Story Chris Nunoo, Wa
A Legal practitioner with the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in Wa, Mr Siddique Ubeidu, has reiterated the need to establish an independent body to investigate allegations of corruption against government officials and other people who abuse the powers vested in them.
That, he said, was the only way constitutionally established bodies like CHRAJ and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) could work effectively.
He questioned the independence of the Office of Accountability and asked if it could not continue with investigations into allegations against Dr Richard Anane after the court had ruled on the basis of technicalities against CHRAJ.
Mr Ubeidu said although he had no problem with the ruling by the Supreme Court on the matter, there was still the need for an institution like the Office of Accountability to take the matter up and delve further into the allegations to be able to clear Dr Anane or otherwise before the matter could be allowed to rest.
He raised the concern at a workshop in Wa on how to promote good governance and democracy in Ghana.
It was on the theme; “Fighting corruption, an agenda for democracy and good governance”, and organised by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), an NGO, in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), with support from MISERIO, DFID and DANIDA.
The Upper West Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr Kofi Adomah, catalogued some of the effects associated with corrupt practices and said corruption denied people their rights, as well as slowed down development.
He stressed the need for citizens to start the fight against corrupt practices from their homes, instead of always targeting politicians.
He also urged the participants to share the knowledge they had acquired at the workshop and expose the ills in society.
For her part, the Programmes Manager of GII, Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, said the training programmes were to bring the issues of corruption and good governance to the doorstep of people, adding that the GII was an advocacy group which was working to minimise corrupt practices in the country.
She urged the electorate to vote according to their conscience in the December 2008 elections, saying, “We must vote according to our conscience and not vote for dishonest and corrupt politicians.”
Monday, February 25, 2008
LIBERTY WIN AT WA
STORY: Chris Nunoo, Wa
A well-rehearsed tactical game gave Dansoman-based Liberty Porfessionals the maximum points as they pipped Wa All Stars by a lone goal in their Onetouch Premier League match at the Wa Stadium yesterday.
In a haste to kick the ball to his attacker in the 16th minute, goalkeeper Robert Dabuo of All Stars miskicked to Liberty Professionals’ Mustapha Essuman whose shot was blocked by Dabuo himself for a cornerkick. The resultant kick saw Isaac Quaynor outjumping everybody to nod home for the only goal of the match in the 18th minute.
A well-rehearsed tactical game gave Dansoman-based Liberty Porfessionals the maximum points as they pipped Wa All Stars by a lone goal in their Onetouch Premier League match at the Wa Stadium yesterday.
In a haste to kick the ball to his attacker in the 16th minute, goalkeeper Robert Dabuo of All Stars miskicked to Liberty Professionals’ Mustapha Essuman whose shot was blocked by Dabuo himself for a cornerkick. The resultant kick saw Isaac Quaynor outjumping everybody to nod home for the only goal of the match in the 18th minute.
BOOZE TO BLAME ...For high maternal & Under-5 mortality in Upper West — Doc (1a)
Story: Chris Nunoo, Wa
THE high maternal and juvenile mortality in the Upper West Region is the result of incessant alcohol abuse among expectant mothers, the Regional Director of health, Dr Erasmus Agongo, has said.
He said it was ironic that as higher levels of skilled deliveries were being attained at the various health facilities in the region, more deaths were being recorded.
“Alcoholism is causing high maternal and under-five mortality in this region. This is because more women in the region are drinking higher volumes of alcohol and more frequently than the men,” he stressed.
Dr Agongo, who was giving an overview of activities of the health sector in the region when he addressed a three-day regional health review and the inauguration of regional and district health committees in Wa, said although accelerated child survival and maternal mortality reduction were some of the major priorities of the sector last year, as many as 30 maternal deaths were recorded.
That, he said, was higher than the 24 maternal deaths recorded in 2006 and the 21 recorded in 2005.
He described the situation as worrying and said one of the main priorities for this year was to embark on a vigorous campaign against alcoholism.
He was delighted, however, that the region had responded positively to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which he said had covered 57 per cent of the people, and attributed the increase in OPD attendance from 290 patients to 446 last year to the increased access people now had to health care under the NHIS.
He further stressed the need to scale up the construction of more facilities to make health care easily accessible to more people in the region.
Touching on the cases of guinea worm and the imminent outbreak of meningitis, the health director said his outfit would remain vigilant to detect any case early enough and intervene through mass immunisation.
