Governability of Customary Land Tenure Institutions: insights from Odupongkpehe Customary Area in Ghana

Context and backgroundThe role of customary land tenure institutions in land governance is immeasurable. Notwithstanding the enormous role of customary land tenure institutions in local land governance, they are fraught with problems. The governability of customary land tenure institutions is critical to good local land governance. The literature on has mainly focused on examining the role and capacity of customary land tenure institutions with very little attention to good local land governance indicators.Goal and Objectives:The goal of this paper is to assess the governability of the Odupongkpehe customary land tenure institution in the Awutu Senya East Municipal area of Ghana. The objectives of this paper are to examine the quality and capacity of the Odupongkpehe customary land tenure institution.Methodology:The study was conducted in the Awutu Senya Municipal area in Ghana. The concurrent mixed methods design was used for the study. Data were collected from 178 landowners and experts in customary and statutory land governance. Data were collected from 10th February to 24th February 2019. The semi-structured interview schedules used for data collection in this study was developed and pretested on 14th January 2019.Results:The results evinced that the governability of the customary land tenure institutions was poor because the institution failed to interact with the populace in the customary area. Furthermore, the customary institution did not have the capacity to govern since it was constrained by inadequate staff and logistics and did not collaborate with public land sector agencies. The study recommends the formulation and implementation of a Customary Land Secretariat policy to guide the activities of customary land governance structures

Farmers’ Assessment of the Government Spraying Program in Ghana

The study assessed the effectiveness of the Government spraying program which was introduced to eradicate cocoa pests and diseases in Ghana. One hundred and twenty (120) cocoa farmers were randomly selected from six communities in the Wassa Amenfi West District of the Western Region of Ghana and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Effectiveness of the spraying program was assessed using descriptive statistics while the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to analyze the constraints facing the program. The study showed that 14.2% of farmers never benefitted from the spraying program since its inception in 2001. In addition, the study found that the spraying program in the district did not follow the recommended spraying regime with 68.3% of farmers expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of the spraying personnel. Inadequate supply of chemicals and inadequate spraying personnel were the most critical constraints. Timely provision of chemicals and supervision of the spraying personnel were recommended. Keywords: Cocoa, CODAPEC, constraints, government spraying program, pests and disease

Undergraduate hospitality students’ perceptions of careers in the industry: The Ghanaian context

The study examined undergraduate students’ perceptions about careers in the hospitality industry in Ghana. Students were sampled from traditional and technical public universities through a stratified random sampling technique. With a sample size of 1 341, exploratory factor analysis, t-test and one-way analysis of variance were employed to analyse the data. The findings show that career attractiveness, prestige and mobility and the nature of hospitality careers were the main constructs of students’ perceptions about careers in the hospitality industry. Also, undergraduate students were generally indifferent about careers in the industry. Specifically, students perceived careers in the industry to offer opportunities to meet new people, but this was also stressful. Implications for educators and industry practitioners are presented. Keywords: careers, Ghana, hospitality industry, industry experience, perceptions, undergraduate student

Hospitality management competency requirements of the hospitality industry in Ghana: practitioners' and educators' perspectives

This paper assessed industry practitioners’ and educators’ views on the competencies required by the hospitality industry in Ghana. Data was collected through a survey of 111 respondents. Means were used to rank the competencies, whilst T- test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to explore the differences in competencies perceived to be required by the industry practitioners and educators. It was found out in terms of importance that practitioners preferred leadership, administrative, conceptual and technical competencies whilst educators favoured conceptual, leadership, administrative and technical competencies. Except for ability to maintain hygiene standards and ability to develop contingency plans, there were generally no statistically significant differences between the views of practitioners and educators with regards to competencies required by the industry. It is recommended that there should be more collaboration between hospitality practitioners and educators in Ghana

USING THE ABACUS TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES BASIC THREE (3) PUPILS WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES HAVE WITH PLACE VALUE OF NUMBERS IN EXPERIMENTAL SCHOOL IN BOLGATANGA MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

This study adopted the action research design to assist Basic Three (3) pupils with learning difficulties in the Zaare Experimental Primary School of the BolgatangaMunicipality to identify the Place Values of given numbers, using the Abacus. The study was carried out in order to enhance the Pupils’ understanding of the concept of place value, the importance of Place Value in learning other concepts in mathematics, and also how the Abacus could be used in teaching Place Value as a concept in mathematics. To achieve this purpose, the study used the Abacus to help improve the pupils’ understanding of the concept of Place Value, by engaging the pupils in Pre-Test and Post-Test intervention activities. Purposive as well as census sampling techniques were selected and used as the study was limited to only Basic 3 pupils who had difficulties in identifying the Place Value of given numbers. In all, thirty-five (35) pupils comprising eighteen (18) boys and seventeen (17) girls from the sample groups were used. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study. Pre-test, observation, interview questionnaire, and post-test were the research instruments used to gather reliable data for the study. The pupils were also found to have developed a favorable attitude towards mathematics. Recommendations were made with regard to teachers' and pupils‟ attitudes in the teaching of mathematics at the basic school level, and the use of appropriate Teaching and Learning Resources (TLRs) to teach during mathematics lessons to make the lessons interactive

