funds that could stream into Government coffers, in addition to legitimizing the statuses of businesses.

There could be categorization of penalties; some businesses are registered but not being operated for various reasons. Such ones should be penalised with a small amount. Of course, if Ghana had a reliable database of residents, it would be easy to determine from income levels whether a business is operational or not. Then the inactive ones could be given the necessary tax relief,

A cross-section of Ghanaians is very ignorant about taxes; they are proud when they evade taxes. Is this not the perfect time to educate the populace about the role of taxes in sustaining the free SHS, the effective implementation and sustainability of the “One District, One Factory Policy”? Is it not about time the populace was educated about the realities of getting to the “Ghana beyond Aid” destination? Indeed, it is time to scream to Ghanaians that international aid and donations are taxes from the contributing nations, and that we are pathetic when we simply squander our funds and scramble for others’ sweat funds? A multi-sectorial approach would be most effective in such sensitization processes.

The fact is that the Registrar General should think beyond penalising businesses; it should focus on law enforcement. Businesses must be renewed annually and taxes filed aside from that filed for Ghana Revenue Authority. That civic responsibility should be drummed home to business owners. In business proposal documents, aspiring business owners are informed that taxes are paid according to income; therefore, businesses enable owners to earn higher income, which translates into higher taxes. In other words, people should know the income implications of setting up businesses. Ghanaian businesses cannot play ignorance forever; the Registrar General should start that sensitization NOW.

The education path might be more effective in turning business owners into willing tax payers than the penalty slapped on them. In the current situation, unscrupulous officers would devise means to help businesses evade the penalty, then collect gratitude money. Once again, the nation loses. My question: Is the Registrar General or the source of the directive willing to be objective about this, adopt a holistic approach or will it maintain its myopic stance, risk alienating businesses and deprive Government of desperately-needed funds?

What Would be Better than Mathematical Sets

In an apparent grand gesture, some well-meaning Ghanaians distributed mathematical sets to a cross-section of candidates writing the 2018 Basic Education Certificate Examination. Considering the financial constraints of some Ghanaians, one would not be surprised that an appreciable number of the candidates might not have owned mathematical sets until they received the gifts. The benefactors deserve gratitude for thinking about deprived parents and children.

However, the situation could have been handled in a different and more pragmatic manner. Mathematical literacy is very low among basic school children. Performance in maths examination has been declining over the years. The poor performance gets replicated at the secondary level. Concerned educators really are baffled about how mathematics is handled in both basic and secondary school classrooms, so that graduates end up lacking basic mathematical literacy.

The pragmatic approach, therefore, should be tackling the core problem, the teaching and learning challenges that negate classroom efforts aimed at imparting numeracy to pupils. Amongst other measures, classroom practices from kindergarten through senior high school ought to be revisited for radical improvement. Personnel in charge of the classrooms should be retrained and monitored effectively for performance. Serious thought should be given to ways through which information technology could be utilised not only to enhance studies in mathematics, but also to ensure that pupils and students begin to like the subject. A likeness for the subject would be the best motivation for learners to pursue mathematical literacy.

Teachers should strive to bring reality into mathematical classrooms. In rural areas, where electricity and electronic devices are in short supply, innovative teachers could utilise local materials such as bottle tops, stones/pebbles, sticks to explore numeracy in kindergarten and lower primary. In the upper classes, local settings could be used to explain concepts and formulae. Numerous examples could be designed from our market settings alone. Yes, mathematics could be fun and practical for learners.

In other words, the problem facing learners is not just about lacking working tools or equipment. Giving mathematical sets to pupils who may not able to draw the y and x axis, let alone plot lines defeats the intention behind the offer. In the good old days, students were taught how to use the tools in the set, in geometry. My mathematics teacher, Mr. Osei-Sarfo, patiently took us through the process of placing a pencil in the compass so as to be able to plot and chart precise lines. Even in secondary form 1, majority of us were challenged by that simple process. The teacher kept repeating that if we failed to place the pencil right, our lines will not be accurate. We had a good sense of humour and made so much fun of one another whenever the compasses looked like broken necks.

I have been thinking about that experience since I read about the mathematical set gifts to the pupils. I asked myself: How many of the pupils would know how to use the tools to solve mathematical problems? What is more important, how many of the candidates would really comprehend the problems that would be given them to solve, which comprehension would guide them to utilise the tools in the set accurately? In short, are the students even prepared for the mathematics examination?

Whilst I may speculate about the questions, I know for a certainty that teaching/learning mathematics is bogged down with the severest of challenges. The challenges effectively render the giving of mathematical sets ostentatious, rather than pragmatic. I recommend that in future, the mathematical sets should be given to needy pupils, at least, six months before the final examination. That way, even if teachers are not able to help pupils utilise the tools, the latter may get assistance from parents or siblings.

