Satisfied with Mediocrity

I am not a football fan so I did not watch the match between Ghana and England. Consequently, I missed Asamoah-Gyan’s equalizer, but judging from the comments on BBC news the following morning, I missed a thriller. My loss. Yet that same news bulletin was also an eye-opener: Ghanaians are satisfied with mediocrity! I learnt that embarrassing fact from comments offered by jubilating fans interviewed by the BBC correspondent in Accra.

Apparently, the fans interviewed did not know the difference between a draw and a win. After extolling Asamoah-Gyan’s effort, the first fan ended thus: …and Ghana won”. The reporter immediately contradicted: “Ghana did not win the game”. The fan insisted: “It was an away win, away goal for Ghana”.  The second fan was equally excited: “it was an icing on the cake”, to which the reporter immediately countered: “There was no cake. Ghana was losing”. When the newsreader said, “someone will have to explain this away win for me”, I groaned from embarrassment but echoed his sentiments. Did Ghana win or draw? Someone who watched should please tell me. When a Cameroonian sent a text that Ghanaians “should not be complaisant but prepare for a win”, I silently applauded him. Here was an African who knew the difference.

I have been baffled whenever the Black Stars have been hailed as national heroes in the last two World Cup Tournaments. Even though, they always made it to the quarter finals only in both cases, in Ghana they were the world champions. Much as I laud appreciation, I believe that people should be encouraged to reach for their highest potentials. Offer praise but prod gently for improvement. That is why after both World Cup Tournaments, I asked myself how the Black Stars could ever aspire for the World Cup when Ghanaians are already satisfied with quarter final status. After listening to the dialogues above. I answered my own question, For Ghanaians, a drawn game is a win just as finishing at quarter final is equivalent to attaining the World Cup. And the pathetic reason is this: Instead of striving for and rewarding excellence, Ghanaians are satisfied with mediocrity. No wonder the nation moves backwards instead of forward. Poor Mother Ghana!

  

In Memory of Ebenezer Akwasi Affainie Acheampong The Man that he was

“Give him a bare chair, and Acheampong would contemplate, explore the object until he developed it into a major concept”.

That was how a long-term friend aptly described the man who possessed “a beautiful mind“. One could not associate with Ebenezer Akwasi Acheampong, a.k.a Achie, without being impressed by his intelligence. His high level of curiosity was fascinating but sometimes frustrating, especially, when he ventured into unknown areas. Yet his contemplative mind would painfully dissect a novel idea till he made it a familiar subject. Somehow he always managed to make any conversation a learning experience without making his listeners feel ignorant. Amidst the shallowness characteristic of many a person of our times, Achie was one person who could genuinely been described as deep. The depth of his personality was manifested in his affable and accepting nature. As admirable as these traits were, his extreme level of tolerance, even under extreme provocation, was sometimes very frustrating for friends and relatives.

Paradoxically, the qualities that rendered it exasperating to cope with him also endeared him to acquaintances and relations. His constants attempts to be a calming effect on others, his pacifist nature, coupled with his enthusiasm for work, meticulousness and quest for excellence, rendered him a gem to insightful ones. So deep a nature he possessed that the man he really was could not be discovered by the small-minded. He left too soon.

As painful as his departure was, the thought that it could have been prevented actually causes the most excruciating pain. His death underscored, once again, the inherent failures of our health system, the negligence of health workers, which often culminate in unacceptably high numbers of preventable deaths in our hospitals. As was his nature, he researched the side effects of anti-depressants and became quite familiar with the attendant health problems such as heart diseases, impotence, to mention two. He was aware, as were his doctors, that anti-depressants could have just as adverse effects on the liver and the kidneys, yet never even once, during the eighteen years he stayed on medication was he ever advised, by any doctor though he was a patient to one for over a decade, to check his health status against any side effects of those medications. His doctors, both at the private and government hospitals, never prescribed monitoring laboratory tests.

