Palm Oil Contamination allegation: Thorough Investigation Needed

The local palm oil industry has been hit by two major scandals in recent times, which scandals pose a risk to the health of consumers, subsequently, bad for palm oil patronage. The primary issue here is the health of consumers; palm oil dealers’ financial concerns are secondary, though legitimate. The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) confirmed the first allegation and proceeded to sanction the offending operators. In the second issue however, a week after a group of university students publicized their research report that a cross section of palm oil operators add centipedes to the oil during production, for colour and taste, the  FDA has refuted the claim, alongside strong protests from the industry. There clearly are credibility issues that must not be ignored.

A spokesperson for the FDA indicated that the allegation is being investigated, yet she declared her partiality by rubbishing the finding. She could not concede that anyone would include centipede in palm oil, for any reason. Yes, the researchers’ allegation is serious and needs thorough investigation. I am concerned that the FDA would refute an allegation it is still investigating. Apparently, the report came from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Research ethics require that only legitimate reports are shared with the community. Doubtful reports can be contested; therefore, the traders are right in challenging the university to refute or substantiate the claim. One would expect the same objective stance from the FDA.

Fact is that the FDA is not the most credible and reliable agency for food safety in spite of its national mandate. A while ago, when a researcher alerted the public to the health hazards of plastics, a spokesperson from the Agency refuted the allegations, claiming that the harm is not as high as the researcher claimed. Yet, the harmful effects of Biphemol are well reported by researchers globally. Communities interested in human safety now manufacture biodegradable plastics, some of which are imported into the country. The mandate of the FDA notwithstanding, food products of questionable safety are constantly on Ghanaian market shelves. The report that centipedes are added to palm oil is alarming but not surprising.

Every consumer of Ghanaian palm oil is interested in this issue; if some producers could add bad chemicals to palm oil for colour, what prevents others from adding centipedes to the product for the same effect? Some traders and manufacturers have completely written off ethics and morality from their business catalogues. A cross-section of farmers in the country adds carbide to food products to expedite the ripening process. Such products can make consumers sick or die. Consumers are ill-informed about the potential health risks of such contaminated food products. That such contaminated products are rejected by the international market alerts the local consumer that food in the country is not safe. Ironically, outsiders will not eat it, but it is ok to sell the contaminated products to Ghanaians.

Much as I sympathize with the palm oil manufacturers and retailers, I prioritize food and human safety. It might just be that a cross section of traders is indulging in business malpractice. It could also be true that an unscrupulous competitor, local or international, desires to eliminate all competition and pave the way for a new palm oil product. Businesses engage in such unethical behavior. In the same manner, some researchers breach research ethics and disseminate false information. All the horrible scenarios I have painted above are highly possible in a country which is clearly averse to quality. Therefore, this is not the time for threats; it is time for proper investigation.

All the agencies involved have so much at stake: KNUST is a reputable research Institution which ought to abide by research ethics. It is expected to conduct legitimate research and report credible outcomes. Research from both staff and students must be above reproach. KNUST risks jeopardizing its research reputation, locally and internationally, if it allowed false reports to be published or if it its agencies compromised research ethics in any way. The Institution must spearhead the investigation and muster the intellectual integrity to confirm the authenticity or falsehood of the report in question. Should the report be found to be false, the researchers involved must be appropriately sanctioned by the Institution and its collaborators.

The FDA must strive for public confidence and live up to its mandate through impartial investigation of the allegation. It should identify the researchers and work to get the truth. If it proved beyond all doubt that the researchers lied, it must allay the fears of consumers and together with the traders, sue the offenders for defaming the traders, raising false alarm and discrediting a legitimate market product. But if the investigators reported a business malpractice, the FBA should offer a public apology and ban the offenders from trading in any food product. The Association would also apologize to the public, but it ought to bear in mind that it would do irreparable damage to its Association should the accusation be true. If it should happen that a business competitor raised the false alarm in a perverse attempt to impose a new product on consumers, the said product should be banned from the Ghanaian market for good.

