USE LOCAL LANGUAGES AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION ...For KG1 to Primary 3 (PAGE 11, AUGUST 25, 2010)

THE Upper East Regional Language Coordinator of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Anaffu Tee Rashid has re-emphasised the need to use local languages referred to as “L1” as a medium of instruction for kindergarten 1 to primary class 3.
According to him, the policy would enable the pupils to gain a firm foundation and help in the study of the English Language also referred to as “L2” later as they climb higher the academic ladder than starting with English.
Mr Anaffu said this at a one day workshop for chiefs, opinion leaders, assembly members, parent-teacher association executives and others in the Bawku Municipality to buy into the idea and educate their community members for easy implementation of the policy.
It was on the theme “stakeholders’ sensitisation on the teaching of local language literacy in KG - P3” by the Bawku Municipal Education Directorate.
The Language Coordinator explained that the concept of using the local language from the scratch was far easier and more sustainable and also had the phenomenon from concrete to abstract or semi-concrete to abstract.
He explained further that the local language was a pre-requisite for mastering the English language, adding that “it will be easier for revision, memorisation and recall” he added.
Mr Anaffu said the procedure was termed Teeming Process where at KG1 children would receive instruction 90 per cent in the local dialect and 10 per cent in English.
He disagreed that private schools performed better than the public schools by the virtue that they instruct their pupils in the English Language from the onset but said if the public schools received proper supervision, methodology, regular in-service training, motivation and teacher retentions, they would perform far better.
In his address, the Bawku Municipal Director of Education, Mr Eugene Zongo Naah-Domah said before this time a predominant Ghanaian Language was the medium of instruction from Primary 1 to Primary 3 while English was taught as a subject.
He indicated that the poor performance especially at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E) had prompted educational researchers to conduct research and assessment on the issue and as the remedy, two programmes were being put in place to improve students’ performance at the BECE.
Mr Alexis Derry, the Public Relations Officer of Bawku GES and the Training Officer said the two programmes aimed to strengthen district capacity to better plan and manage district school level initiative that would improve school quality and increase accountability for results.

COMMUNITY WORKERS NEED LOCAL SUPPORT (PAGE 54, (AUGUST 14, 2010)

THE Bawku Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr Thomas Afful Mensah, has bemoaned the hostile attitude of some community leaders and the inhabitants towards officers in charge of Community Health and Planned Services (CHPS). He expressed regret that same community leaders go to the extent of vandalising such facilities only to turn round to ask for hospitals or clinics and medical officers.
Dr Mensah, therefore, appealed to those communities to desist from such illegal acts and show interest in the health issues of their members by seeing such facilities as their own property and also protect the officers in charge of them.
“It is, therefore, the community’s responsibility to offer protection for these compounds and own them, “he emphasised.
Dr Mensah made the remarks at the inauguration of CHPS compound at Gentiga, a deprived community in the Bawku Municipality with a population of about 13,000.
The GH¢50,000 facility will save members of the community the headache of travelling several kilometres to the next village, Mognori for medical attention.
Dr Mensah urged the community to show interest in the trend of diseases and other conditions which affect them, especially malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia and ensure that their pregnant women delivered at the centre.
Mr Lucio Dery, who is in charge of administration at the Regional Health Directorate, advised the women to control the birth rate of their children.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Bawku, Mr Musah Abdulai, promised the community of the government’s readiness to develop the area, especially the poor road network.
He asked the people to be patient and support the government to deliver on its “Better Ghana Agenda” which would improve their living standard before the end of the four-year term.

FETILISERS BEING SMUGGLED TO NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES? (PAGE 42, AUGUST 9, 2010)

FERTILISERS meant for Ghanaian farmers are being smuggled through unapproved routes in the Bawku Municipality to neighbouring Togo and Burkina Faso.
Sources at the entry points to the two countries confirmed to the Daily Graphic that the situation was worrying and needed drastic measures to curb it.
A visit to some border towns in the Bawku Municipality showed that some unscrupulous persons were bent on thwarting efforts of the government to assist farmers by diverting the products from the intended beneficiaries.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) said the activity was very rampant at the catchment area of the check point, adding that the products were conveyed in vehicles and donkey-carts during day time and in the night.
The CEPS officer said between July and August this year, a number of seizures were made.
He cited for instance that on July 14, this year, personnel of the service chanced upon two donkey-carts loaded with 25 bags of assorted fertilisers (NPK 15-15-15) and Urea which were intercepted and are currently in their custody.
He said again on July 15, this year, a KIA truck with registration number GT4382 Q arrived at the edge of the White Volta River at Mognori, an entry point to Burkina Faso, fully loaded with fertilisers carted through unapproved routes.
The officer explained that when he had a hint through an informant, he quickly rushed to the scene but the people were in the process of crossing with the goods into Burkina Faso and all attempts to seize them proved futile as he was alone.
He said the people in the catchment area were not co-operative at all and when anyone tried to implement the law, he became a ‘target’ which put the person’s life in great danger.
When the Municipal Chief Executive for Bawku, Mr Musa Abdulai, was contacted on the issue, he confirmed the incidents of smuggling, but said measures were being made to curb the menace.
“Notwithstanding the numerous advice we have been giving to our people, some selfish individuals are trying to smuggle these items across the borders but we are doing our best to prevent them,” Mr Abdulai, who is also the Chairman of the Municipal Security Committee, said.
He said in addition to tightening security at the borders, the assembly was also advising farmers to, in their own interest, report any person found smuggling fertilisers across the border.
Asked why persons found with the product were not prosecuted, Mr Abdulai said sometimes it became so difficult to identify the owners as some of the donkeys carting the items were unaccompanied.