He described as unacceptable, the position of the country with respect to guinea worm infections in the world and pointed out that the region had been able to reduce the infections from 333 cases in 2005 to 23 last year.
He, therefore, urged the health staff to work conscientiously to completely wipe out guinea worm from the region.
Dr Agongo said all the six government hospitals in the region had been equipped to treat HIV cases but expressed concern about the human resource situation in the health sector and said most midwives in the region were ageing.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, commended health personnel in the region for their hard work and said the government was determined to ensure a viable and effective health delivery system across the country.
Mr Benson applauded the various development partners such as JICA, UNICEF and UNFPA for their unyielding support to the health sector in the region and urged them to assist in the provision of more structures like theatres and blood transfusion facilities.
The regional minister also emphasised the need for the health personnel to work harder to minimise infant and maternal mortality, as well as HIV/AIDS infections in the region.
THE high maternal and juvenile mortality in the Upper West Region is the result of incessant alcohol abuse among expectant mothers, the Regional Director of health, Dr Erasmus Agongo, has said.
He said it was ironic that as higher levels of skilled deliveries were being attained at the various health facilities in the region, more deaths were being recorded.
“Alcoholism is causing high maternal and under-five mortality in this region. This is because more women in the region are drinking higher volumes of alcohol and more frequently than the men,” he stressed.
Dr Agongo, who was giving an overview of activities of the health sector in the region when he addressed a three-day regional health review and the inauguration of regional and district health committees in Wa, said although accelerated child survival and maternal mortality reduction were some of the major priorities of the sector last year, as many as 30 maternal deaths were recorded.
That, he said, was higher than the 24 maternal deaths recorded in 2006 and the 21 recorded in 2005.
He described the situation as worrying and said one of the main priorities for this year was to embark on a vigorous campaign against alcoholism.
He was delighted, however, that the region had responded positively to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which he said had covered 57 per cent of the people, and attributed the increase in OPD attendance from 290 patients to 446 last year to the increased access people now had to health care under the NHIS.
He further stressed the need to scale up the construction of more facilities to make health care easily accessible to more people in the region.
Touching on the cases of guinea worm and the imminent outbreak of meningitis, the health director said his outfit would remain vigilant to detect any case early enough and intervene through mass immunisation.
He described as unacceptable, the position of the country with respect to guinea worm infections in the world and pointed out that the region had been able to reduce the infections from 333 cases in 2005 to 23 last year.
He, therefore, urged the health staff to work conscientiously to completely wipe out guinea worm from the region.
Dr Agongo said all the six government hospitals in the region had been equipped to treat HIV cases but expressed concern about the human resource situation in the health sector and said most midwives in the region were ageing.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr George Hickah Benson, commended health personnel in the region for their hard work and said the government was determined to ensure a viable and effective health delivery system across the country.
Mr Benson applauded the various development partners such as JICA, UNICEF and UNFPA for their unyielding support to the health sector in the region and urged them to assist in the provision of more structures like theatres and blood transfusion facilities.
The regional minister also emphasised the need for the health personnel to work harder to minimise infant and maternal mortality, as well as HIV/AIDS infections in the region.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT PROJECT FOR 39 COMMUNITIES (PAGE 11)
STORY: Chris Nunoo. Vinvin nrst Jirapa
Poverty, diseases and squalor are retarding efforts by some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.
For such countries, including Ghana, the attainment of the MDGs, some of which include reducing poverty and under-five mortality rate, is still possible, but the challenge is formidable
In Ghana, the fight against poverty has been intensified and an integrated poverty alleviation programme, aimed at uplifting the critically (extremely) poor from their predicament is in the offing.
The programme, known as the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS), together with other poverty reduction interventions, is expected to empower the very vulnerable in society, including women, by providing for their basic needs and get them out of poverty.
Another poverty alleviation programme, expected to benefit about two thousand women selected from 39 communities in three districts of the Upper West Region, has kicked off under a a five-year women empowerment project.
Dubbed "Women of the Upper West, ending poverty and upholding rights", the project is meant to improve the economic status of the beneficiaries and their families.
The Project Co-ordinator, Miss Catherine Ammisah, said the beneficiaries had been selected from the Jirapa-Lambussie, Nadwoli and the Lawra districts.
She said they would be given credit facilities through various women groups and explained that the loans would be in two forms namely, soft credit, which would not attract any interest, and hard credit, which would attract some interest.