Thorough investigation is the only route through which the allegation of contaminated palm oil on the market could be completely resolved. The final consumer must be kept informed of the resolution process. Nothing should be left unexplained. All contending stakeholders must provide irrefutable evidence to legitimize their claim. For the sake of the ordinary Ghanaian consumer who could suffer serious health effects for using the product, I hope the truth and nothing but the truth be told. The onus of responsibility lies on KNUST, FDA and the aggrieved Palm oil manufacturer and retailers.

Ghanaian Academia Participation in Nation Building: A Conundrum

The Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Sekondi, Mr. Kobby Otchere-Darko has accused Ghanaian academia of apathy, when it comes to nation building. The M.P. believes that a cross-section of academia could contribute constructively to national issues, but they remain quiet and allow the politician to assume more than the necessary powers, sometimes creating chaos for the nation.

I share the sentiments of the M.P but only to an extent. Whilst it is a fact that all hands must be on deck for maximised national benefits, academia does not necessarily have to be in the limelight of politics in order to contribute. The collaboration between government and academia could be constantly effective, as well as smooth, if both parties would operate on transparency and genuinely target national development. After all, academic is expected to research current issues of community and national relevance, then based on empirical evidence, recommend applicable suggestions to policy-makers. Therein lies the challenge.

Every academic and research conference would usually be opened by a minister or a person in a certain key industrial or academic position. The minister or representative would glibly inform delegates that policy-makers expect strong recommendations from the meeting. Sometimes, getting same representatives to close such meetings becomes a challenge. What is crystal clear is that recommendations from such proceeding are simply shelved by the ministers or sections which receive such, because very workable suggstions are not implemented or factored into various national development agenda. Yet that is just a part of the problem.

Research has become a major tool for national development, because it helps to thoroughly unravel issues. Serious nations have explored quality research to make inroads into crucial socio-cultural and geo-political issues, the benefits of which serious investigations are being enjoyed globally. Africa is a major beneficiary of global research, and one continues to hope that the countries therein will muster their resources and focus on research in order galvanise local solutions to African problems. A utopia!

Whereas other communities pump huge sums of money into research activities, African countries squander resources on triviality, especially four-wheeled vehicles we neither can manufacture nor effectively maintain. The discrepancy between funding for research in some of our partner countries and that of Ghana is simply pathetic, ludicrous! The discrepancy is the singular proof that this nation pays lip service to research. Typically, Ghana waits for simple issues to degenerate into chaos, then it begs outsiders to fund research. Yet, other issues exist.

Due to the concept of publish or perish among academia, research activities are on the increase. It is a fact that mediocre, and sometimes, sub-standard work is paraded as research by some academia, but there is also evidence of appreciable quality research. If Ghana genuinely sought recommendations to existing problems, it could find effective ones among researchers in Ghana, which brings me back to the sentiments expressed by the M.P.

If various research recommendations were studied and thoroughly analysed for applicability, policy-makers would be aided in handling community and national issues. There are so many projects initiated by students and academia across all learning disciplines in Ghana. Very promising projects .are locked-up in various departments and store rooms, or shelved by government agencies because neither institution nor government is interested in furthering the research. Yet, some border on critical issues such as energy conservation, recycling, solar energy, health, better learning approaches, to name five.

Ironically, academia is not even listed among key stakeholders of the 40-year Development Plan currently being trumpeted. When the host of GTV’s Talking Point questioned Dr. Nii Moi Thompson about the absence of academia, the latter answered that academia was counted among civil societies. That is not accurate. That Ghana could consider such a long-term national plan without actively involving academia is such a slight, and a telling proof of how the policy-maker belittles education and academia! In contrast, Mr. Otchere-Darko’s sentiments imply his regard for academia; I am quite sure that he would back the inclusion of academia in the stakeholders. 

Academia is not simply apathetic, at least not all of them. But it is the height of frustration to research issues, offer radical recommendations, suggest very workable remedial strategies and continuously be ignored by policy-makers who rather opt for intrepid adhoc solutions. If governments and other stakeholders genuinely desire the co-operation of academia in Ghana, they should bond through research. Government should begin by budgeting realistically for multi-disciplinary research. It should task academia to plunge into applied research for all the ailing critical situations of the country. Most importantly, government must implement the most effective and progressive recommendation from academia. I count on M.P. Otchere-Darko to support academia.

