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.

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

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

Anaemia in pregnant adolescent girls with malaria and practicing pica

Introduction: pregnancy during the adolescent period is challenging mainly because of the nutritional demands of both the adolescent and pregnancy period. The risk for anaemia increases especially in developing countries such as Ghana where malaria is endemic and the practice of pica is common. In this study, we sought to determine the prevalence of anaemia, pica practice and malaria infection among pregnant adolescent girls and assess the extent to which these factors are associated. Methods: two hundred and sixty five (265) pregnant adolescent girls were recruited from three hospitals in Accra. Haemoglobin levels, malaria infection and the practice of pica were assessed. Pearson’s Chi squared tests were used to determine associations and logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds of being anaemic. Significance was set at p≤0.05. Results: anaemia prevalence was 76% with severity ranging from mild (47.8%) to severe (0.8%). About 27.5% were moderately anaemic. Pica was practiced in only 9.1% of the girls. Malaria infection was prevalent in 17.7% of the girls. The logistic regression analysis indicated that pregnant girls with malaria infection were 3.56 times more likely to be anaemic when compared to those without malaria. Also, those who practiced pica were 1.23 times more likely to be anaemic when compared to those who did not practice pica. Conclusion: anaemia is very prevalent in pregnant adolescent  girls and is a public health problem. Drastic measures should be taken to reduce the high prevalence.The Pan African Medical Journal 2016;2

Determinants of health insurance enrollment and health expenditure in Ghana: An empirical analysis

This paper analyzes the determinants of health insurance enrollment and health expenditure in Ghana using micro data from wave 7 of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7) with emphasis on the role of risk preferences and the availability of health facilities in one’s own community, neither of which has been emphasized in the previous literature on this topic. It is possible to analyze the determinants of health insurance enrollment in Ghana because its public health insurance system (the National Health Insurance Scheme or NHIS) is, in theory, mandatory, but is, in actual practice, voluntary, with only about 40% of the population enrolled in the scheme. Our empirical findings show that risk preferences have a significant impact on health insurance enrollment, with risk averse individuals being significantly more likely than other households to enroll in health insurance, as one would expect. Moreover, our findings also show that very poor households are significantly more likely to enroll in health insurance than other households, perhaps because they are exempt from paying premiums for health insurance. This finding suggests that NHIS is achieving its intended objective of increasing the poor’s access to health care. Finally, our findings also show that the availability of health facilities in one’s own community significantly decreases expenditures on health care, which underscores the importance of ensuring an equitable spatial distribution of health facilities throughout the country

Adinkra Symbol Recognition using Classical Machine Learning and Deep Learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative influence, engendering paradigm shifts in global societies, spanning academia and industry. However, in light of these rapid advances, addressing the underrepresentation of black communities and African countries in AI is crucial. Boosting enthusiasm for AI can be effectively accomplished by showcasing straightforward applications around tasks like identifying and categorizing traditional symbols, such as Adinkra symbols, or familiar objects within the community. In this research endeavor, we dived into classical machine learning and harnessed the power of deep learning models to tackle the intricate task of classifying and recognizing Adinkra symbols. The idea led to a newly constructed ADINKRA dataset comprising 174,338 images meticulously organized into 62 distinct classes, each representing a singular and emblematic symbol. We constructed a CNN model for classification and recognition using six convolutional layers, three fully connected (FC) layers, and optional dropout regularization. The model is a simpler and smaller version of VGG, with fewer layers, smaller channel sizes, and a fixed kernel size. Additionally, we tap into the transfer learning capabilities provided by pre-trained models like VGG and ResNet. These models assist us in both classifying images and extracting features that can be used with classical machine learning models. We assess the model's performance by measuring its accuracy and convergence rate and visualizing the areas that significantly influence its predictions. These evaluations serve as a foundational benchmark for future assessments of the ADINKRA dataset. We hope this application exemplar inspires ideas on the various uses of AI in organizing our traditional and modern lives.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 5 table