Above all, maths-inclined teachers from secondary and tertiary institutions, parents and students could be mobilised to volunteer their time to complement primary teachers’ efforts in teaching fundamental mathematics. Such volunteers would practise sums with pupils. Volunteering might be for thirty minutes or an hour, yet it might go a long way to motivate pupils to grasp basic mathematical concepts.

Pupils and students need to understand that mathematics not only helps humans to understand our universe, but it aids us in solving daily problems. We deal with mathematics in everyday life. Learners should be helped to understand that they apply the principles of mathematics throughout the day, and that the classroom lessons help them to put a name/concept to things they do every day. When mathematics is reduced to such simple terms, learners might change the mentality that maths is too difficult a subject to grasp.

The Nation does not have a choice: If the objective is to create entrepreneurs, critical thinkers and innovators for society, then mathematics should be offered to learners in a pragmatic manner. Teachers should sharpen their numeracy skills before their teaching can have an impact on learners. Of course, pupils must develop enthusiasm for learning mathematics. A proactive approach could ensure that. Currently, a cross-section of the candidates may not know how to use the tools in the mathematical set. However, if they really understood the underlying principles of the subject, they could improvise the tools from local materials to demonstrate applied knowledge. All stakeholders of education must join forces to ensure that pupils have enabling classrooms for fun teaching/learning of mathematics. This is not the time for ostentation, please!

Refining the Entire Person: The Ultimate Goal of Education

The massive expansion in access to education, … is adding many years of schooling, but much less learning, during childhood and youth

                        African Development Forum Series

From prehistoric cultures through the Old and New World Civilizations, through classical cultures, education consistently targeted the refinement of individuals. Education was used to mould children’s behaviour, guide them in learning about their culture, preparing them for their role in society. Whereas the purpose of education has evolved over the centuries due to societal needs and aspirations, as well as technology, to mention these, aspects such as transmission of acquired knowledge and refining of behaviour for diverse reasons have not changed. Irrespective of their cultures, as children grow, they are taken through processes which enable them to become assets to their respective societies, even as they cultivate habits which endow them with personal dignity. Thus, the concept of education has evolved from the simple process of enculturation to a multi-purposed human endeavour.[i]    

This paper advocates that for maximum benefits of education, not only does the entire person has to be targeted, but the teaching/learning processes must simultaneously prepare the learner for current community, nation and global needs. Education must also endow the educated with adaptable skills which would enable them to successfully navigate their way through complex professional, socio-cultural and economic changes. Hence, in the 21^st Century when technology rapidly dictates changes in almost all facets of human endeavour, education is effective if beneficiaries are empowered to be equally adept at utilizing human intelligence and technology in a balanced manner to address diverse personal and societal needs. The paper thus critiques the current major teaching approach – extra classes – and recommends a humanist approach, rather than the current banking classroom practice.

The teaching/learning processes ought to aid learners to become independent learners who can navigate their own learning to their desired professional and socio-cultural spaces[ii]. Contemporary learners have the advantage of physical and technological exploration of knowledge, which effectively creates global opportunities for personal and societal manoeuvres[iii]. In other words, good education engenders a certain versatility in beneficiaries, which versatility is no fluke but must be nurtured across spaces, especially in the classroom. A 20^th Century Brazilian educator located the nurturing teacher/learner relationship in dialogue. He decried the practice whereby education is operated as “banking – the educator making ‘deposits’ in the educatee"[iv], which practice currently aptly captures Ghanaian education.

Curriculum developers plan teaching/learning of subjects in chunks of information, which chunks are serialised in small units of information, spaced to cover oral instruction, written and practical activity, and possible application of ideas gleaned from the delivery processes, all timed to aid quality information delivery, reflective reading for assimilation, and eventual evaluation. A teacher has the professional and ethical responsibility to honour the time-bound syllabus. Failure to do that detracts from a teacher’s claim to professionalism. However, an appreciable majority of teachers, especially in basic and secondary education, have legitimised extra teaching – at an extra cost to parents –on the pretext of overloaded syllabi.

What was done sparingly in the past to fill genuine information gaps on the course syllabus has become a regular activity for most schools. At the primary level, extra classes are organized from the kindergarten level to the JHS level. The only exceptional category remains babies in the womb. The situation is no different at the secondary level, where a cross-section of teachers deliberately cover a portion of the syllabus during regular school hours and cover the rest during extra classes. Some secondary schools have legalised extra classes for extra income; in such situations, the general time-table has been extended for an hour. A cross-section of science teachers organize extra-extra classes, sometimes at odd hours, disadvantaging day students in the process, in order to cover the syllabus. Of course, students might be told that the extra time is optional, but when just about every classmate class is participating, how could a handful opt out, especially if the teacher stresses that the extra time is necessary in order to cover the syllabus? 