It would be refreshing indeed, if government would strategise through research and explore holistic and sustainable solutions for national crises! Dare we hope?

Vodafone Adverts: Tasteless and Repulsive

Two of Vodafone’s current advertisements are extremely nauseous due to the manner in which they disrespect elderly people and stereotype a certain Ghanaian group. Clearly, both Vodafone and its advertising agency are clueless about certain fundamental Ghanaian values as well as the potential negative implications a commercial could have. Advertisements are such powerful communication tools in the corporate world that any agency that undermines them risks its goodwill.

The first of the offensive commercials in question is the one in which an elderly man dozes during a professional meeting of a sort and a lopsided young man takes his picture and circulates among colleagues. The maniacal laughter the picture generates among old and young staff alike is a forceful reminder of the moral decadence of the contemporary Ghanaian. The irreverent attitude of the young people in the advert makes a cultured Ghanaian wince with pain and genuine sadness: Pain at the ignorance of the producers, their lack of decorum, their inability to determine the cultural difference, sadness at their poor taste. The advert would be perfect if the person who dozed was a youngster. A young subject would have created an impression of camaraderie among friends. That would have made the commercial refreshing, genuinely hilarious. Too bad both creative team and Vodafone were not savvy enough. Shameful indeed!

Considering that Vodafone has among its subscribers a burgeoning number of elderly ones, its demonstration of socio-cultural impropriety is downright disgraceful. The noxious part occurs where the elderly man is boxed left and right. The act is tantamount to those young rascals physically hitting the elderly man. In the traditional Ghanaian context, it is a taboo for a child to hit the parent. The Akans say “Panin ano ye bosom”, which literally translates, the mouth of an elderly person is a god. Within the Akan context, anyone who understands the swiftness of the gods’ punishment appreciates that proverb. When the elderly person being ridiculed sees the image and shockingly whispers, hεԑԑ, the insightful is terrified for the empty-headed laughing jackals. Any decent child/youngster who cherishes life never raises the hand against the parent. That is why the good old Book exhorts: “If you honour your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing (Ephesians 6: 3).

In the second commercial, a pest of a mother-in-law subjects her daughter-in-law to a ludicrous lecture about the needs of the former’s son. That commercial is not savvy because it is derogatory to the elderly woman as well as her tribe. It is not funny because Mrs Abrͻfosԑm epitomizes absurdity as she oozes naivety through pretentions. It is not appealing because it endorses oppression.

For a commercial from a communication entity, that advert scores so negatively for the wrong message it relays. The mother subjects the young woman to that a heartless tête-á-tête the entire day. A conscientious person wonders how much that distraction could cause the young woman to commit professional errors during the day. The torture continues at home, because the wife cannot assert herself and stop the mother-in-law. She endures under duress. Meanwhile, the weasel of a son remains in the background, cannot muster the courage to stop his bully of a mother, even when she invades their night, all because of a measly 2-day package from Vodafone! Some older folks do not sleep well at night; the mother likely belongs to that category. So if she cannot sleep, her daughter-in-law cannot sleep either, she seems to imply. That commercial highlights several negatives of the Ghanaian culture: The norm that stifles the young from voicing the fact when the elderly goes astray, the tradition that forcefully deprives the young of assertiveness, the almost dehumanizing tendency of the average Ghanaian to gulp down every injustice under the absurdity of leaving it to God to right the wrong, when God has given humans the ability to right wrongs, rectify situations in order to dignify self and others!

I am aware that nobody reads in Ghana—my apologies to Mr. Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, the columnist—but should the Vodafone team and its advertising folks read this piece, they would know how counter-productive the 2 adverts are. The service provider has had adverts in the past that have featured the elderly in an amusing but dignified manner. Too bad it is degenerating.