There was an occasion when a female patient--a teacher--who went to the same private hospital as Achie, inquired from a male nurse why patients’ blood pressure was never checked. She reminded the nurse of the need for such monitoring due to the heavy dosage of medication prescribed for patients. Her concerns were echoed by all the patients and relatives present. However, the nurse simply ignored all, his action raising serious concerns among patients and visitors, reminding all of the grave inadequacies of mental health service in the country. Two weeks after the incident, Achie visited the Okomfo Anokye Hospital where he was instructed to stop taking all the drugs prescribed by the private hospital. He was then given just one new drug and sent home; already he was showing the symptom of “polydipsia—increased thirst”. Four days later, March 1, 2010, he got worse and was rushed to the hospital. 

Upon arrival, his blood sugar read 26. His heart was very weak, his kidneys were shutting down and the liver was not functioning. The treatment offered brought the sugar level down to 17 but too much harm had been done to his system. He died the following day. The cause of death was “Cardiopulmonary failure … due to Acute Renal Failure”. Death, everyone knows, is inevitable, yet sometimes it occurs due to negligence, or mistakes—advertently or inadvertently—or just poor judgment. So there are nagging question about Achie’s death: Could it have been prevented? What if he had been made to go for a blood test? Why wasn’t he asked to? What if there had been a routine blood check system?

March 2^nd has come again too soon, the pain still fresh for those who care and remember! May be nothing could have been done for Achie, but there are others who could be helped. If his death, like many others’, was preventable, the least appropriate gesture is to sanitize our health system and make it preserve life rather than waste it. Yes, with targeted intervention, maximum utilization of available resources, proper initiatives, our hospitals could be redeemed from the death traps that they have become, and our health system would be a reliable one. The worst human tragedy is the preventable one. Achie is sorely missed!

Knowing Achie was nature’s gift, and we are thankful for its precious nature!

POETRY CORNER: The Marathon Mania

The Marathon mania
forever he runs
endlessly panting
Never a finishing line.
A cyber person
he may be,
yet
many a person he represents.
So busy are we in life
Nature’ beauty
we pause not
to admire.

What do we do?
Where do we go?
Kwasi’s answer
Me endlessly delight:
“We know not”.

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MILLS AND EDUCATION MINISTER

Dear President and Minister

STRATEGIC INVESTMENT SUSTAINS EDUCATION

It has become generally accepted that education paves the way for expedited development. Yet for education to yield the desired development in a country, its leaders must have the political will to invest in quality education in all forms ranging from infrastructure, enrolment, teaching-learning materials, human resources to classroom instruction, to mention five. That there is a link between education and development should be of interest to every country which desires to compete well in a world, the “scientific and technological advancement” of which has yielded the “knowledge economy”. Thus a nation’s development is conditional not upon its finances alone but also on its human resource capabilities. To bring educational systems to standards such that its beneficiaries can adapt to the speedy changes in the world, policymakers, educationist and other stakeholders must constantly strive for the inclusion of positive global trends in school curricula. Moving with the world has become necessary because the world has become interdependent so much that a community risks destabilization in many ways if it refuses to develop at a certain rate and in relevant areas at the appropriate time.

Every educational system, like society, is dynamic; subsequently, if a learning system remained stagnant, it would cease to serve the general interests and needs of its people. From that perspective, formal education in Ghana has not been allowed to stagnate. It has undergone several changes in the hope of staying abreast with the times. However, the changes are yet to yield the type of human resources prepared to put the nation first. This failure is largely due to poor management of resources and partly due to untimely changes in national governance. Additionally, sometimes, educational reforms are introduced merely for political expediency not for improving standard.

Successive governments have failed to continue educational policies started by their predecessors. Sometimes, a reform planned by one government is hastily implemented by another, many years after the proposed change. In its haste, the implementing government would fail to consider pertinent details of the reform, available resources--human and material--or simply implement selectively, ignoring those areas that might stretch resources and actually test government’s level of commitment. Oftentimes, the reforms have been mainly theoretical, creating a huge gap between theory and practice at all levels of education. Also, teachers are hardly educated well in the use of new syllabi, often leading to poor classroom instruction or worse situations where teachers use old syllabi instead of reverting to new ones. Due to poor supervision, such instances go undetected for an unacceptable period, putting some school children at a great disadvantage.