Ideally, all contemporary pupils and students in Ghana should be super geniuses, considering the rate at which teachers bombard them with information. However, the evidence in tertiary classrooms indicate that the fixation on extra time for teaching/learning is rather turning learners’ brains dormant. Increasingly, we are getting students who can barely read, cannot construct sentences in English, after learning English for twelve years. What is worse, students possess hardly any comprehension skill, so the concepts of analytical reading, critical thinking can barely be broached in most cases. In effect, the average contemporary Ghanaian learner is not an engaged reader, thinker nor writer. A critical question: Are students spending the same time on reflective reading as they do receiving information? In most tertiary classroom situations, the answer would be no. Since students can apparently not defend the certificates that send them to tertiary classrooms, stakeholders have genuine reasons to contemplate the educational system.

         

The 2014 World Economic Forum report envisions a new target for the 21^st Century education; it advocates that technology should be utilised to nurture social and emotional learning. That vision has no room for mere dumping of information on learners. Rather, learners should be able to communicate, collaborate and solve problems, which qualities could be acquired through constant dialogue, exposure to situations or role play, the analysis of which could aid learners to develop comprehension and critical thinking skills[v].

Source: 2014 World Economic Forum Report

The global body stresses lifelong learning skills, not short-term ones which enable learners to memorise information in order to pass examination and promptly forget the knowledge acquired. It emphasises a balance in seeking intellectual abilities and social insights, learning practical and active skills and developing attitudes and values. That constitutes effective teaching/learning[vi]. Such products are able to defend their certificates because acquisition of accurate knowledge renders them competent professionally, technologically, economically and socio-culturally.

Source: 2014 New Economic Forum Report

Considering that ICT dictates the pace in global education, some honest questions are necessary for evaluating current classroom positions in Ghana:

·         Are the schools incorporating ICT culture in their daily teaching/learning activities?

·          How are they utilising information technology to nurture pupils’/students’ potential in engineering, mathematics, agricultural studies?

·         How are the schools utilising computer programmes to aid foreign language studies? How are the schools being innovative, and practical in addressing critical issues such as waste management?

·         Are students being introduced to extra-curricular activities that might unleash entrepreneurship potential?

·         Are the schools operating in sync with current national policies such as digitalization?

·         Ultimately, are the schools imparting 21^st Century Skills?

All stakeholders ought to consider these questions if we really are targeting proactive education.

---

[i] Education. (2018). Pulled from the World Wide Web https://www.britannica.com/topic/education

[ii] Rogers, C. (2012). Experiential learning: Instructional design. Pulled from the World Wide Web

       http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/experiental-learning.html

[iii] Oliver, B., Nikoletatos, P., von Konsky, B., Wilkinson, H., Ng, J. Crowley, R. Moore, R. & Townsend, R. (2009). Curtin’s iPortfolio: An   online space for creating, sharing and showcasing evidence of learning. Proceedings from ascilite Auckland ’09. Pulled from the World Wide Web  http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/auckland09/procs/oliver-poster.pdf

[iv] Smith, M. K. (1997, 2002). Paulo Freire and informal education’, the encyclopaedia of informal education. Pulled from the World Wide Web [http://infed.org/mobi/paulo-freire-dialogue-praxis-and-education/

[v] 2014 World Economic Forum Report

[vi] General Objectives of Learning. (2018). Pulled from the World Wide Web https://www.britannica.com/science/pedagogy

Open Letter to President Akuffo-Addo and Education Minister I

Dear President and Minister,

I write to you as an advocate for quality education and as someone who agrees with your laudable motives for improving education in the country, especially basic and secondary levels. Your changes are occurring in difficult times. If Charles Dickens were here, he would definitely call our days Hard Times, because now most teachers see money, not human potential. Many are clueless that the products they fail to nurture pose the biggest threat to society. Amidst such chaos, your Government has taken the courageous stand to fund secondary education, increase access to education, rid the system of exploitative practices.

Parents, guardians, all pragmatic Ghanaians appreciate the services being provided for free: “Admission, feeding and boarding, tuition, textbooks, library, science resource centre, computer laboratory, examination, one meal for day students. Fact: This country has enough for everyone’s needs; it does not have enough for everybody’s greed or extravagance. With frugal use of tax payers’ money, the policy can not only be sustained amidst any challenges, but it can also be improved.

Dear President, I share your sentiment wholly that America’s decision to completely fund secondary education a century ago has brought the nation to its current destination of a beacon of educational excellence and quality lifestyle. Additionally, when the Russians pioneered space exploration, President Kennedy acknowledged that America was operating a moribund school curriculum and rapidly worked out a dynamic science curriculum that responded to changing times. Even so, a century ago, America did not have the benefit of Information Technology (IT). Currently, that is an ace up Ghana’s sleeve. The hassles that characterised admission in 2017 need not be repeated. IT could smoothen the processes, come September 2018.