Miss Amissah also spoke about a number of problems confronting women in the region and said they included poverty, and various forms of discrimination and abuse of the rights of women.
She stressed that the significance of the project in improving the status of women and girls through various forms of training could not be overemphasised.
She noted that 54 women groups had so far been formed in about 24 communities since the project was introduced last August.
The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, who launched the project, advised the beneficiaries to embrace it with all seriousness as it would empower them economically.
She also commended the district assemblies for assisting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote the interest of women and urged them to regularly monitor the progress of the project.
The Country Director of Concern Universal, an NGO operating in the region, Mr Macduff Phiri, said his outfit was working closely with PRONET North, another NGO, to improve the water and sanitation situation in the area.
He called on all to help create the required atmosphere for women and children in the respective communities and said Concern Universal would help to provide micro-credit, as well as enterprise development support, for the people.
The Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Children of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Annacleta Naab, urged the beneficiaries to work and repay the loans so that others could also benefit.
She also told them not to politicise the project, saying that the project was being sponsored by organisations who were committed to help uplift their living standards.
Poverty, diseases and squalor are retarding efforts by some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.
For such countries, including Ghana, the attainment of the MDGs, some of which include reducing poverty and under-five mortality rate, is still possible, but the challenge is formidable
In Ghana, the fight against poverty has been intensified and an integrated poverty alleviation programme, aimed at uplifting the critically (extremely) poor from their predicament is in the offing.
The programme, known as the National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS), together with other poverty reduction interventions, is expected to empower the very vulnerable in society, including women, by providing for their basic needs and get them out of poverty.
Another poverty alleviation programme, expected to benefit about two thousand women selected from 39 communities in three districts of the Upper West Region, has kicked off under a a five-year women empowerment project.
Dubbed "Women of the Upper West, ending poverty and upholding rights", the project is meant to improve the economic status of the beneficiaries and their families.
The Project Co-ordinator, Miss Catherine Ammisah, said the beneficiaries had been selected from the Jirapa-Lambussie, Nadwoli and the Lawra districts.
She said they would be given credit facilities through various women groups and explained that the loans would be in two forms namely, soft credit, which would not attract any interest, and hard credit, which would attract some interest.
Miss Amissah also spoke about a number of problems confronting women in the region and said they included poverty, and various forms of discrimination and abuse of the rights of women.
She stressed that the significance of the project in improving the status of women and girls through various forms of training could not be overemphasised.
She noted that 54 women groups had so far been formed in about 24 communities since the project was introduced last August.
The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, who launched the project, advised the beneficiaries to embrace it with all seriousness as it would empower them economically.
She also commended the district assemblies for assisting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote the interest of women and urged them to regularly monitor the progress of the project.
The Country Director of Concern Universal, an NGO operating in the region, Mr Macduff Phiri, said his outfit was working closely with PRONET North, another NGO, to improve the water and sanitation situation in the area.
He called on all to help create the required atmosphere for women and children in the respective communities and said Concern Universal would help to provide micro-credit, as well as enterprise development support, for the people.
The Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Children of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Annacleta Naab, urged the beneficiaries to work and repay the loans so that others could also benefit.
She also told them not to politicise the project, saying that the project was being sponsored by organisations who were committed to help uplift their living standards.
NATOR HEALTH PLANNING CENTRE INAUGURATED (PAGE 22)
STORY: Chris Nunoo, Nator
A GH¢5,000 structure to serve as a Community Health Planning and Service (CHPS) centre for the Nator community in the Nadowli West District of the Upper West Region has been inaugurated.
The centre has an accommodation for additional staff, a store and a service delivery room.
This brings the number of CHPS centres in the Nadowli District to 11. In all, there are a total of 25 CHPS centres across the region.
Inaugurating the centre, the Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, said it would ensure equity in the distribution of health facilities and also make it accessible to people.
She said the completion of the centre underpinned the relations between the members of the community and the health personnel as partners in the delivery of primary health care.
Mrs Dy-Yakah, therefore, commended the District Assembly, the District Health Management Team and the members of the community for ensuring the successful completion of the centre.
The deputy regional minister further entreated health workers to be patient with their clients and exercise utmost caution as they discharged their duties.
“Your attitude as health staff would determine the extent to which the people would be enticed to patronise the facility,” she stressed.