In many situations, hasty implementation of educational reforms has increased the frequency of school failures and dropouts rather than extend learning opportunities. In certain situations, the funds and resources available or targeted by originating government are no longer available at the time of implementation; or the implementing government may simply have other plans for funds available. Therefore educational changes are made without the crucial elements of improved infrastructure, teaching-learning materials and the human resources instrumental in executing curricula change. Worst of all, when ruling Governments are overwhelmed by the cost of implementing educational policies, rather than explore innovative ways for funding, they resort to educational reform. We are currently at one such crossroad.

Due to time constraints and declining performance, the duration at the secondary level was changed to four years. Anamuah-Mensah, chairman of the Committee that designed the reform, has opined that the increase may have been due to unavailable infrastructure and other resources for effective implementation of the hitherto three-year programme. The recommended strategy, however, was for Government to “devote infrastructure and resources to ... the kindergarten, the primary ... the junior high school levels (JHS) levels”, in order to secure a solid learning foundation for the secondary level. However, in an apparent attempt to rectify the situation where currently most high school graduates communicate very poorly in English and vernacular, possess woefully inadequate knowledge in mathematics and science, and are thus so limited in life, the previous government increased the years to four in order to make up for some of the lapses at the fundamental stages. Though not the ideal situation, educationists were prepared to accommodate it for a period to judge its effectiveness, while urging the government to strengthen the foundation.

But your government could not be that accommodating; after only three enrolments of the four-year group, you have reversed senior high school duration to three years. Educationists are concerned about the disruption; also the short duration could hardly be used to evaluate that system effectively. Some had suggested a ten-year pilot basis for the four year system. Even after parliamentary approval of the reversion, concerned Ghanaians still question its justification and lament the long-term damage to the generation whose education is being toyed with. A critical analysis creates the impression that the cost involved in providing infrastructure and human resource development for the extra year might have motivated the reversion. Whereas the previous government had planned to provide the resources over four years you promised to change the curriculum and offer free school uniforms to pupils, leaving out infrastructure.

A month to re-opening of the 2010/2011 Academic Year, the Minister has admitted that there is not enough classrooms to accommodate fresh secondary school entrants and has entreated the Ghana Armed Forces to be on standby with tents for those entrants who may have to be housed outside classrooms. He said it would be a temporary situation but I do not believe that. Once those students get settled in the tents and teaching starts, attention would shift onto other issues and the tents would become permanent structures. The rainy season is not over yet. The Minister also reported that “500 six-unit classrooms blocks are under construction in most senior secondary and technical schools. That may sound encouraging but the appalling fact is that were we a serious nation, these units would have been completed and keys handed over to the school this month. The worst fact is that we could have done that. Adding infrastructure was part of the reform; it was planned such that by the fourth year, the appropriate infrastructure would have been in place. If we had gone by that time-table, there would be no reason for the current tent situation. By even contemplating housing students in tents, you have taken education and nation back twenty years!

One keeps wishing that Ghana would learn from its mistakes. From my educationist point of view, there is simply no justification for this school crisis. Your government could have strategized such that, at least, the appropriate infrastructure would have been in place for a smooth transition for all students. How do we expect teaching and learning to be conducive in tents? Why should we turn our children into refugees in their own country? Do we even care about the children whose education we are so callously jeopardizing? How many children of politicians in Ghana would be among those who would sit in those tents? That the announcement was put at the back page of Wednesday August 4, 2010 issue of the Daily Graphic infuriates me. How many concerned citizens and parents saw that? Does the issue of our children’s education not warrant a front page? Dear Sirs, who speaks for the ordinary Ghanaian?

I expected the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) to vehemently oppose housing students in tents since they strongly advocated the reversal to three years. NAGRAT’s position was that the fourth year was adding to the financial burden of the ordinary Ghanaian parent. Well, the Association should now consider the future cost to parents and nation if students learn in tents. Would the environment motivate diligent study and assimilation? What good could we possibly expect from students who study in tents? And we just banned remedial classes in public schools! Yet there are other the issues.

Before the reversal, the Minister promised a curriculum review, logically, to suit the reduction in years. That has not been done. So we are going to use a four-year curriculum to manage a three-year programme. Also teachers have not been given appropriate orientation for the task of juggling two different learning groups. Of course, we are counting on God’s help whilst shirking our responsibility. Do we really expect good performance from both teachers and students?