In computerised learning systems, one can conveniently access information and services online. In Ghana, however, when examination results are released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), it means parents/guardians must buy a scratch card for a code with which to access and download results from WAEC website. That should have changed in 2017, Sirs. But it did not; therefore, the GES ought to improve its computer system in order to remove the bottlenecks for parents and guardians. Utilize the Internet.

Effective this September, immediately WAEC announces its results, parents and candidates should be able to access examination results from its website or a telephone hotline, using candidate’s numbers, from the comfort of their homes. Within the first week, WAEC should offload the entire results onto the GES database for immediate activation and dissemination. By the second week, parents and candidates should be accessing the admission lists from the website.

The essence of computerization ought to be the convenience of online access of information and expedited services. That has not been the culture of GES computerisation system. In 2016, following the announcement of release, parents thronged school campuses, some travelling two or three regions, only to be told that the GES could not abide by its schedule, so they had to wait a day or two. Those who primed themselves for return trips found themselves in a fix. Even though the scenario was different in 2017, it could be further improved upon. There has been a precedent.

In the era of Common Entrance Examination, WAEC simultaneously posted master results to centres in each region and lists of students to their respective choices, names of unsuccessful candidates excluded. Candidates who passed could tell from their marks whether they would be admitted by their first or second choice. Schools readily prepared and mailed admission letters and prospectuses to candidates and parents. The examinations were written in March/April; by July ending, the outcomes had reached candidates and parents. That was the manual age. Contrarily, this is the electronic age, so numbers notwithstanding, accessing WASSCE results should be expedited.

Only a dynamic IT system could smoothen high school admission processes. The GES website must have a link for admission, so that candidates can ascertain which of their four choices they have secured. The same site must have a link for prospectus which would be accessed and downloaded by parents. Not only would the link save parents multiple trips to the schools, but it would render the processes transparent. Such transparency would pre-empt the situation where schools can add superfluous items that compel parents to pay money they should not, thereby, negating Government’s efforts to provide free secondary education. Since PTA levy is mandatory, MoE/GES could ensure that the schools do not utilise that to replicate illegitimate payments.

Educational institutions elsewhere which handle larger numbers than our BECE and SHS candidates manage their examination systems electronically, so Ghana can do same. But it will not be done through the communication service providers. We have seen the chaos they can cause. The Ministry should explore the technical skills of the electronic team that collated and released accurate election results locally and internationally within a few hours of closing elections in December 2016. That team should electronically sanitize MoE/GES computer system and service delivery by giving it a high capacity, as well as a most accessible path in order to close avenues for exploitation during admission. Without a super IT intervention, Sirs, unscrupulous elements will continuously explore innovative means to financially exploit parents/guardians.

The average intrepid Ghanaian parent cannot be relied upon to protest any such exploitation, because they are terrified of retaliatory measures by school figures. Parents will overcompensate by kowtowing to rather than exposing unprofessional or unethical practices by any of the school authorities. These very parents also constitute the electorate, President and Minister, so they will acquiesce and later complain that the Government has failed to provide free secondary education. Thus, sterilising the system electronically will be a win-win situation for all stakeholders. However, once admission is completed, learning occurs. Quality content deserves its own platform. I address that in my next letter, Sirs.

                               

Dignifying Femininity: A Challenge to Some Ghanaian Women

On Thursday April 12, 2018, BBC’s Focus on Africa featured a rather repulsive

article on some Ghanaian women. A female actor had justified her status as a kept woman – BBC’s label. A female journalist on Citi FM’s morning show had supported the actor; I paraphrase part of the journalist’s explanation: The cost of living in Ghana is very high. Accommodation is terribly expensive, it is costly to keep a vehicle …. Therefore a woman aligns herself with a married man in order to be provided with the luxuries of life. Such a nonchalant stance for possibly disrupting family life, betraying a female, destroying (girl) children’s life is numbing.

It is appalling that such a position should be taken by a career woman; it is nauseating that she is supported by another career woman. Apparently, the women in question are clueless about female independence; they obviously have little appreciation for diligence. Worst of all, the dignity that comes from enjoying the rewards of one’s hard work has eluded them. Sadly, such women miss the sterling experience of the utter satisfaction that emanates from a sense of achievement in life. Their loss! But it is a shame.

The two women might present a gloomy a picture, yet that that is the pathetic stance of a great majority of Ghanaian women. An appreciable percentage of young women strut on our campuses, yet genuine knowledge acquisition has little appeal for them. Such are happier when they circumvent diligent learning protocol in order to secure marks. They squander precious opportunity to unleash their potential, because they allow themselves to be infantilized by unscrupulous elements who support cheating and laziness. The former plunge into the kept status as students and can maintain such addiction in adult life. They covet luxury and relish ostentation.

