WHO IS EDUCATED?

By the definition of Microsoft® Encarta, Education refers to imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning, especially at a school or similar institution.

Sitting through a Comparative Politics lecture, Dr. Richard Amoako Baah defined the educated as that person with the ability to reason out innovative solutions to the plight of the needy and society at large. Moreover, the educated person must have rich imagination since Education equips an individual with variety of possibilities.

Act 80 Section 2 of the law that established the KNUST states “The aims of the University shall be to provide higher education, to undertake research, to disseminate knowledge and to foster relationships with outside persons and bodies.”

Again, section 2(d) of the Act 80 states “that students should be taught methods of critical and independent thought, while being made aware that they have a responsibility to use their education for the general benefit.”

Sadly and contrary to the above, the essence of education is limited to few aspects of the Education process i.e. obtaining a „first class’, or the ability to facsimile what one has been shown or thought.

Referencing the meaning of education above; education is imparting knowledge. By this, for a person to be referred to as educated, he or she must demonstrate to a greater extent the ability to impart the knowledge he has acquired. For one to learn all that there is in the world and yet is unable to impart to the next generation or his neighbors, leaves him categorized as UNEDUCATED.

To be called EDUCATED, one must be able to yield to the acquisition of more knowledge. The ability of a person to submit to tutorial is also a crucial characteristic of the EDUCATED. By the fact that knowledge is not static but progressively dynamic, the educated must always be up to date on happenings around him or her. Conclusively, to be referred to as EDUCATED, one must be „current‟ with information (knowledge). Moreover, such knowledge or information must be deliberately acquired. The fact that education is acquired in a conscious manner is indicative that it is often acquired in a defined set up or environment although not always.

The ability of a person to control his/her emotions is also a sign of the EDUCATED. Many a time persons deemed educated yield to the dictate of their emotions and misbehave. It therefore becomes a wonder when a supposed educated person engages in a public fight.

Most importantly, the mark of the educated is the ability of a person to be critical in reason and promptly think out solutions to problems to the benefit of society.

In conclusion, the next time it dawns on you to worry about your marks or average or your stance on the education ladder, critically examine the rudiments or fiber optic of education and be assured that there is not a limit to the acquisition of knowledge, rather it‟s our demonstration of the knowledge acquired that is imperative.

as published on www.modernghana.com

TRIBALISM: A CURSE FOR ANY NATION

The menace of tribalism, which is creeping into our society of late, should cause headaches for all peace loving Ghanaians.

As Ghanaians, one would have thought that we have seen enough of what senseless engagement in tribal politics can do to a nation. Most of us are living witnesses to the carnage that went on in Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia, etc. These countries all fell into the abyss due to tribalism and ethnicity which started at a time they thought was to be overlooked.

When military coup d’états started in Togo and Congo, little did we know that it would spread through Africa like a tsunami and we got our share in 1966 up until after over three decades before we recovered from it. And characterized with its underdevelopment symptoms it is therefore expedient that we safeguard our dear country against any attempt to inject tribalism into our infant democracy.

For the purposes of this article we shall use a wider definition of a tribe as a grouping of people whose loyalty to their group is greater than their loyalty to a nation.

The quest for tribalism and tribal discrimination over the years in Ghana is traced to the following:

Many a tribes trace their superiority of their tribes to history. They most often recount how their forbearers defeated the other tribes in a war or a series of wars and enslaved them. Such people take pride in their history as it becomes extremely difficult or impossible to persuade as they are clouded by today’s reality. They believe that since their ancestors were "better" than the other tribes, so also are they now. Linked to the above is indoctrination.

POLITICIANS AND TRIBALISM. It is sad to say that most of our politicians either covertly or overtly try to whip tribal sentiments for their own political purposes. They try to concoct stories that will infuriate one tribe or the other so that they may not vote for certain parties or individuals.

Scavengers as they are, these corrupt politicians know that they have NOTHING BETTER TO OFFER when it comes to issues of national development and so by playing the tribal card, they are able to skip the issues at stake. They fail to recognize that their actions cause more harm to the very State they want to govern.

Perhaps these politicians can not be blamed considering the fact that they are like vultures who feed on people’s vulnerabilities. Therefore, those who fall victim are those who allow themselves.

EFFECTS OF TRIBALISM. The negative effects of tribalism in Ghana are not far-fetched. First of all tribalism breeds nepotism which in tend results in Poverty and mediocre deliveries; and Above all, tribalism can be a prelude to a civil war.
Also petty tribal conflicts divert national attention and resources. The amount of money and personnel that are used to quell such conflicts could have been used for other pressing and important needs.
CONCLUSION, There are good and bad people in every race, tribe or family, therefore, we owe it as a duty to leave a peaceful Ghana to our children just as we inherited it. All the tribes in Ghana have more things in common than things that divide us.

