Estimating the spill-over impacts of a clean cooking fuel program: Evidence from Ghana

Transition to cleaner cooking fuels is a key challenge for sustainable development. This study evaluates the spill-over impact of a program that distributes liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and accessories for free on cooking fuel choice and poverty alleviation in Ghana. We construct a district-level dataset based on the Ghana Living Standards Surveys 6 and 7, collected before and after the program implementation, respectively. Using difference-in-differences combined with matching techniques, we find that the program had no significant spill-over impacts on primary household cooking fuel; LPG use did not increase and firewood use did not decrease among rural households in treated districts. However, there is a possible association between the program and poverty reduction in treated districts, and the likely channel is investments in refill stations. The results suggest that the program should refine its implementation strategy to yield substantial effects on cooking fuel choice. In addition, implementing the program with the right infrastructure in place could increase the benefits associated with it

Resuscitating ‘Clio’ for the Development of Twenty-First-Century Ghana and Beyond: Arguments in Defence of the Government’s Decision to Reintroduce National History as a Separate Subject in the Pre-tertiary School Curriculum

In the colonial days, history occupied an enviable position in the school curriculum. At this time, the colonial authorities exploited the discipline to achieve their imperial objectives. After independence, President Nkrumah also retained history in the school curriculum mainly because of his appreciation of the contributions of history to national development. History continued to be studied in pre-tertiary schools up to the 1980s. From 1987, however, the study of history started experiencing a substantial degree of marginalisation in the educational curriculum when the educational reforms of that year placed history under social studies. Over time, the study of history in the primary and junior secondary/high school levels was discontinued altogether, while at the senior high school level, it was made an elective subject, with little patronage by students. As a result, history is currently in a state of disrepute; the welfare of history, as a branch of human knowledge, is certainly exposed to more serious dangers, with academic historians struggling to justify the place of history in the school curriculum. Fortunately, after realising the need for the teaching and learning of the history of Ghana at the pre-tertiary level of education, the new government, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party administration, has decided to reintroduce history as a separate subject in the pre-tertiary school curriculum. This move raises the question, “For what reasons should history be reintroduced into the pre-tertiary school curriculum?” Using both secondary and primary data, and employing the qualitative research approach, this study seeks to defend or justify the decision of the government through a critical appraisal of the contributions the study of history makes to the development of society. The study concludes that in view of the enormous value of history for the survival of our societies, the government should go ahead and reintroduce national history as a separate and a compulsory subject in the pre-tertiary school curriculum. Finally, the paper urges the government to institute measures that would ensure the early, effective and efficient implementation of the decision. Keywords: development, discipline, history, justification (justify, justifying), reintroduce, the study of history, uses of history, values of histor

School of Thoughts of the Essentialist Philosophers on the Aims of Education, Role of Education and the Focus of Education: Implications for Curriculum Development and Practice in Ghana

The aim of this paper is to discuss comprehensively the school of thoughts of the essentialist philosopher on the aims of education, the role of education and the focus of education. Again, the discussion would pay attention to examine the implications of the essentialism to curriculum development and practice. In this philosophical school of thought, the aim is to instill students with the “essentials” which means the “main things” of academic knowledge, enacting a back-to-basics approach. Essentialists believe that there is a common core of knowledge that needs to be transmitted to students in a systematic, disciplined way. From the Essentialist point of view, the aim of education is to equip students with common core or the “basic” of information and skills needed for the promotion of citizenship. According to the Essentialist, the role of education is the transition of a common body of knowledge, skills, concepts and traditions from generation to learners in order to transform them to meaningfully and constructively contribute democratically to the society. The essentialist focus on intellectual training in the areas of grammar, literature and writing, mathematics, sciences, history and modern foreign language. On the implication for curriculum development and practice, the essentialist places emphasis on core curriculum, the curriculum is developed around the teacher rather than the learner, the mastery of content matter of an essential knowledge as a yardstick before moving on to the next level, placing less emphasis on non-academic subjects such as; Vocational education, Physical Education, Arts and Music and eventually ensuring that the curriculum focuses on grouping students according to their intellectual ability. Keywords: curriculum, curriculum development, essentialist, essentialism, social value

Parenting Approaches and Pupils’ Classroom Reinforcement in Sagnirigu District, Tamale-Ghana

This study examines the relationship that exists between parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) and student’s classroom motivation. Simple random sampling was used to select the subjects for the study. The sample consisted of 390 comprising of 130 students, 130 parents and 130 teachers from twenty public and private Junior High Schools in the Tamale Metropolis. The data were analyzed using partial correlation and logistic regression and analytical techniques with SPSS version 16. Results showed that majority of parents perceived themselves as authoritative, followed by authoritarian and permissive. The findings revealed that mothers were more permissive than fathers. The results also did confirm a positive correlation between paternal parenting approaches and pupil’s classroom reinforcement/motivation.These findings are consistent with earlier findings of Cramer (2002) and Baumrind (1971). Possible reasons why the study findings of the present study are consisted with earlier ones were discussed.The study’s result also suggest that even though cultures differ in the kinds of opportunities they provide children to develop the competencies the need, parenting everywhere has direct influence on children’s social and emotional development. The present study concluded that both paternal and maternal parenting styles have a great bearing on student’s classroom motivation. Keywords: Parenting Style, Classroom Motivation, Mastery Motivation, Authoritarian Parenting, Permissive ParentingAuthoritative Parenting,Intrinsic Parenting, Family andStatistical Package for Social Sciences (S.P.S.S.