Advertisements are such powerful communication tools that enhance or maim the reputation of a business. In the competitive global environment, negative advertisement is a corporate suicide. The average Ghanaian may lack the intellectual sophistication to analyse contents, but there is always the cultured minority that deconstructs such public information for quality. Generally, Ghanaian adverts tend to nauseate, and one always hopes that advertising companies will demonstrate decorum when they reach out to consumers. For that to happen, they really must study and grasp thoroughly the concept of advertising. That is a utopia for this generation which shuns knowledge for material things. Just because a person can put images together, it does not mean that s/he can package information effectively. Advertisers and corporate bodies do well to remember that huge difference. There is no conflict between animation and socio-cultural values; they are complementary.

Vodafone especially must be careful of the message it puts in the public domain, because it represents national interests. It ought to balance marketing interests with national values. Its foreign partners might attempt to heap indignities on the traditional Ghanaian system; the onus rests on the Ghanaian stakeholder to defend the national worldview. Since the commercial was made in Ghana, the question arises: Does the Ghanaian have a worldview? The answer has to be a yes, because no negates our very existence. It is about time we demonstrated that we have a worldview through all human endeavours, corporate advertisement included. Let advertisement dignify rather than commercialise human agents.

It is possible to jest in reverence. May Vodafone and other corporate bodies grasp that worthwhile  concept!

Pregnant Examination Candidates

General examination is here again with its attendant challenges. Pregnant candidates are gradually becoming a regular feature of our examinations. The Shama District in the Western has become centre of a pregnancy issue in this year's Basic Examination. A female student was not allowed to write some of the  core papers on the first day because she was pregnant. That was how the media presented the issue, creating the impression that pregnancy disqualifies a candidate. 

This is not the first time such an issue has occurred; the last few academic years have seen pregnant teenagers, some clearly showing, writing their examination without any hassle from school authorities. Clearly, the issues involved in allowing a pregnant candidate to write examination are academic, not merely moral and/or humanitarian, as some in our communities attempt to project.

To rectify the Shama situation, the Education Director has intervened and instructed that the girl be allowed to write the subsequent papers. However, the issue is not as simple as that, and the Director ought to be the first to know that. Starting on the premise that candidates are tested on cumulative information imparted to them, over a prescribed period, through structured theoretical and practical approaches, authenticated by periodic assessment and cumulative marks scored, a candidate's qualification for a particular examination would be based upon his/her satisfying, at least, certain minimum requirements of the conditions stated above.

Of course, satisfying teaching/learning requirements is a shared responsibility between teachers/school authorities, children/parents and their respective communities. Any humanitarian gesture regarding examination in such situations as the Shama one must be pragmatically balanced by the fulfillment of pre-examination teaching/learning conditions. Consequently, if the Director's decision was weighed academically, would it stand?

Already, the information has come that the girl in question did not attend school for five months, despite efforts by school authorities, apparently, due to shyness. So how much has this candidate learnt and how prepared is she for this examination? Can she really cope? Even though she would write, and even if a supplementary examination was organized for her to cover the ones she missed on the first day, could she, parents, the school and District really look forward to an appreciable result? Is the inclusion of this candidate in the examination justified?

One can appreciate the humanitarian gesture of the Director, considering the cost incurred by parents and the nation's investment in this school child. However, benevolence is not the solution here. In fact, the gesture will precipitate a number of disasters, the most obvious of which is the high probability of the candidate's failure. The gesture encourages learner's irresponsibility. Pupils are not penalized by truancy; willful protracted absenteeism is accommodated by school authorities. The discipline inculcated through regulated school attendance, diligent studies has been painfully compromised. Above all, the fundamental natural rule of choices and consequences has not been enforced. How is this girl being helped to make the right choices in life? She has already made one abysmal choice. Will she learn from her mistake?

Sometimes, enforcing discipline is the kindest gesture, the stimulant for logic, responsibility and objectivity in an individual. If the youth would grow and become human assets and not social liability, society must guide them through care, attention and gentle correction.  Effective discipline is a necessary part of human nurturing. Teaching children to respect rules by obeying them is a disciplinary path that must be followed, especially, by parents and stakeholders of education. I label the gesture of the Director as misplaced kindness, though I can understand his reason. Teach, correct and discipline children by allowing some consequences of willful disobedience. Sometimes, lessons learned the hard way yield mature and responsible individuals, the joy of every parent, teacher, friend and neighbour. 