There is nothing wrong with pursuing comfort and luxury in life, as long one proceeds conscientiously. Good accommodation, vehicles and other niceties in life come through hard work. When a person prematurely seeks such, they must resort to unscrupulous means. Such a path can only be avaricious, naïve females should know that. If the men providing the luxury did not work, would they get money to cater for both legitimate and rapacious lifestyles? And if men work, why not women? Decades after the Beijing Conference and in the year of the #Me too Movement, does any female have a cause to be a man’s kept woman? Not if she’s decent, not if she’s diligent, not if she’s intelligent. Indeed, the same argument goes for men.

Fact: A woman does not become a kept woman because choice eludes her. A female concedes to being a kept woman because she wants to reap where she has not sown, and that negates femininity. As long as a woman revels in her kept status, she has no claim to female dignity.

Skill Acquisition and Job Security: Empowering the Kaya-Yei

Of all the images of Ghanaians celebrating the 2016 election results featured on TV and other social media, the one that affected me most was that which captured female porters (Kaya-Yei) in a euphoric rhythmic match in Kumasi, rhythm created by the clanging of head pans, the emblem of their profession. What brought a lump into my throat was the explanation I received for their jubilation: During the 2012 election campaign, the NPP Flagbearer, Nana Akuffo-Addo, had promised them a hostel. His opponents had rubbished that promise yet did not provide accommodation for the porters while they were in power. His victory in 2016 raised the porters’ hope that their accommodation need would be fulfilled, hence, the euphoria. To wit, in this government, the Kaya-Yei can foresee an end to their street life, the homelessness that exposes them to constant sexual harassment and associated problems.

I labelled the Kaya-Yei women of hope; they have a right to expect improvement to their lifestyle. At central lorry stations and major market areas in Accra and Kumasi, one finds Kaya-Yei living horribly. Some live outside shops, on pavements. Not only are they easy prey for male sexual predators, but they are also at the mercy of the weather. The image of a toddler strapped to its mother’s chest, both dead, in the June 3 disaster still haunts many Ghanaians. One can, therefore, fully appreciate the Kaya-Yei's desperate desire for secure accommodation.

In other words, the porters have a basic, urgent need, and decision makers must be pragmatic and address that need while roping in steps that would enable the porters to have other options in life. It is good that the planners of the Alhaji Aliu Mahama anniversary targeted the empowerment of the Kaya-Yei; hopefully, they avoided the pitfall of generalising the Kaya-Yei issue. If the planners worked hand-in-hand with the various porter groups, they probably ascertained common and unique needs. Such a collaboration would not only be effective in targeting a long-term solution, but it would also dignify the hardworking females with a voice.

However, the Kaya-Yei would be dignified, not by free accommodation, but by empowering them financially so that they can pay for their accommodation. Theirs is a precarious trade indeed, with hardly any financial security. Yet government’s efforts to improve their livelihood in the past have been topsy-turvy. This time, however, stakeholders should ensure that a laudable government initiative does not fall through. There is a reference.

Empowering Apprenticeship

In 2012, I interviewed a cross-section of artisans from Bolgatanga and two other regional capitals. Among the interviewees were beauticians whose apprentices included former Kaya-Yei. A beautician in Bolgatanga praised Afrikids, an international NGO, for sustaining apprenticeship projects. She explained that Afrikids would place the unskilled in vocational programmes, support them financially till apprentices completed the training, then set them up in business, so that the beneficiaries can work and pay back the starting capital. I met three of them.

She then compared Afrikids with Asongtaba, the Government Organization that was handling a similar rehabilitation programme. She said that Asongtaba placed unskilled ones in the apprenticeship programme and left the latter to their fate. At the time, three Kaya-Yei in the programme had abandoned the training and returned to Accra for over a year, but the Organization was not even aware of that development. The Beautician explained the females’ action: They were earning a living as Kaya-Yei in Accra. Asongtaba recruited and enrolled them in apprenticeship, but it would not remit the apprentices. When the latter realised that no remittance was forthcoming, they returned to their trade in Accra. Will the current initiative travel the Afrikids path or take the Asongtaba way? Only time will tell.

Was Asongtaba resourced enough and monitored to ensure that it fulfilled its mandate as a Government oversight agency? Which collaborations did it forge? Did government demand scheduled feedback as a monitoring strategy? Did the Agency reach out to the casualties? Was there a human motive? Some drivers in Bolga gave similar accounts about Afrikids. So there is proof of the latter’s commitment and Asongtaba’s negligence. Such gaps have railroaded Kaya-Yei rehabilitation programmes in the past. Could the current planners take a cue from Afrikids, strategize to ensure that the Kaya-Yei acquire genuine skills for secure vocation, since that is the only avenue through which to meet the UN’s SDG target of fighting extreme cyclical poverty.

