How do you improve the Ghanaian educational system? In times past, I would have had an easy answer for this. Train teachers better, get textbooks in the schools etc would have come off the top of my head, probably. But is it really that simple? After doing community service, traveling the country more than before and actually starting to think about the issues in more than superficial terms, I realize that it's definitely not. And in case you don't think the educational system is that bad, think again. It's almost impossible to get reliable data that actually means anything on how bad the situation is, but if an overwhelming majority of citizens are unable to make anything meaningful out of their lives with the education they are getting and rather equips them with a ludicrous dependence/obsession with government and its whims, I am positive there is something VERY VERY wrong. Even for the VERY few who are getting a semblance of a "good" education, is it really? Education that has no relevance to the society and does not in any way encourage citizens to think through and generate practical solutions for themselves and others is really a waste of resources to me. Do check out Paolo Friere's thoughts on this subject:

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-freir.htm

He was a 20th century Brazilian educator and theorist who had some interesting ideas about education. I agree with what he says to a large extent.

What are your thoughts?

The government of the Republic of Ghana has launched the long a waited Anti human trafficking fund.The fund seeks to support the efforts of law enforcement agencies and civil society in the fight against Human trafficking in the country. Present at the launch were the vice President of the Republic of Ghana and the Minister for Women and Children's Affairs,The vice President said the issue of human trrafficking is a problem for the country and across the sub-region and the world, and every one should rally behind the efforts of the government and civil society to fight against this canker.He promised to put in a request next year for an increament in the budgetary allocation for the fund.One hundred thousand cedis( about $92,000.00 ) was set aside by government towards the establishment of the fund

The elctoral commissioner yesterday announced of a second round of Ghanaians going to the polls. This is mainly going to be between the ruling party and its main contendant NDC. I see this to be a little bit going to be tensed. But all the expectation outcome should be peace. Peace should prevail and nothing else.
Peace means unity and unity means togetherness so does it also means healthy economy to promote a healthy Ghana.

The Human Trafficking Unit was at first a desk at Interpol 4 years ago, but was upgraded to a full unit in March 2008. The aim of this unit is to combat human trafficking both internally and internationally.
The unit is made up of the Head of unit, Station Officer, Secretary and the Team of investigators. The following functions are performed by the unit:
1) They have been mandated to investigate issues of this nature.
2) To arrest people who go contrary to the law or act.
3)Protect both citizens and victims.
4)Educate people on the laws, acts and issues of human trafficking.
5) Collaborate with stake holders such as IOM,MOWAC,UNICEF,NGOs,Social welfare and other law enforcement agencies.
Since its establishment, the unit has achieved a lot. Stay tune for more becausa this is just the beginning.

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There is more to portable electronic gadgets than just fancy hardware

ELECTRONIC gadgets have changed a great deal in the past few years. Most obviously, they have become smaller, sleeker, smarter and more versatile. Billions of people now carry around tiny devices that are more powerful than the desktop computers of a few years ago. But these gadgets have also changed in a less obvious way. Once they were lumps of hardware, brought to life by a layer of software; today, they might be more accurately described as services in a box.

It was ever thus with mobile phones, of course: the handset is useless without a network operator, and mobile phones are, in effect, the containers in which operators sell their services. But the handset and the network service have hitherto come from different companies. Operators do not manufacture their own phones, and handset-makers are not operators. ...

Ashesi University College is respected by many both in and outside Ghana. Students of Ashesi have been rated to be above their colleagues form other institutions. However, is possible that the very things that make Ashesi stand out could also be a contributing factor to its undoing?

One of the main principles of the Ashesi education is learning by doing. In this regard, Ashesi students are required to do a lot of work during the course of a semester. From assignments, through group projects, to journal and notebook entries amongst others, I have realized that most Ashesi students are almost always completing one assignment to meet a particular deadline and then move ahead to the next one. There is really no time to explore and play around the concepts being taught. Since not everything can be taught in class, most students are at a disadvantage.

Other students from other schools might be seen as not getting the best in terms of assignments and all that. However, they can say they have more time to explore and discover stuff on their own.

So who is disadvantaged here? Do you think this is just a case of lack of time management or is it that Ashesi students are being overworked?

Global Entrepreneurship Week begins Nov 17th. Cities around the world will be celebrating Global Entrepreneurship week with a variety of activities to promote entrepreneurship, particularly among those under the age of 30. This week offers an opportunity to network from like-mind entrepreneurial spirits, learn from successful business owners and to participate in developing pro-entrepreneurship policies.

To find out about activities near you, check out http://unleashingideas.org/ or send a note to Moses (username: moskandi1) who is a member of this webgroup.