In the end we must all reject persons who come to us preaching tribalism and pray that our mother Ghana will continue to be a safe secure haven for us all.

GOD BLESS GHANA!!

CRUCIFYING THE FUTURE - POLITICKING EDUCATION

Over the years, there has been mass out cry in reference to the quality of students churned out by the Ghanaian educational system.

Although the issue of quality education is always in tandem with finance and precise actionable plans, politicians and civil society organizations in their quest to gain attention from the Ghanaian citizenry make wonderful pledges on the need for quality but leave out the question of how their suggestions would be carried out (financed). In the end, as feasibility on these promises is impossible their theory on quality becomes a gimmick.

Going down history lane, and in reference to the major steps undertaken to promote quality and accessible education by Ghana’s leaders; Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, upon realizing the role of education to national development, initiated free education all through to the tertiary level financed primarily with the nation’s earnings from cocoa of which Ghana at the time was the world’s leading producer. Evidently, he instituted the Cocoa Scholarship Scheme of which many of the persons at the helm of affairs today freely benefited.

Not long after the fall of Dr. Nkrumah, Dr. K. A. Busia (Ghana's prime minister – 1969-72) in his quest to adjust but further enhance access to education especially at the tertiary level introduced partial state involvement in funding tertiary education (cost sharing) hence the introduction of the Student's Loan Scheme as a complement to students in acquiring education.

As previous initiatives became obsolete and deficient in meeting the needs of the time, the GET Fund was instituted in the regime of President J. J. Rawlings (1999) and subsequently backed by law with the prime mandate to face-lift Ghanaian academic facilities especially at the tertiary institutions, as well as support in the general upgrade of education in Ghana.

In the era of President J. A. Kuffour, the FCUBE, the School Feeding Programme, etc was also introduced with the sole aim to reviving the vision of Ghana's first president and to motivate participation in education especially at the primary level.

Notwithstanding the visible initiatives introduced previously as contribution to quality education in Ghana, the passage of the Petroleum  Revenue Management law (which sought to determine how Ghana's discovered oil would be managed) did not contain in it visibly allocated funds towards improving education despite societal out cry in this regard. By this, the fate of education in Ghana is once more left in the hands of politicians (persons who have so far made the subject of education an after-thought and a joke).

Furthermore, with the current trend, education in Ghana is seemingly drifting to be a venture for the privileged, as fees charged for accessing education is progressively high, contrary to the provisions of the 1992 constitution article 25 (“all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realization of that right…..”)

Moreover, as access to quality education in Ghana tilts to be an elitist engagement, the gap between the BOURGEOIS and the “Have Not” in society would deepen, creating a class society. Consequently, a revolution will ignite primarily by the masses (“have not”), seeking to make society a classless one just as Karl Max has predicted. In the end, the quest would trigger anarchy, something this nation is not ready for.

As cover up by these elites who are predominantly the managers and power brokers of the country, the Students’ Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) is upheld as the complement to education notwithstanding its meager and late disbursement.

Ironically, these elites at the helm of affairs today and introducing unfriendly and anesthetic policies were a part of those that benefited from the scholarships and free education to the tertiary level as was the case in the era of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Rather than advancing cogent alternatives towards eradicating the predicament associated with today's education, they join the masses in lamenting over the problem, calling for talk shops as a gimmick.

Until recently when students of the University of Ghana embarked on a protest march over the ‘wee’ school fees, the education ministry and the other relevant stakeholders of education never realized the need for a public discourse on alternative means of funding Tertiary education in Ghana i.e. partial state involvement in sponsoring education; a resolution which was initiated in the era of Dr. K. A. Busia.

In conclusion, if there is any hope of improvement in Ghanaian education system, persons put in places of authority would have to be proactive and assertive in the offering of alternative means of dealing with problems rather than joining the masses in chorus of ignorance of the unknown.

Furthermore, the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) as well as the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) should endeavor to as much as possible relegate their whims to the background as they seek to live up to their reputation (advancing the interest of their constituents).

Again, persons at the helm of affairs, having in mind how helpful the free education up to the tertiary level in the era of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the need to demonstrate more appreciation, should sacrifice some of their per diem and allowances for purposes of promoting education in their respective institutions.

The truth shall be said at all times, damn the consequences. We shall overcome.