Closely aligned with skill acquisition is the job security such initiatives can offer the Kaya-Yei. Acquired skill would create options for dignified jobs for the women. Currently, the porters carry loads, the weight of which could never be imagined by some of us, for a pittance. There is no regulation regarding load charges. Most times, they leave it to the person that has hired them to determine a fee. If there was a structure and weight determined charges, the Kaya-Yei would not be so susceptible to exploitation. They would earn enough for decent food and accommodation and save for a rainy day. As it is, the unskilled is compelled to such hedged in existence; skill will open avenues for them.

Diverse Background

Yet, the Kaya-Yei have varied socio-cultural and economic stories, so the rehabilitation initiative must have a broad plan that can cater to various aspirations. An appreciable majority ran to the regional capitals to avoid being forced into marriage; others escaped from oppressive marriages. Some of them are victims of parental neglect or extreme poverty or social persecution. Some had a bit of education before they were compelled to take up that trade, hence, there are some bright females buried under loads, horribly underutilised, and who would love to get opportunity to study. It would therefore not augur well to clump the Kaya-Yee in a generalised rehabilitation programme. As stakeholders, they must have a voice in the direction their lives should take.

Apparently, the national goal is to nurture and unleash the full human potential of the Kaya-Yei in order to reduce or clear dependency. To achieve that, the rehabilitation programme must be backgrounded by a rich literacy programme. Any hostel that should be built for the porters should have reading rooms. Once they achieve a proficiency in reading, boarders should commit to spaced formal learning which should be well-integrated with the trade. COTVET, NVTI and the Institute of Adult Education ought to collaborate to ensure that the Kaya-Yei become empowered through intellectual development.

The NVTI has several vocational training programmes, ranged from beginner to advanced, which could accommodate various aspirations of the Kaya-Yei. It has programmes for the illiterate, semi-literate and secondary school graduates. Best of all, it could tailor a formalised apprenticeship programme for the Kaya Yei. The Institute of Adult Education could design a flexible literacy programme to suit various learning groups. COTVET would fund and oversee the project for quality and certification.                      

A major challenge to formal learning would be the Kaya-Yei themselves. Having lived as independent income earners, they would find it difficult to invest in learning, thinking they would be losing money. A tactful approach would get her to appreciate that they belong to the unemployed in disguise. In other words, the literacy programme could feature critical thinking and ethics that might enable the Kaya-Yei to develop an appropriate perspective of developing the human capital, rather than chase heavy loads yet barely eke out a living.  

Meanwhile, their lives could be made a lot easier if they used a tri-cycle to cart loads instead of carrying them. Credit groups could collaborate with metropolitan assemblies the anniversary planners, and Ministry of Children and Gender to design a system of hire-purchase of tri-cycles for the Kaya-Yei. A daily collection would ensure regular payment and eventual ownership. Of course, there would be tracking and other security issues, but therein lies the challenge. Credit groups should design innovative loan facilities for such vulnerable groups too, instead of constantly and viciously harassing salaried workers with loans. It would be a social service if the facilities lent to the Kaya-Yei at a very low interest rate such as 3 %. Everyone has a role to play in the rehabilitation, since the porters’ well-being is our well-being.

Improving the livelihood of the vulnerable Kaya-Yei would be a win-win situation for the entire nation. They are highly prone to rape and diseases, unwanted pregnancy and unplanned childbirth, all of which perpetuate a vicious cycle of extreme poverty. Such environment breeds wayward people who prey on hardworking citizens. Indeed, yanking the Kaya-Yei from their harsh existence would be a huge favour for the tax payer. So a holistic approach to the Kaya-Yei situation would be key to its sustainability, a stone that would kill many birds.

Male Porters

Male porters fall within the same brackets of rehabilitation. Virile young men who could perform well in various industries are trapped under heavy loads and other menial jobs, seriously underutilised. They are also limited by illiteracy. Sometimes they pull wooden trucks of mountainous loads. In some cases, the truck represents a graduation from carrying loads on the head; it could be outsourced to other pushers, in which case, the owner becomes the real beneficiary. Tri-cycles would ease the manual labour a bit, since there is a seat for the handler. Of course, literacy will enable some of them to opt for other vocations, leaving anti-social behaviour behind. Male or female, the porters deserve a break and dignified vocations.

The rehabilitation should be human-oriented, not politically-motivated; the porters must be considered as humans in need of assistance, not as a political score. The real target should be reducing dependency, aiding porters to acquire life-long vocational skills. Once skilled, they could secure jobs and discard street life; society would benefit. If sustained jobs raised the financial status of the porters, extreme poverty would be reduced. Above all, if the porters found other vocations and earned decent income, they would be able to look at themselves with dignity, because they would be independent citizens. That would be development!

