The ‘silent pistol’ in Ghana’s local government system: presiding members vs. chief executives

Decentralisation and local governance aim at local economic development, but collaboration among key actors at the local level is essential in realising this objective. However, at district assembly level Ghana exhibits problematic conflicts between district chief executives (DCEs), who head the executive committee, and presiding members (PMs) who convene and preside over assembly deliberations, acting as speaker. This study aims to unpack the main causes of such unsavoury conflicts by using 13 case studies from the Ashanti Region. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data was gathered from a selection of 40 key informants drawn from three main groups including DCEs, PMs, and other stakeholders such as regional coordinating council members, assembly members and chiefs. The main research instrument was one-on-one in-depth interviews with participants. The study found deep-seated conflicts between DCEs and PMs, in some cases even transcending these two actors to involve a greater section of actors within the local government administration. The study noted that professional bureaucrats within the local government service are affected when allegations of affiliation are levelled against them. The study also found that the legal status of DCEs and PMs appears to be the main driver of potential conflict, although other context-specific issues were also prevalent

Event anisotropy v2v_{2} at STAR

Collective flow reflects the dynamical evolution in high-energy heavy ion collisions. In particular, the elliptic flow reflects early collision dynamics.We present a systematic analysis of elliptic flow ($v_{2}$) for identified particles measured in Au + Au and Cu + Cu collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. Number of quark scaling is tested in the intermediate $p_{T}$ region and in the smaller system (Cu + Cu). The Cu + Cu collisions results are compared with those from ideal hydrodynamic model calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

THE EFFECTS OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF WALEWALE IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

Divorce which is defined as the dissolution of marriage by judgment of a court or by accepted customs or in other words a judicial decree declaring a marriage to be dissolved has been with mankind for a very long time. In assessing why, a student may be having difficulty, a teacher or a psychologist would, of course, examine the child's academic setting and intellectual potential. However, it is also essential to take the students family situation into account since family problems can have an impact on classroom performance. Divorce is one of several types of family problems. Marital conflicts may involve ongoing strife between parents or may extend to separation or divorce. The disruption coursed by such fighting and family dissolution may affect a student school performance for several reasons. The main reason why people get married is to satisfy one’s personal and psychological needs as those found in romantic love. In Walewale town and its environs, the inability to fulfill these needs results in the dissolution of marriage. In general, infidelity was discovered to be the main cause of divorce in the community under study. However, its negative effects on children of such parents have eaten so deep into the fabric of our societies and there is the need for individuals, government and non-governmental organizations to put measures in place in order to stagnate its perpetuation.  Article visualizations

Focus and constituent question formation in Dagbani

This paper explores how constituent interrogativization and focus play out in Dagbani, a Gur (Niger-Congo) language. I show that in the formation of constituent interrogatives, the interrogative word enters into a syntactic configuration with the focus markers kà or n depending on the grammatical role of the argument that an interrogative word substitutes for. This involves putting the interrogative word clause initially, and immediately following it with the appropriate focus marker. This distributional property of interrogative words serves as evidence in favour of my argument that focused interrogative words and focused elements share morphosyntactic parallelism. The data used in the analysis are drawn from text-based sources and some are constructed by me as a native speaker. The data are examined in line with the proposal that the variation in the positioning of interrogative words in languages can be explained by assuming that movement of interrogative words is universally triggered by [+wh] and [+focus] features, both of which are [+interpretable] and can be specified as [±strong]. I conclude that interrogative words occur in in-situ when no strong [+focus] features are introduced in the syntax, suggesting that Dagbani has both focused and non-focused interrogative words. Key words: SpecFoc, focus marker, clause initial, constituent interrogatives, information profile

A GUIDE TO TEACHING FIRST-YEAR BASIC DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN GHANA

The Basic Design and Technology program was introduced into the Junior High School curriculum in September 2007. It is one of the elective subjects taught at the Junior High School level all over Ghana. A cursory study indicates the existence of problems in the acquisition of practical skills in the Basic Design and Technology (BDT) program offered in the Junior High Schools. No study was found to have been done regarding the actual challenges in skills acquisition in the program. This study, therefore, fills the gap and purposefully focuses on the teaching and the learning outcomes of pupils among other related issues. The study examines the teaching methods of teachers, considering the limited facilities available and how they affect pupils' acquisition of practical skills and competence. The qualitative research method was used for the study which sought to describe the processes for teaching and learning of Basic Design and Technology and to describe the tools used. Implications of the findings are discussed highlighting the importance of using proper teaching and learning approaches, providing qualified teachers, funds, studio/workshop facilities, and teaching and learning materials for effective delivery and learning Basic Design and Technology.  Article visualizations

Universal Basic Education Policy: Impact on Enrolment and Retention

The universal basic education policy enshrined in the constitution of Ghana is aimed at making education accessible and affordable for all Ghanaian citizens. This paper sought to assess whether the universal basic education policy really have an impact on access at the basic level. The study was carried out on the premise that the universal basic education policy has no impact on enrolment and retention. The study used enrolment data from randomly selected public basic schools. Ten(10) each as treatment and control schools. Descriptive statistics were used in the presentation of the data. The data was enrolment figures taken from the registers of the various schools under study. The study found out that enrolment and retention are on the increase. It again found out that girl’s dropout rate was higher in control schools than boys. The study concluded that girl’s enrolment and retention is largely determined by the universal basic education policy. It is therefore necessary for the provision of incentives for girls and better facilities to meet the increasing demand of enrolment and retention.     Keywords: Universal Basic Education, Enrolment, Retention, Policy, Acces

Reflexive Pronouns in Dagbani

This paper examines reflexivization in Dagbani, a Gur language spoken in Northern Ghana. The data are examined within the parameter of co-referentiality and antecedence. I argue that reflexives are formed by suffixing the reflexivizer, ma.a, meaning eselff, to the possessive pronominal. The pronominal varies in form depending on the singularity or plurality of the antecedent. I minimally compare reflexive pronouns with pronouns within the Binding Theory and observe that whilst pronouns are free within their domains, reflexives are governed within the clausal domain. I conclude that anaphors and pronouns of Dagbani match the principles of the Government and Binding theory

IMPLEMENTING THE USE OF SIX SIGMA FOR QUALITY AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

This thesis investigates the how Six Sigma can be applied to aid to trace the root cause of why the organization under study is not seeing much progress, to find out how to improve the quality of service and also aid in the continuous improvement of the organization. The theoretical framework employed is the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) which deploy the general concept of eliminating waste in any given system or service to promote efficiency through careful usage of the five phases of Six Sigma. The study deploys the use of a qualitative research and data was gathered by submitting questionnaires to the employees of the organization. After a careful analysis of the data by the deployment of the phases of Six Sigma (DMAIC), suggestions and proposals are given for factors that need improvement through management initiative and direction. The overall idea of the thesis was to implement the use of Six Sigma for quality and continuous improvement. The writer hopes that by implementing these proposals of the study, there would be a significant improvement in the quality of services provided and a significant progress would be seen in the organization.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format