It's all about Quality and Standards

Published in The Mirror, My Turn October 5, 2013

Dinah Amankwah (Educationist)

Admission requirements for tertiary institutions have caused a furor among a cross-section of Ghanaians. This time, the Ministry of Education insisted that the minimum entry grade is C6. D7 does not qualify entry into tertiary institutions. This stand has antagonized a lot of Ghanaians, teachers included. Opponents of C6 argue that D7 is a pass by West African Examinations Council ratings and as such should be accepted by tertiary institutions.
Minimum entry requirements have always been a rule in the Ghanaian educational system. Many are conveniently forgetting that standards require limits and when such limits are maintained, they ensure quality. When the nation ran the ordinary and advanced level systems, one needed, at least, grade six to progress from secondary to post-secondary and tertiary institutions. Then, grade 7 was a pass but grade six was credit and one needed credit to progress. Secondary schools stuck to that rule when doing sixth-form admissions and the universities abided by it. The difference between products of the educational system then and now is glaring. Yet students of both systems who have actually made good grades understand a sense of achievement in life. There was no tension regarding tertiary admission requirements. The entire nation appreciated quality then.
One finds it difficult to understand the argument for D7, which in this case, is equivalent to grade7. It is a pass not a credit. Its mark equivalent proves that. Ideally, secondary school graduates should possess a certain depth of knowledge in literacy, numeracy and science to facilitate a smooth advancement of such knowledge to the desired sophistication through tertiary education. Currently, students enter tertiary institutions with barely any appreciable knowledge in fundamental courses. English language needs a special mention here. Ghana has decided to use that language as its official medium of communication. Students across school levels are taught and assessed in that language. Textbooks are written mainly in standard English, not abridged for even students with learning disabilities. Ironically, an appreciable number of students who enter tertiary institutions cannot construct simple sentences in English; they possess barely oral skills.
Currently, among an appreciable number of Ghanaian tertiary students, English concord is on the brink of extinction. The perfect aspect of tenses is an endangered species. The difference between the possessive and plural /’s/s/ is a huge blur. Punctuation, especially, the comma is seriously under serious persecution, to mention these. Such communication handicaps manifest themselves as soon as students attempt to communicate. Their limitations make reading and research undesirable, their comprehension skills painfully and woefully inadequate. For such handicapped students, every academic transaction in English is an enormous burden. They cannot even be motivated to push themselves towards English proficiency, because it is a difficult language. Even a cursory survey reveals that majority of the students enter tertiary institutions with a minimum pass in English language. That mathematics and English language have been major learning obstacle for most Ghanaian students is not contested.
That might be one of the reasons the grades have been reviewed downwards in recent years. Has that helped the students and community? Again, I use English as a reference point. Tertiary students are taught and assessed in English language. They research utilizing English literature. Their textbooks are documented in Standard English. They are required to read and satisfy all course requirements through the English medium. The urgent question then arises: When the pass marks is reduced at the entry stage to enable students to gain admission, how are they expected to cope with regular tertiary work? The honest answer is that an appreciable number cannot.
So these students struggle through courses and graduate, at best, as functional literates. They enter the job market, across industries and sectors and perform shoddily—consequences of shallow learning, poor knowledge, a myopic worldview. Such have no appreciation for quality work. Yet one cannot fully blame them; such handicapped ones are sometimes victims of the systems. Teachers who do not teach well, oversight institutions which compromise standards and officials who endorse mediocrity create avenues for non-performers. In the end, non-performers are social liabilities. Yes, the entire nation suffers when it produces educated illiterates.
For some of these reasons, the decision to admit students who have a minimum of grade C.6 was hailed by a cross-section of educationists. Admittedly, some institutions are going to experience reduced numbers, which would in turn affect income generation. However, quality education must be the focus. If students are impressed upon to strive for better results through proper studies, they would actually study and enter tertiary institutions better prepared for advanced work. To get quality academic materials into tertiary institutions, however, basic and secondary school must be properly resourced and strictly monitored so that they would offer the desired foundation. Maintaining standards should not start at the tertiary level. It must be the foundation of education. If qualified teachers would be placed at the foundational level, if the Inspectorate Division would live up to its mandate and ensure that teachers actually teach at the basic and secondary levels, there would be adequate depth to knowledge imparted to learners at those levels. The legitimacy of such a system would be manifested in products who would learn and pass very well. When that happens, there would be no friction about minimum entry requirement because there would be adequate numbers of applicants with excellent passes. Yes, the insistence on C6 is all about quality. Compromise standards, sacrifice quality!