Mrs Dy-Yakah called on the leaders of the area to impress upon the people to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo, advised the people to regularly visit the centre, stressing, “You must not wait till you fall sick before you visit the facility.”
For his part, the Nadowli District Chief Executive, Wing Commander Eric Dakora (retd), commended the development partners such as JICA, SIDSEC and World Vision, Ghana, for their immense support towards the development of the district.
He gave the assurance that the area would soon be connected to the national electricity grid to enhance the daily running of the CHPS centre.
The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli West, Mr Alban Bagbin, stated that one major challenge facing the health sector of the country was maternal and child mortality.
He, therefore, called for an effective collaboration and co-operation amongst all interested parties to address the situation.
A GH¢5,000 structure to serve as a Community Health Planning and Service (CHPS) centre for the Nator community in the Nadowli West District of the Upper West Region has been inaugurated.
The centre has an accommodation for additional staff, a store and a service delivery room.
This brings the number of CHPS centres in the Nadowli District to 11. In all, there are a total of 25 CHPS centres across the region.
Inaugurating the centre, the Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, said it would ensure equity in the distribution of health facilities and also make it accessible to people.
She said the completion of the centre underpinned the relations between the members of the community and the health personnel as partners in the delivery of primary health care.
Mrs Dy-Yakah, therefore, commended the District Assembly, the District Health Management Team and the members of the community for ensuring the successful completion of the centre.
The deputy regional minister further entreated health workers to be patient with their clients and exercise utmost caution as they discharged their duties.
“Your attitude as health staff would determine the extent to which the people would be enticed to patronise the facility,” she stressed.
Mrs Dy-Yakah called on the leaders of the area to impress upon the people to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo, advised the people to regularly visit the centre, stressing, “You must not wait till you fall sick before you visit the facility.”
For his part, the Nadowli District Chief Executive, Wing Commander Eric Dakora (retd), commended the development partners such as JICA, SIDSEC and World Vision, Ghana, for their immense support towards the development of the district.
He gave the assurance that the area would soon be connected to the national electricity grid to enhance the daily running of the CHPS centre.
The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli West, Mr Alban Bagbin, stated that one major challenge facing the health sector of the country was maternal and child mortality.
He, therefore, called for an effective collaboration and co-operation amongst all interested parties to address the situation.
PLAN GHANA ASSISTS 8 SISSALA WEST COMMUNITIES (PAGE 22)
Story: Chris Nunoo, Nyimati
THE erratic rainfall pattern in northern Ghana and for that matter the Upper West Region, has often led to a very unsatisfactory cultivation of agricultural produce in that part of the country.
The reason is that many of the farmers in that area rely on rains for the cultivation of their crops.
The farmers are, therefore, compelled to idle about during the dry season and start farming when the rains set in. The prevailing situation, coupled with lack of other employment opportunities, has made the Upper West one of the very poor regions in the country with people often finding it extremely difficult to put food on the table.
It is in the light of this that Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), took it upon itself to construct eight multi-purpose dams in eight communities in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region, to make the farmers active, even during the dry season.
Experiencing only one rainy season in a year, unlike that of the southern part of the country, which has two rainy seasons, the dams are to enhance food production with high nutritional value in the Upper West Region.
They have reservoirs stocked with fish and troughs to serve as sources of drinking water for animals.
Furthermore, the dams would, among other things, provide water for farmers in the dry season, especially for vegetable cultivation, livestock watering and the cultivation of fish.
Constructed at a cost of GH¢3 million ($3.2 million), the dams have the capacity of irrigating 92 hectares of land.
The beneficiary communities include Nimara, Buoti, Zini, Kupulima, Jefissi and Pulima, all in the Sissala West District. To ensure that the water and the dams are protected, a 15-member committee known as the Water Users Association (WUA) has been formed. Its activities would be guided by a constitution to regulate the allocation, uses and the governance of the dams. There are also subcommittees for cropping, livestock production and fisheries.
In collaboration with the Sissala West District Assembly and the communities, Plan Ghana has also assisted in providing household latrines and insecticide treated mosquito nets to forestall the contamination of water and malarial infection among the people.
Inaugurating the projects, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of livestock, Miss Anna Nyamekye, said despite the enormous returns people reaped from agriculture, several factors were still hindering its development to make it more profitable.
She said the issue of post-harvest losses, the use of obsolete agricultural inputs and the unavailability of potential markets for farm produce, among other negative factors, were affecting farmers, especially those in the Upper West Region.
