The Socio – Economic Potential of Railway Services from Tema Port on Indigenous Ghanaian Road Haulage

A synopsis forecasting the ‘repercussions of active railway services from the Tema seaport of Ghana - on the indigenous road haulage industry’ was created in 2009.  This was with full knowledge that rail haulage services though non-existent, were inevitable if the port was to realize appreciable levels of efficiency in support of supply chains through the Sub-region. The study, which is still relevant today, assessed the views of stakeholders’ in road haulage with regards to ‘the level of awareness of the potential competition from an operational railway sector, the potential impacts on their businesses and ways of reducing negative impacts if any’.  It was evident that a fully operational railway services would yield significant negative direct, indirect and induced impacts on the indigenous road haulage industry in the short to medium term. The level of awareness of these was quite low amongst the indigenous Ghanaian stakeholders. Few indigenous operators vouched to resort to crime if they lost their livelihoods.  It was noted with interest, that members of the road haulage industry could somehow contribute funding in support of a future rail haulage industry, which could result in win - win situations for all relevant stakeholders.  This was on the backdrop that national policies offering opportunities for indigenous road haulers are instituted and the necessary education on global trends with ‘multimodal transport’ given them.  Such opportunities could increase their relevance as well as their comparative and competitive advantage as partakers in international logistics services. Keywords: Indigenous Ghanaian Road Haulage Industry , potential impact, logistics, Multimodal Transport Operatio

Future Orientation of Marketing Management for Sustainable National Development, A Case of Ghana’s Tema Port

Maritime Ports have played vital roles in the development of many economies in the world; from merely providing shelter for ships through to becoming complete logistics platforms for international trade. Notwithstanding, the importance of ports with regards to national objectives evolved at varied paces in various economies of the world as they competed to serve international trade and shipping.  Those variations impacted the choice of ownership and management of the facilities.  GHPA, Ghana opted for the Landlord model of ownership to enhance its competitive edge in the West African sub- region. But that move appeared to result in the ineffectiveness of the Marketing Department of the Tema Port in pursuing the national objectives.  A new focus for marketing management of the Tema Port, which could facilitate the realization of Ghana’s national objectives, was researched into.  Conclusions were that the marketing department of the Tema Port may have to move beyond serving their direct customers to pursuing additional objectives which may not be directly related to port business in the short term.  Such moves could stimulate the growth of local industries from which the port can eventually create niche businesses in the medium to long term.  For example, support for tropical fruit production, can lead to fruit processing, packaging, storage and then exporting by and through the port.  Such a move could also create the much needed employment, State revenue and improved living standards in Ghana. Keywords: Maritime port marketing, Ghana’s Port, National developmen

An Impact Assessment of Maritime Ports on Communities – A Case of Tema Port and Tema Newtown, Ghana

The adoption of Sustainable Strategic Management (SSM) principles by some port organizations offered them opportunities to serve their local communities, and with that, gained acceptance from them.   They also gained international recognition which further created opportunities of competitive advantage for them.  In light of the trend, this research in 2009, sought to assess the impact which the Tema Port had had on the Newtown Community in that decade.  By means of analyzed data from people in the Community, Traditional Leaders and the Port Authority, it was realized that the Port being in the Newtown locality was of monumental significance to the Community.  Even though the Traditional Leaders did not expect much support from the port, the ordinary people in the Community thought otherwise.  The Community had many expectations from the Port such as maintaining a hygienic environment.  It was interestingly revealed that the fisher folk in the Community could support Port business by watching over  ships in the Port’s waters against robbery attacks. The Port Authority had supported many national initiatives, but there was no much physical evidence to demonstrate its commitment to CSR in the Newtown Community in that decade.  For a mutually beneficial relationship with Newtown; and if it became their desire to adopt SSM (i.e. to gain international recognition and competitiveness), Port’s Management was recommended to implement periodical CSR programs for Newtown, involve indigenes in providing informal seafront security and spearhead the unification of organisations located in the Ports zone to collectively contribute to develop Newtown. Keywords: Sustainable strategic management, Newtown Port Community, mutual beneficial relationship