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  Kwame Malcolm interesting article

  Like · Reply · 9 October at 20:32

Institutionalization of Apprenticeship: Strengthening Technical Education

A nation develops on the talents of its citizens but the reality is that talent does not automatically yield development. Human talent, nurtured through formal and informal training, responds to the dynamic needs of society. Therefore proactive governments strategize to develop the talents of citizens in order to develop their nations. Conversely, capable and innovative individuals seize timely opportunities to develop self for personal fulfilment and as well contribute meaningfully to community and nation building. A huge part of that talent nurturing occurs through technical education.

Understandably therefore, serious nations are putting forth maximum financial and technological efforts, not only to develop technical education programmes, but are constantly revising such--for both public and private sectors--to meet national needs. Most importantly, such efforts are geared towards laying a strong foundation in skill acquisition for the youth, and to broaden career choices for citizens. According to one Secretary of State for Education, a weak technical education implies that “[a nation’s] capacity to generate growth ... remains weaker”. Consequently, a serious nation exploits technical avenues to maximize human potential. The private sector, among other functions, also presents a strategic channel to develop human talent through vocational apprenticeships.

Ghana’s private sector houses a significant part of the nation’s human resources and labour force, two resources that ought to be explored to expedite the nation’s developmental efforts. The skills available in that sector, transferable through apprenticeship, ensure a constant supply of skills to meet domestic, social and commercial needs in both rural and urban communities. Acquisition of skill through apprenticeships implies mastery which in turn empowers the skilled through job security. Ideally, informal apprenticeship should complement formal ones to maximize skill acquisition, secure employment and quality existence for the citizenry.

The apprenticeship programme of the private sector places it in a tactical position to help eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the country. Its percentage in human resource development is very high: “Informal Apprenticeship Training (IAT) is responsible for some 80-90% of all basic skills training in Ghana, as compared to 5-10% from public training institutions and 10-15% from NGO for-profit and non-profit providers”. Acquisition of employable skill might imply steady jobs for artisans, thereby, raise their chances of earning decent income, which in turn might enable them to live comfortably, thus fulfil one target of the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG), “[a]chieve full and productive employment and decent work”.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has acknowledged: “The private sector is the main engine of growth”. However, that engine can operate effectively only upon being oiled well and capably programmed. In other words, if that sector was adequately empowered intellectually and persuaded to invest in quality and systematic upgrading in order to be equipped for technological trends and sound business management skills, the level of sophistication that would be added to its workforce would not only make its apprenticeship attractive to the youth but would ensure a steady cash flow from its normal operations, which in turn would enable the government to demand higher income tax from it. Institutionalizing apprenticeship in the country would refine skill acquisition by theorizing practice so that artisans might appreciate the underlying principles of their vocations.

Institutionalization of apprenticeship here refers to linking formal education with apprenticeship whereby mandatory education would be extended to the secondary level so that graduating apprentices would possess a minimum of secondary level education. Since there are various categories of learners in the apprenticeship groups, provision would have to be made for slow learners by providing for abridged curricula in order to ensure that they possess, at least, functional skills—language, mathematics, science, critical thinking, entrepreneurial and business management--upon completion. For that to happen, however, the practical component of various syllabi must be strengthened, from upper primary through to junior high level to enable right placement of pupils at the secondary level. There would be need for a versatile evaluative system that would ensure close and proper monitoring towards appropriate placement of students in the right programmes.