She said that had contributed to the low income and worst nutritional indicators in the region, stressing that the government would help tackle the problem.
Miss Nyamekye also commended Plan Ghana for the initiative and urged the beneficiary communities to ensure that the institutions established worked efficiently for the longer lifespan of the dams.
She further advised farmers to endeavour to report agricultural extension officers whose performance fell below expectation
For his part, the Country Director of Plan Ghana, Mr Samuel Paulos, advised the communities to put the dams to maximum use to ensure an all-year-round food production.
He also pledged Plan Ghana’s preparedness to continue to provide financial and technical support for the beneficiary communities to build their capacities.
In a speech read on his behalf the Jefissi Kuoro, Alhaji Saani Sulemani, thanked Plan Ghana for the project and described it as a relief to save the people of the area from their economic difficulties.
The Regional Manager of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), Mr George Tagoe, who supervised the construction of the dams, told the Daily Graphic that the dams met modern standards, stressing that when it was well catered for, it would be of much benefit to the people.
He said apart from the troughs and water tanks, two gauges had been installed close to the intake structures of the dams to monitor the water level of the reservoir.
THE erratic rainfall pattern in northern Ghana and for that matter the Upper West Region, has often led to a very unsatisfactory cultivation of agricultural produce in that part of the country.
The reason is that many of the farmers in that area rely on rains for the cultivation of their crops.
The farmers are, therefore, compelled to idle about during the dry season and start farming when the rains set in. The prevailing situation, coupled with lack of other employment opportunities, has made the Upper West one of the very poor regions in the country with people often finding it extremely difficult to put food on the table.
It is in the light of this that Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), took it upon itself to construct eight multi-purpose dams in eight communities in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region, to make the farmers active, even during the dry season.
Experiencing only one rainy season in a year, unlike that of the southern part of the country, which has two rainy seasons, the dams are to enhance food production with high nutritional value in the Upper West Region.
They have reservoirs stocked with fish and troughs to serve as sources of drinking water for animals.
Furthermore, the dams would, among other things, provide water for farmers in the dry season, especially for vegetable cultivation, livestock watering and the cultivation of fish.
Constructed at a cost of GH¢3 million ($3.2 million), the dams have the capacity of irrigating 92 hectares of land.
The beneficiary communities include Nimara, Buoti, Zini, Kupulima, Jefissi and Pulima, all in the Sissala West District. To ensure that the water and the dams are protected, a 15-member committee known as the Water Users Association (WUA) has been formed. Its activities would be guided by a constitution to regulate the allocation, uses and the governance of the dams. There are also subcommittees for cropping, livestock production and fisheries.
In collaboration with the Sissala West District Assembly and the communities, Plan Ghana has also assisted in providing household latrines and insecticide treated mosquito nets to forestall the contamination of water and malarial infection among the people.
Inaugurating the projects, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of livestock, Miss Anna Nyamekye, said despite the enormous returns people reaped from agriculture, several factors were still hindering its development to make it more profitable.
She said the issue of post-harvest losses, the use of obsolete agricultural inputs and the unavailability of potential markets for farm produce, among other negative factors, were affecting farmers, especially those in the Upper West Region.
She said that had contributed to the low income and worst nutritional indicators in the region, stressing that the government would help tackle the problem.
Miss Nyamekye also commended Plan Ghana for the initiative and urged the beneficiary communities to ensure that the institutions established worked efficiently for the longer lifespan of the dams.
She further advised farmers to endeavour to report agricultural extension officers whose performance fell below expectation
For his part, the Country Director of Plan Ghana, Mr Samuel Paulos, advised the communities to put the dams to maximum use to ensure an all-year-round food production.
He also pledged Plan Ghana’s preparedness to continue to provide financial and technical support for the beneficiary communities to build their capacities.
In a speech read on his behalf the Jefissi Kuoro, Alhaji Saani Sulemani, thanked Plan Ghana for the project and described it as a relief to save the people of the area from their economic difficulties.
The Regional Manager of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), Mr George Tagoe, who supervised the construction of the dams, told the Daily Graphic that the dams met modern standards, stressing that when it was well catered for, it would be of much benefit to the people.