I read once that the hallmark of a good commander is to know when to retreat. I am not asking for a retreat; I am advocating an achievable strategy. Politicians OWE the ordinary Ghanaian child. Therefore STOP all National Committee activity for a month, withhold every Parliamentary and Castle allowances in same period; use those funds to provide quality classroom structures. FINISH THAT TASK BEFORE SCHOOL RE-OPENS!

Yours faithfully

Dinah Amankwah
(Educationist)

Who Investigates the Death of the Ordinary Ghanaian?

It is good to see that even in a country where no rule seems to work, directives can be implemented immediately. Anyone who doubted that has been proved wrong by the case involving the wife of Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah. As soon as the death occurred, the IGP ordered that investigation be conducted since the woman supposedly died “through the negligence on the part of some medical staff”. Barely forty hours after the order, the Director General of Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Board Bureau (PIPS), DCOP Timothy Ashiley, informed Ghanaians in the March 23rd edition of the Daily Graphic that “with the exception of one more person to be talked to, a lot had been done by way of preliminary investigations”. He assured the general public there would be findings before the day ended.

That statement implies the efficiency of the police investigative machinery; in spite of the sad circumstances, Ghanaians can only commend the Service for such speedy action. However, that commendation would also raise issues concerning similar cases and the pathetic pace at which they are investigated. What about the young girl who died because nurses ignored her calls for attention? What about the mother whose baby was stolen at the hospital a year ago? And the mother who recovered from her caesarian section only to be informed that her son had died, and her grandmother had claimed the body for burial, even though she never gave a grandmother’s name as the next of kin and there was no record of the said grandmother? When she was hinted that a certain female employee in the ward had formed the habit of stealing newly born babies so she could sell them; she probed but she could not get an investigation started by the hospital. The case is over three years now; all she knows is that CHRAJ intends to take it up. When, she cannot tell What about the mother who died because a hospital did not have drugs because suppliers could not deliver due to delays in payment of health insurance claims? And the patient who died through side effects from medication he was taking because his doctors never bothered take routine tests that could have alerted them to the possible fatal outcome of his medication? Oh the list could go on!

Considering the high (maternal) mortality rate in the country, it is rather sad when one death is given urgent attention, giving the impression that some Ghanaians are worth more than others. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding her death, and the level of resources of the institution in which the death occurred, more tragic cases occur daily, and at an unacceptably alarming rate throughout the country’s hospitals and clinics. How many of such cases are locked up in police investigation years after occurrence?

Every Ghanaian deserves to benefit from the professionalism of the police. Dear IGP, please dive deeper into your cabinets and old files if you really mean well, for a preventable death is the real human tragedy. After all, the ordinary Ghanaian voter elevated Alhaji Inusah to the rank of a minister, therefore, the ordinary person is also worth attention!

DANGER! CHILDREN, PARENTS

Twice during the second week of  July 2009, I was stopped on the road by two girls, between six and eight years, who asked me for money. The first wanted money to buy water; the second asked for “two thousand” (GH 20 pesewas). The second girl was walking with another female child. In both instances, I refused the requests mainly because I do not subscribe to such behaviour and granting their requests would have bee encouraging them.

However, I have since been very worried about these girls because of the danger in which they put themselves every time they solicit strangers for money. I asked myself a few questions: What if I had been a paedophile, a kidnapper or a ritual murderer? Would I have been able to lure the girls into my room, a kiosk, an uncompleted building or a waiting vehicle, under the pretext of giving them the money, so I could execute my wicked plans? I probably would. What would these children do for money? Probably a lot. My own answers did not ease my apprehensions because those were not shy girls. Both looked me straight in the eye as they spoke and I could not help but get the feeling that they had had practice. Whether they are staying with parents or guardians, what have these girls been told about talking to strangers let alone begging them for money? What do those two girls know about identifying and warding off child abusers? Does anyone even care about what happens to those two girls? I do.