The economic impact of climate change on road infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa countries: Evidence from Ghana

Climate change scenarios for many Sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana indicate that temperatures will increase while rainfall will either increase or decrease. The potential impact of climate change on economic systems is well-known. However, little has been done to assess its economic impact on road infrastructure. This work assesses the economic impact of climate change on road infrastructure using the stressor-response methodology. Our analysis indicates that it will cumulatively (2020-2100) cost Ghana US$473 million to maintain and repair damages caused to existing roads as a result of climate change (no adapt scenario). However, if the country adapts the designing and construction of new road infrastructure expected to occur over the asset's lifespan (adapt scenario), the total cumulative cost will increase to US$678.47 million. The paper also provides decadal and average annual costs up to the year 2100 for the ten regions through the potential impacts of 54 distinct potential climate scenarios

Perception of Teachers and Students on Indiscipline at Mankranso in Ahafo-Ano South District

The main purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of teachers and students at Mankranso in the Ahafo-Ano South district on student indisciplinary behaviours. The study adopted a descriptive survey and the approach was a blend of quantitative and qualitative paradigms. Purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to obtain a sample size of two hundred and thirty (230) respondents.The main instruments used for the study were the questionnaire, focus group interview guide and documentations. Data was analyzed using inferential statistics to test the research hypotheses. Among the findings of the study was that while there were no perceptual difference between students and teachers in what acts constitute indisciplinary behaviours, there were differences in the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the influences of peer pressure, parenting styles, school climate, guidance and counselling officers and teaching experience have on students indisciplinary behaviours. The findings also suggested that sex- type behaviours such as cigarette smoking, which was once regarded in the Ghanaian society as typically a “male behaviour”, may no longer be seen as sex-type. The study concluded that; peer group has influence on student indisciplinary behaviour than that perceived by the students. Also the students felt that the school authorities were inconsistent in the implementation of school rules and regulation.

The Effect of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on the Relationship Between Accounting Information and Stock Prices on the Ghana Stock Exchange

This study sought to find the ability of accounting information to explain stock price movement on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and the effect International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in explaining stock price movements. Two multiple regression models were used to ascertain how accounting information was relevant in explaining stock prices as well as to test whether the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)  has an effect on value relevance. Four single regression models was used to explain how accounting variables contribute to explaining stock price.  The study regressed the stock prices on accounting data as well as annual interest rate to determine their relationship. In general the study found that accounting information, specifically earnings, Price to earnings ratio and Return on Equity was relevant   in explaining stock price movements in both   in pre-adoption IFRS and post- adoption IFRS periods in Ghana. The study also found that the adoption of IFRS did not have any effect on the ability of accounting information to explain stock price movements. Keywords: Accounting information, Value relevance, IFRS

Natural disasters and economic growth in Africa

The continent of Africa has experienced its fair share of natural disasters historically and in contemporary times. The effect of natural disasters on economic growth has generated useful but inconclusive debates in the literature. Different studies have found positive, negative or no significant effects at all in some cases of disasters on growth. This makes the question of what impacts natural disasters have on an economy’s growth a purely empirical one and more meaningful to be examined on a case by case basis. Using panel data solely for the continent of Africa from 1980-2015, our regression results show a significant negative effect of natural disasters on economic growth, growth in agricultural value-added and growth in industrial value-added. Additionally, our results also show that disaster effect appears and persists in the post-year periods. The negative relationship between economic growth and disasters is also robust to different disaster measures. We recommend the need to invest in the modernization of the agricultural sector in Africa with the goal of withstanding the negative effects of natural disasters

Household air pollution could make children grow shorter in sub-Saharan Africa; but can households help stem the tide on their own?

DATA AVAILABILITY : Authors do not have permission to share the data but a weblink to the source from which the data can be requested has been provided.Recently, there has been growing research interest in the influence of household air pollution on child health. Despite the increasing advocacy for households to switch from the use of polluting cooking fuels due to climate change and health-related concerns, the practice is still prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The intensity of household air pollution exposure and its influence on child stunting and wasting of children is an important, but understudied, cause for public health concern. Identifying the health effects of polluting fuels, for instance, could stimulate a speedy transition to clean energy. This study, therefore, examines the association between the intensity of household air pollution exposure and child stunting and wasting of children using data from the most recent demographic and health surveys (DHS) from 33 countries in SSA using linear probability modeling. Results show that high levels of intensity of air pollution within households are associated with increased stunting probability of 2.9% − 3.2%. The findings highlight a potential negligible cost measure households can adopt to limit the intensity of pollution they are exposed to and consequently, to reduce the faltering growth in children.https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/world-development-perspectiveshj2024Future AfricaSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-11:Sustainable cities and communitie

Strengthening engineering ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa

The consortium identified a systemic problem in line with the World Bank and IDRC sources that point to the lack of targeted industry training and research application for students in engineering. The consortium used a scheme that involved the piloting of applied engineering research projects in the following disciplines: ICT, Sanitation (Environment and Waste Management) and Water. A total of 31 student-led pilot projects were piloted, targeting solving critical developmental challenges like improving access to affordable sanitation, water supply, and energy saving while striving for gender equality (United Nations Sustainable Development Goal # 5). It has been found that the current curriculum can be enhanced if students in their final year are encouraged to work in multi-disciplinary groups partnered with the private sector with the aim of addressing specific problems in these institutions