He said apart from the troughs and water tanks, two gauges had been installed close to the intake structures of the dams to monitor the water level of the reservoir.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
BOOST FOR WA PRISON DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMME (PAGE 28)
Story: Chris Nunoo, Wa
THE Wa central prison have received teaching and learning materials from the President’s Special Initiative on Distance Learning (PSI-DL) secretariat, to start distance learning programme for inmates. This followed the selection of the prison as one of the learning centres for the open schooling in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), under the PSI-DL.
It would, among the teaching of other subjects like mathematics and English language, focus on bricklaying and catering.
The National Co-ordinator of the PSI-DL, Madam Abena Kwarteng, who donated the items at the launch of the PSI-DL for prison inmates in Wa in the Upper West Region, said the PSI-DL would build the intellectual capabilities of the prison inmates, as well as provide them with livelihood skills.
She mentioned the Nsawam Security Prisons, Kumasi and the Tamale Prisons as some of the learning centres for the TVET.
Madam Abena Kwarteng noted that apart from the television set and the DVD player, the government would also offer financial support for the purchase of tools and other equipments for the exercise.
She said the PSI-DL was part of effort by the government in finding solutions to the educational needs of people and to ensure that the country attained its target of “Education for all” under the millennium development goals (MDG).
To this end, Madam Abena Kwarteng said her outfit was liaising with churches, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and NGOs to be able to create more learning centres to easily make the lessons on televisions and also on Video Compact Disc (VCD) accessible to all.
“The PSI-DL is targeting 1,000 needy poor and vulnerable students under the TVET pilot project”, she noted and said 11 study centres had so far been selected across the country for the project.
Madam Abena Kwarteng further assured the inmates that they would, after the course, receive the same certificate as those reading the same courses in classrooms.
This, she said, was because they would all be writing the same examination.
About 10 prisons officers are undergoing training to serve as facilitators for the project.
The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, who chaired the occasion, said the project would go a long way to improve the illiteracy situation in the country.
She advised prison inmates to take advantage of the PSI-DL because it would in the long run, unearth their potential.
Mrs Dy-Yankah further urged them on and told them not to see themselves as people who had been neglected by society.
For his part, the Upper West Regional Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mr Joseph Kwaw Yankson, said the system would keep the inmates in touch with developments outside the prison walls in order to make them abreast of events.
He also expressed the hope that the PSI-DL would grow to have a positive impact on the inmates.
THE Wa central prison have received teaching and learning materials from the President’s Special Initiative on Distance Learning (PSI-DL) secretariat, to start distance learning programme for inmates. This followed the selection of the prison as one of the learning centres for the open schooling in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), under the PSI-DL.
It would, among the teaching of other subjects like mathematics and English language, focus on bricklaying and catering.
The National Co-ordinator of the PSI-DL, Madam Abena Kwarteng, who donated the items at the launch of the PSI-DL for prison inmates in Wa in the Upper West Region, said the PSI-DL would build the intellectual capabilities of the prison inmates, as well as provide them with livelihood skills.
She mentioned the Nsawam Security Prisons, Kumasi and the Tamale Prisons as some of the learning centres for the TVET.
Madam Abena Kwarteng noted that apart from the television set and the DVD player, the government would also offer financial support for the purchase of tools and other equipments for the exercise.
She said the PSI-DL was part of effort by the government in finding solutions to the educational needs of people and to ensure that the country attained its target of “Education for all” under the millennium development goals (MDG).
To this end, Madam Abena Kwarteng said her outfit was liaising with churches, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and NGOs to be able to create more learning centres to easily make the lessons on televisions and also on Video Compact Disc (VCD) accessible to all.
“The PSI-DL is targeting 1,000 needy poor and vulnerable students under the TVET pilot project”, she noted and said 11 study centres had so far been selected across the country for the project.
Madam Abena Kwarteng further assured the inmates that they would, after the course, receive the same certificate as those reading the same courses in classrooms.
This, she said, was because they would all be writing the same examination.
About 10 prisons officers are undergoing training to serve as facilitators for the project.
The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, who chaired the occasion, said the project would go a long way to improve the illiteracy situation in the country.
She advised prison inmates to take advantage of the PSI-DL because it would in the long run, unearth their potential.
Mrs Dy-Yankah further urged them on and told them not to see themselves as people who had been neglected by society.
For his part, the Upper West Regional Commander of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mr Joseph Kwaw Yankson, said the system would keep the inmates in touch with developments outside the prison walls in order to make them abreast of events.
He also expressed the hope that the PSI-DL would grow to have a positive impact on the inmates.
Monday, February 11, 2008
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