“Charity”, they say, “begins at home”. Those children may be imitating their adult role models or it might be that they had genuine reasons for begging. Whatever the reason, adults raising children have a huge responsibility regarding protection. Children cannot afford to be too trusting these days. Adults are no longer the nexus of safety for children in our communities. The harm caused by an abuser could be permanent or even fatal, children must be told that. No amount of food or money is worth being traumatized for life, as is often the case with child abuse or molestation. Both girls and boys are at risk. Parents, live up to your responsibilities; the best protection you can give your children is to train them to detect danger and take the necessary precautions! It is possible to outwit child abusers but it takes systematic training, love and commitment from parents to raise smart children who can thwart the efforts of adults who are a menace to children. For starters, I have a friendly advice for my young friends out there.

Any child who begs strangers for money signs a warrant for her/his own molestation, kidnapping/death. In other words, such behaviour gives paedophiles, kidnappers and all child abusers a field day!

FOOTBALL LESSONS FROM “GRIDIRON GANG”

“Gridiron Gang”, starring The Rock, is a movie about miscreant teenage boys who are trapped by neighbourhood gangs. Consequently, the boys have social and behavioural problems which send them into a correctional centre, but even there, loyalty to their respective gangs interfere with the corrective training they are expected to receive. The teenagers have problems with punctuality, being part of a team, responding to authority and accepting criticism. A Social Worker opts for one activity designed to help people improve in all four areas: “Football”[1]. The motivation behind the choice is that the game would compel the boys to apply themselves, cultivate mental toughness to endure strenuous training sessions. Constant practice leads to mastery and confidence, teaching the boys how to earn things rather than shoot their ways through life. Above all, the game gives the miscreants a focus in life, unleash their potentials, enabling them to do something with their lives. In the end, the boys break the tenacious hold of gangs, learning empathy through the game. Some progress to college and become assets to their communities, breaking the vicious chain of social liability that had hitherto characterized their lives.

I could not help but make comparisons; Gridiron Iron inmates, before they were reformed, can be likened to the larger Ghanaian society.  As a people, our sense of time is poor to unproductive degrees. About 80% of Ghanaians--young and old--would rather cheat their way through success rather than genuinely earn things in life. We reward mediocrity and non-performance. Ghanaians’ general disrespect for law and order is a source of distress to conscientious residents. Our warped sense of entertainment and passion for recklessness, as exhibited during jubilations create a strong impression of a contemptible hedonist society, devoid of any sense of propriety and aim in life. 90% of Ghanaians will tear to pieces others’ efforts rather than support constructive endeavors. Worst of all, we live for the self rather than for community and nation. Indeed, we compare extremely well with the unruly bunch at the beginning of the movie.

If only football could do for our nation what it does for the gang in the movie! Before football is introduced to the Correctional Centre, 75% of the inmates, upon release, ended up in jail or got killed in drive by shootings. After they accept football and the disciplines that come with it, only 5% suffered that fate. Football actually helps to reform majority of the boys. The qualities that come with football: individual discipline, enthusiasm for work, diligence, punctuality--good time management, team/community spirit, endurance, whole-hearted efforts, appreciation for constructive criticism, empathy, mastery, self-confidence, to mention these, are desperately needed at the Ghanaian workforce and in our communities. The good news is that Ghanaians apply all these qualities when it comes to following football. All we is have to do is extend the passion to work and everyday activities and productivity would soar, Ghanaian confidence would be boosted to sky levels, GDP would shoot up. Our natural resources would get the necessary protection and we will all live in a clean environment. We would end the dependency syndrome; earn things in life and say goodbye to aid. Oh what a beautiful Ghana that would be!

Currently, about 90% of ordinary Ghanaians are infected with a high dose of mediocrity. Instead of embracing possibilities in life, they see obstacles and failure. They simply cannot anticipate progress. Their sense of mediocrity has clouded any possible vision they might have for self, community and nation. Rather than exercise initiative to turn their ways around, brainy Ghanaians frustrate and discourage initiative of visionary ones. They blame others rather than accept their weakness and make amends. Most Ghanaians forget that choices come with consequences; they do the wrong things and blame witches for bad effects. Many have become wishful thinkers; opt for the wrong course because God will not allow any tragedy. The result: Preventable loss of lives and property, sheer wasting of resources and entrenched poverty.

“Gridiron Gang” has such valuable lessons for my country people. If only we would learn!

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[1][1] The North American type of football