Public Perceptions about Women Pursuing the Seafaring Career a Case of Ghana

There have been positive responses to international calls for more females to also join the seafaring profession, but the growth rate is rather slow even with advancements in ship technology, which continues to make seafaring less strenuous than it used to be.  There are many known internal positive and negative perceptions about women in seafaring.  The studies sort for external perceptions on the matter and whether the Ghanaian public would encourage their females to pursue seafaring. Secondary data was used to trace the trend of female enrolment at the RMU from 2004 to date. The percentage of females was insignificant. Perceptions of Ghana’s general public sampled from communities close to Tema Port and to RMU (i.e. Tema and Nungua) were collated.  It was realized that few would encourage their female relatives to pursue seafaring because of its high income potentials, especially if it were for short sea hauls. Younger females were more likely to consider it.  Majority would not encourage their females, major reasons being that the job was risky and that women played the natural role of maintaining a favorable emotional environment in society. Perception about the most cherished ambition for many women was to have a happy/successful family life.  In conclusion, few people knew of the improvements in seafaring conditions.  Seafaring may become attractive to young females in Ghana with the emergence of the short sea or coastal shipping industry.  Recommendations included giving more publicity to the seafaring profession in its present state and introducing more diversity into seafaring courses to make both male and female graduates versatile, thus capable of making other career choices in their future when they opt to stay ashore. Keywords: Female seafarers, Career, Public perception

PAPEL DAS GESTORAS FEMININAS NA FUNÇÃO ADMINISTRATIVA DAS ESCOLAS DE GANA

Tradicionalmente, as mulheres, em comparação com os homens, são estereotipadas como expressivas, calorosas, gentis, tranquilas e com falta de autoconfiança; e, portanto, são vistas como tendo menos capacidade para ser líderes. Isto pôs em risco a concretização da igualdade de gênero (SDG 5), bem como a educação de qualidade (SDG 4). Este estudo examinou o nível de desempenho de diretoras mulheres em funções administrativas em escolas de Ensino Médio em Gana. Este estudo foi de natureza puramente quantitativa e empregou a concepção de Survey. O estudo foi delimitado em 31 escolas lideradas por diretoras mulheres. Utilizou-se o Cluster e a técnica de amostragem aleatória sistemática para selecionar os professores em cada escola. No total, 692 professores participaram do estudo. Questionários foram utilizados como instrumento de coleta de dados. O resultado revelou que o nível de classificação de desempenho das diretoras mulheres em papéis administrativos foi bom. Com relação à dimensão independente, as diretoras mulheres obtiveram avaliações altas. Supervisão (M=42.34, SD=4.97),organização (M=42.03, SD=3.95) e orçamento (M=42.03, SD=5.35) foram as funções administrativas com maior pontuação. Embora as pontuações de avaliação (M=41.60, SD=4.80), controle (M=41.16, SD=4.65) e planejamento (M=40.85, SD=4.53) tenham sido altas, estas foram menores. Resultados de Análise Multivariada de Variância One-way revelaram um teste multivariado não significativo, F(684)=1.019, p=.416. Isso indica que não houve diferença significativa no nível geral de desempenho de tarefas administrativas de diretoras mulheres no que diz respeito à localização da escolar. Os resultados deste estudo, portanto, indicam aos stakeholders da área de educação que permitam às mulheres a oportunidade de liderar escolas de Ensino Médio em Gana. Educação pública e sensibilização devem ser conduzidas pelo Ministério de Gênero e Assuntos Infantis para eliminar a percepção errônea por parte do público em geral em relação às mulheres que mantêm posições de direção nas escolas

PAPEL DAS GESTORAS FEMININAS NA FUNÇÃO ADMINISTRATIVA DAS ESCOLAS DE GANA

Tradicionalmente, as mulheres, em comparação com os homens, são estereotipadas como expressivas, calorosas, gentis, tranquilas e com falta de autoconfiança; e, portanto, são vistas como tendo menos capacidade para ser líderes. Isto pôs em risco a concretização da igualdade de gênero (SDG 5), bem como a educação de qualidade (SDG 4). Este estudo examinou o nível de desempenho de diretoras mulheres em funções administrativas em escolas de Ensino Médio em Gana. Este estudo foi de natureza puramente quantitativa e empregou a concepção de Survey. O estudo foi delimitado em 31 escolas lideradas por diretoras mulheres. Utilizou-se o Cluster e a técnica de amostragem aleatória sistemática para selecionar os professores em cada escola. No total, 692 professores participaram do estudo. Questionários foram utilizados como instrumento de coleta de dados. O resultado revelou que o nível de classificação de desempenho das diretoras mulheres em papéis administrativos foi bom. Com relação à dimensão independente, as diretoras mulheres obtiveram avaliações altas. Supervisão (M=42.34, SD=4.97),organização (M=42.03, SD=3.95) e orçamento (M=42.03, SD=5.35) foram as funções administrativas com maior pontuação. Embora as pontuações de avaliação (M=41.60, SD=4.80), controle (M=41.16, SD=4.65) e planejamento (M=40.85, SD=4.53) tenham sido altas, estas foram menores. Resultados de Análise Multivariada de Variância One-way revelaram um teste multivariado não significativo, F(684)=1.019, p=.416. Isso indica que não houve diferença significativa no nível geral de desempenho de tarefas administrativas de diretoras mulheres no que diz respeito à localização da escolar. Os resultados deste estudo, portanto, indicam aos stakeholders da área de educação que permitam às mulheres a oportunidade de liderar escolas de Ensino Médio em Gana. Educação pública e sensibilização devem ser conduzidas pelo Ministério de Gênero e Assuntos Infantis para eliminar a percepção errônea por parte do público em geral em relação às mulheres que mantêm posições de direção nas escolas

DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS’ ENROLMENT IN HOME ECONOMICS PROGRAMME IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN GHANA

Students’ enrolment in Home Economics programme in Senior High Schools (SHSs) in Ghana has been low in recent times. This has become a concern for major stakeholder in education. This study examined the determinants of students’ enrolment in Home Economics programme in SHSs in Ghana. The cross-sectional descriptive survey design was employed for the conduct of the study. The target population comprised first year Home Economics students from 16 selected SHSs in three administrative regions (i.e., Western, Central and Greater Accra Region). A simple random sampling technique (lottery method) was employed to sample 4 schools in the Western Region and 6 each from Central and Greater Accra Region. A census sampling technique was then utilised to include all Home Economics first-year students in the selected schools. A sample size of 1,136 students from 16 schools participated in the study. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to analyse the data using 1,000 bootstrap samples with 95% confidence interval with bias-corrected accelerated and 2,000,000 seed for Mersenne Twister. It was revealed that factors which significantly influenced students’ decision to enrol in the Home Economics programme were interest, job prospects, fathers, teachers, BECE grade, family relatives, and perceived workload among others. The study recommended that management of basic schools in Ghana should organise educative programmes to enlighten students and teachers on vocational and technical related courses and as such arouse students’ interest in enrolling in such programmes.  Article visualizations

Analysis on Students’ Late-Coming Factors in Selected Secondary Schools in Zaria: Implications for Educational Managers

This study attempted to answer the following research questions among others: Has gender any relation with students’ late-coming to school? Has age any relation with students’ late-coming to school? Do senior students come to school late than junior? Four secondary schools were selected for the study. Sample of sixty students late comers were administered with the questionnaire within a period of two weeks. The instrument was partly adopted, while the other part was self constructed. The instrument was validated by expert in educational administration and language. Data collected was analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies for easy interpretation and understanding. The results indicate that late coming to school is higher among female students, those within the ages of 16-20 are frequent late comers and senior among others. It was recommended that parents (especially mothers) should reduce engaging female students with home activities especially in the morning; school administrators and teachers should increase effort on counseling strategies to adolescent students due to their change in perception and school rules. Keywords: Educational managers, Late-coming, School syste

TEACHERS CONFIDENCE OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT PRACTICES: A CASE OF BASIC SCHOOLS IN UPPER DENKYIRA WEST DISTRICT, GHANA

Teachers' confidence in classroom activities has been a major concern for educators and major stakeholders in Ghana. However, the literature suggests that showing higher confidence in classroom practices positively impact students learning outcome. The specific purposes of the study were to determine whether teachers are confident in (1) monitoring, analysing, and communicating assessment results and (2) assessment, design, implementation, and feedback. The study also sought to find out whether gender plays a role in teachers’ confidence in classroom assessment practices. A descriptive research design was adopted for the conduct of the study. The population for this study comprised all public basic schools in the Upper Denkyira West District. The purposive Sampling technique was used to select 137 out of 187 Lower Primary School Teachers (Basic 1-3). A standardised inventory called “Classroom Assessment Inventory” developed and validated by Christopher DeLuca, Danielle LaPointe-McEwan, and Ulemu Luhangain in 2016 was adopted for this study. It was found that primary school teachers were generally more optimistic about their ability to put the various classroom assessments into practice in the classroom. Overall, the study found that teachers have a higher level of confidence in their assessment practices in the classroom. It was also revealed that there is no statistically significant difference between confidence in classroom assessment and the gender of teachers. It was recommended that Ghana Education Service through District Directors of Education should organize in-service training and workshops for all teachers to partake in irrespective of their gender.  Article visualizations

Brain glutamate and gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA) metabolism in thiamin-deficient rats

The brain metabolism of glutamate and gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA) was investigated in thiamin-deficient and pair-fed control rats, in order to determine whether the GABA shunt may provide an important alternative to 2-oxo-glutarate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.2) in energy-yielding metabolism in thiamin deficiency. Brains from thiamin-deficient animals contained less glutamate, 2-oxo-glutarate and GABA than those from control animals. The brain content of ATP was unaffected by thiamin deficiency. After intracerebroventricular injection of [14C]glutamate, the specific radioactivity of GABA in the brains from deficient animals was 45-50% higher than that in controls, suggesting a considerable increase in the metabolic flux through the GABA shunt in thiamin deficiency. Brain GABA showed a marked circumannual variation, with a peak in mid-summer and a minimum value in mid-winter