Technical University in Ghana: The Impediments

 “For far too long vocational learning has been seen as the poor relation of academic learning”. John Hayes, MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, UK.

One of the reasons this nation is experiencing stagnant growth across sectors is that it has consistently failed to utilise education to address its needs. Decades of compromising educational standards have yielded a horrible reality of generations whose porous skills effectively bar them from securing jobs. The number of unemployed graduates was expected to hit 271,000 in September 2015, though it might have reduced bynow. Governments may not have created adequate jobs over the years, and nations across the globe may be experiencing employment mismatch, but it is equally undeniable that educational institutions have also failed to produce the type of human resources needed by industry, and Ghanaian learning institutions are major culprits. This article focuses on polytechnics and technical universities in the country.

The irony of employment mismatch is that whilst energetic youth are unoccupied, employers have positions that cannot be filled. When learning institutions pretend to impart knowledge or run moribund curricula, they produce graduates whose skills are dated. One graduate who completed a programme in Textiles Technology in one Ghanaian polytechnic is currently with GTP. When I inquired about the relevance of the programme to the work on the field, the reply was numbing: “It is like one and two.What we were taught in the programme is completely different from what pertains in industry, but I’m happytohave this opportunity to learn”. Then there was an appeal: “Please speak to the school authority to get things changed”.

Not every graduate will share this negative experience; yet the fact remains that industry keeps complaining about the poor skills graduates bring to the job. Whilst some programmes may be dated, some courses have appreciable currency, but they are handled so poorly by faculty that students barely gain from the courses. Paradoxically, the graduate quoted above pursued a programme in textiles technology, which presupposes that the programme would reflect current learning and manufacturing trend. Academic Departments that claim to be running technology courses have a responsibility to refine programmes to match technological trends. Due to the rapid evolution of technology, if Technical/Vocational programmes do not match industrial trends, graduates lose, and so do communities and nations. Ghana is experiencing that.

The success of the polytechnic concept rests on the currency of hands-on curricula; innovative teachers also bring current trends to their teaching, so even when curricula review or change is delayed, learners do not lose. Teacher innovation stems from quality action and applied research, which shed light on teaching, industrial, environmental, socio-cultural and entrepreneurial dynamics, to mention these. When institutions, teachers and the taught are aware of these forces at work, they can embark on skill acquisition paths that simultaneously fulfil personal, community, national and global aspirations. Products of such learning environment neither wallow in the house nor offer mediocre services; they excel at assigned tasks and bring innovation to the job and community.Industry desires such smart graduates. Technical universities in the country must aspire to that.

The Nation was not able fulfil the polytechnic concept before it prematurely hurdled to the technical university arena. In November 2017, I asked 19 first year students to comment on the statement, “[t]he Technical University Concept in Ghana is a misnomer”. They acknowledged in their writing that the concept is not being practiced; many others share that sentiment. That acknowledgement highlights a conundrum: Institutions are designated technical universities, but their activities belie their label. The fundamental reasons for that contradiction are academic.

This is the era of knowledge economy, operational through the Theory of Mind – the human capacity to understand issues affecting self and others, accepting and respecting differences.The application of acquired knowledge has yielded abundant information on diverse issues, some previously undreamt of; communication technology is at a peak due to the availability of dynamic information. Excellent reading, comprehension and analytical skills are crucial in accessing available information for knowledge. However, our basic education has become so porous that products have severe reading and comprehension challenges. Due to poor monitoring and institutional compromises, even struggling pupils are pushed through to the secondary schools. Over there, due to staggering numbers and fixation on extra-classes, students do not receive much help. The compromises continue up to the tertiary level where majority and the promising opt for traditional universities, leaving the polytechnics to absorb the extremely weak ones. Technical university status has not changed that anomaly.

The telling effects of the porous work being done at the primary and secondary levels are felt most acutely in the polytechnic and technical university classrooms. When students have stark reading and comprehension challenges, operating the knowledge economy is such a chore, because learners barely understand the forces that motivate humans to tackle issues of education, communication, globalization, quality and standards, gender inequality, extreme poverty, sanitation and hygiene, safe waste management, health, free trade, migration, maternal/infant mortality, population explosion, peace and security, religious fanaticism, terrorism, unemployment, youth empowerment, corruption, political delinquency, job security, tolerance, information technology, social media, fake news, deforestation, child molestation, natural disasters, climate change, to mention these, at local and international levels. When learners lack appreciation for issues impacting their daily existence, the probability that they will be critical thinkers and assume conscientious attitude tends to be low, sometimes impossible. That is the bane of Ghana, but polytechnics and technical universities get saddled with majority of such poor human elements.