Institutionalization also refers to regular orientation by polytechnic and technical institutions to update knowledge, skills and practice of local private sector artisans and tapping their expertise in practical instruction in technical classrooms. The orientation should cover illiterate apprentices or school drop-outs so that they can all access NVTI levels 1 and 2. Thus graduating apprentices would possess working knowledge in areas of literacy, numeracy business management and critical thinking. Such strategic education would lend sophistication to all apprenticeship programmes, and as well endow artisan groups with the professionalism required for public trust and patronage crucial for sustainable business.

The rapidity of global technological and economic changes--to mention two--requires that knowledge be packaged with adaptable qualities, otherwise, beneficiaries risk lagging behind development. If such beneficiaries belong to a nation, then the nation stagnates. Proactive nations therefore acknowledge that it is not enough to impart knowledge:  “The future of [a country] depends on knowledge, the ability to utilise knowledge and the capacity for new innovations”. Imparting versatile knowledge should be the objective of both public and private sectors, through formal and informal training, if a country desires balanced human resources. Ghana needs that direction to save the unskilled youth who have besieged urban streets and highways, petty trading.  

These are but a few urgent reasons to revisit the concept of apprenticeship and the possibility of institutionalizing it in the country. It is necessary to investigate the challenges facing the apprenticeship system and possible ways of revitalizing the artisan groups to ensure productivity and economic stability. It is about time the national myth surrounding apprenticeship that pupils from poor homes, school drop-outs and academic non-performers enrol in apprenticeship, was completely demystified. To wit, education is curtailed mainly due to three reasons: academic non-performance, financial constraints and delinquency.

Whilst the latter reasons are acceptable because such drop-outs may be good students and as such could direct their talents elsewhere, the former is highly unacceptable because when people who are apparently slow-witted are put through apprenticeship in vocations, the services of which impact directly on human lives, a foundation is laid for poor or sub-standard performance, one rippling effect of which action is a volatile environment in which lives are continuously endangered. An exception to the scenario above is the circumstance where an otherwise slow-learner in a typical academic environment would show potential in another area of human endeavour and be counselled to or voluntarily opt for mastery in that area. Consequently, all stakeholders of education must consider the practicality of institutionalizing apprenticeship in Ghana because the poor performance of most artisans and the general distrust for their services is a direct result of raw apprenticeship. Such poor performance, often resulting in low income status, must constantly remind policy makers, educators and other stakeholders about the gross underutilization of human resources in the unskilled workforce and the nation’s squandered chances of tapping maximum economic benefits from the informal sector.  

Apprenticeship offers routes to trades that require highly sophisticated knowledge. Here are three examples: Auto-mechanics handle parts of automobiles, the erroneous repair or replacement of which could have socio-economic or even fatal consequences. Drivers ply roads in small and heavy vehicles; their ability to read and interpret road situations and handle vehicles with precision is crucial to human safety. Beauticians apply strong chemicals to hair and nails, misapplication of which chemicals pose health hazards. Scientific and technological advancement bring rapid changes to these vocations. Artisans therefore need good education, far beyond basic school mathematics and English language. In short, apprenticeship is not for the dim-witted; rather, it is meant for smart ones who can master skills and apply acquired knowledge under changing circumstances.

Technology has affected all areas of human endeavours; it has resulted in the manufacture of sophisticated machinery, job tools and equipment. Such work equipment requires equally sophisticated expertise, which would not occur by chance. A nation must therefore strategize to give currency to its human resource training in order to match such industrial sophistication. Technical institutions could muster holistic approaches which can revitalize apprenticeship in the country, strategize their programmes to invest heavily in human resources. To achieve that, moribund curriculum must give way to proactive ones in content—teaching-learning methods, teacher education, practice, technological infrastructure, to mention four. As such, political touting and educational apathy must give way to innovation, realistic policies to suit local needs and effective monitoring. Institutionalization of apprenticeship might be challenging and costly but it is the best approach to skill acquisition and youth empowerment. Hopefully, Ghana has the guts to adopt it.