Cross-cultural Analysis of Teacher Perspectives and Preparedness for Inclusive Education in Ghana and Germany:Implications for Teacher Education

Developments in special and inclusive education in particular and education in general show similar trajectories across countries, that underscores the need for cross-cultural studies (Mitchell, 2010). Teachers as one of the major stakeholders in the successful implementation of inclusive education have the responsibility of teaching in the regular classroom. The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to investigate the status of teacher preparedness for inclusive education in Ghana and Germany and its implications for teacher education. A survey instrument made up of Likert-type Survey statements and Open-ended items were administered to (n=212) respondents from Ghana and Germany that constituted the sample size for the study. The English and German Versions of the instrument were subjected to Factor Analysis and Reliability Coefficient which yielded 0.8 and 0.9 respectively for Ghana and Germany samples using the Cronbach alpha index. The Quantitative data was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis using multiple comparison procedures and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The open-ended responses which provided additional insights into the responses, yielded qualitative data that was also analysed using Constant Comparison Analysis. The Analyses revealed a number of findings that have implications for teacher education, in the light of which, some recommendations are made

Lessons from a pilot co-composting plant in Kumasi, Ghana

Lessons from a pilot co-composting plant in Kumasi, Ghan

ATTITUDES OF NON-DISABLED STUDENTS TOWARDS THEIR PEERS WITH DISABILITIES IN AN INCLUSIVE SETTING IN GHANA

This study measured the attitudes of non-disabled students towards their peers with disabilities. A cross-sectional survey was employed for the study. The Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with “Handicaps” (CATCH) scale was used to collect data from n=119 respondents. Descriptive statistics analysis was employed in analysing the data. Results indicated that students without disabilities generally held neutral attitudes towards their peers with disabilities (M=2.12; SD=0.687) with no significant difference in gender, age, having a close friend or relative with a disability. Teachers in inclusive education schools were encouraged to measure the attitudes of students towards their peers with disabilities and other related variables. This would enable them to plan, design, develop, implement and evaluate effective interventions that would change non-disabled students’ negative and/or neutral attitudes, thereby ensuring the full social participation of students with disabilities in inclusive settings.   Article visualizations

An African Christian Perspective on the Veneration of the Saints or the Ancestors

Almost all religions believe in life after death. Christians believe that their deceased relatives and Church members who were baptised before they died would rise to new life in Christ after death. However, some Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians find it difficult to accept the fact that our deceased brothers and sisters (who are called by different names, saints or ancestors) are alive and deserve honour or recognition from the living. Africans venerate their deceased brothers and sisters who lived impeccable and irreproachable lives while they lived on this earth. In the same way some Christians, especially Catholics, Anglicans and others in public ceremonies canonize their deceased brothers and sisters who lived lives worthy of emulation and call them saints. They set aside some days in the year when they are publicly venerated in their liturgies and celebrate their entrance into eternity with God. In this article the writer argues that both Catholics and Africans are doing nothing wrong when they venerate their brothers and sisters as heroes in this way. They are only giving them honour like we do to our national heroes and ask for their intercession in prayer. Although Christians and Africans call their deceased members who lived exemplary lives by different names (Saints and Ancestors respectively), they venerate them in similar ways and the Saints or Ancestors play similar roles in the lives of their living members, notwithstanding some dissimilarities. Keywords: Veneration, Worship, Saints, Ancestors. DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/45-02 Publication date:October 31st 201

Learnings from implementing the excreta flow diagram (SFD) process in Kumasi

Excreta, Faecal or Shit Flow Diagrams (SFDs) are away to clearly represent how excreta flows along the sanitation service chain. This approach has already gained popularity and many SFDs have already been produced. To date little attention has been paid to the methods and data used, or the credibility of the SFDs. The SFD Promotion Initiative has created a tool to enable the wider roll-out of SFDs, which includes a credibility assessment. The product is a report on service delivery context with an embedded SFD. This briefing paper discusses the lessons learnt from trialling the tool and process developed through this initiative, in the city of Kumasi (Ghana). The most important lesson learnt is that stakeholder engagement is critical not only for obtaining credible data, but also for validating the SFD produced