Technical universities evolve from technical institutions which rigorously pursue academic excellence; they are not created by political appendage, as was done in Ghana. Logically, therefore, they pursue high-powered, innovative and applied research, engendered by super reading, comprehension and analytical skills. Teachers and learners appreciate the issues that affect humanity and not only address such through innovative research but also apply knowledge to improve human existence. We are all beneficiaries of such research. On the contrary, the products admitted into Ghana’s technical university classrooms are not equipped for such quality academic research; a lot of the teachers equate research with promotion. Most students are incapable of close reading which can help them to grasp the underlying principles of their chosen fields and strive for innovation. Logic and reasoning are endangered species in such spaces. At best, students observe and replicate existing works; but superficial knowledge cannot yield the type of intellectual excellence which characterizes technical university work, and which pushes communities and nations forward. Yet, the learners are not just lazy or dumb; primary and secondary education failed to endow most with the fundamental skills for advanced studies, for university work.

The real offence lies in the inability of the universities to appreciably fill the huge gaps of knowledge created by porous educational foundation. Students with weak skills are shoved into advanced programmes when they should be taken through immersion courses in literacy, numeracy and communication, which can help and prepare them for diploma/certificate or professional programmes. The worst academic move made by the polytechnics in the past was to marginalize diploma programmes for the Higher National Diploma programmes. The consequence is that students who have no basics from the secondary school are plunged into advanced professional programmes, some of which are handled quite superficially. Logically, many complete with porous skills, compounded by appalling communication skills. Some are maintained by the institutions, therefore, the knowledge they impart is somewhat deficient. Many others have become the foundation for technical university. It is a vicious cycle.

What is worse, hands-on training has been slipping for years, whereas technology necessitates practice. A cross-section of polytechnic and technical university teachers are myopic and limit their students to information teachers have produced in hand-outs or books instead of exposing students to diverse academic research material which can stimulate intellectual development. Students pass the courses of such teachers if they purchase such nauseous materials. Even introductory ICT is taught in that skewed manner, so how would learners grasp the basics of information technology in order to utilise such for innovation in their professional courses? In the end, secondary students who are ill-prepared for the tertiary classroom are further limited by unethical teaching practices. Instead of intellectual, socio-cultural and entrepreneurial development, learners are infantilised and packaged off to industry, ill-prepared for the competitive workforce.

The systems have continued to lack the flexibility which hallmarks Technical/Vocational systems elsewhere. The polytechnic concept, among others, offers a legitimate option to learners who do not want to study for a lengthy period, who want to combine studies with work. Such categories desire to intersperse studies with learning over a stretched period or take a terminal course for life-long skills. Proactive institutions have designed professional programmes that accommodate different categories of learners, even those with learning challenges. Not every learner desires a higher diploma or degree studies. It is crucial that the system is redesigned to attract diverse categories of learners, with a special focus on the teeming hawking youth/unemployed in disguise. Of course, accommodation does not imply compromising standards, so whether learners enrol in full-time or part-time programmes, diploma or certificate courses, they must possess literacy and numeracy skills, which equip learners for competent professional training and practice.

Sadly, Ghanaian polytechnics have consistently compromised admission standards; those converted to tertiary universities have maintained the status quo. The calibre of students admitted determines the level of intellectual work done in the classrooms; majority have a lackadaisical attitude towards academic work. A cross-section of teachers is equally apathetic about teaching. When Technical/Vocational students lack the desire to study, and teachers are dispassionate about practical teaching, government facesa diabolical combination for a national disaster, and that aptly summarises Ghana’s situation. A technical university concept is inoperable in such an environment.

The Minister quoted above has also asserted that in spite of “many calls over the years for greater parity of esteem between academic and vocation qualifications, in practice this has meant making what is practical more academic, to the detriment of both”. Ghana’s situation is worse due to deteriorating educational standards, poor monitoring, pathetic investment and poor appreciation for technical education, to name four. Another difference is that the UK consistently refines its system. In 2009, the Secretary of State for Education commissioned an educationist to evaluate the vocational system and recommend effective measures for improvement. The outcomes can be found in the Wolf Reports available on-line. Most importantly, Government has been implementing the recommendations.

It is not enough to acknowledge that Technical/Vocational education is crucial for national development. The system has been ailing for decades and requires radical attention. Unless the porous structures are rigorously rectified, any funds sunk into the system will, at best, replicate defective training systems. In principle, Ghana has an empowering Technical/Vocational framework, but the implementation is flawed, and to a very large extent, leading agencies have lost focus of the human-centred natureof the system. That goal can be recaptured, because sankofa,wonkyi, which literally translates, it is not a taboo to go back for what one has forgotten. If for nothing at all, the young blood fleeing the country for slavery, torture and horrible death on deserts, in Libya and Europe should make us retrace our steps, restructure the Technical/Vocational system, targeting skills, job security and dignified existence.