Saturday, December 28, 2019

Education In Ghana?



Education In Ghana?

Central to the rise in the number of people acquiring education in the country today, is the kind of education students are getting these days.
It is worrying how students of this day engage in the popular “chew and pour”- a term which means learn overnight or for a short period of time to write examinations and forget afterwards.  It usually involves memorizing notes and texts, including what hasn’t been properly understood. Students in Ghana these days forsake their books and resort to their phones, not for academic purposes but for other unhelpful activities like social media, pornography etc. Sometimes I wonder if our lecturers and teachers reflect over this. What exactly is happening? What is going on? Has something gone wrong? These are useful questions that need to be asked.
It is one thing to be educated and to speak fluent English, but it is another to acquire skills for application.
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, education is the knowledge, skill and understanding that you get from attending a school, college or university.
The Ghanaian educational system lacks enough practical aspect. It is usually about the theory and writing to pass, since that is what is required to move to the next level or to find a job. This is why an educated fellow will defecate and dump refuse indiscriminately not considering the implication of his or her actions.
Have we thought about hairstylists, mechanics, drivers, dressmakers and others in the country? They are the ones who can usually afford daily meals as well as cater for their families, what about the so called graduates?
Majority of them end up forming unemployed graduates’ associations and cannot afford daily meals or accommodation. It also results to the lust for quick money since the skills do not exist and whatever was taught has been long forgotten.
The aftermath of this is robbery gangs, vigilante groups or other unauthorized businesses that yield no positive results.
The educational system lacks the impartation of self-reliance, honesty, competition, patriotism, innovativeness as well as appreciating our culture, sculpture, dance, clothing and language.
We need to move from the era where students who can memorize and quote are seen as brilliant and those who cannot memorize are seen as weak. Thinking outside the box should be encouraged.  Creative thinking and contributions outside the syllabus should be welcomed. There is the need to study outside the usual courses.
It is only in this nation that science and Information Communication Technology(ICT) is studied without apparatus and tools.
There is a need for a change, or better still restructuring where talents, culture, books, technology, moral and core values need to be merged. What needs to be done is a task for the nation at large.
A Stitch In Time Saves Nine.

Thursday, December 26, 2019

LET YOUR STUDENTS PUT ON THEIR LEARNING CAP


Creators creating Creators
‘LET YOUR STUDENTS PUT ON THEIR LEARNING CAP’
‘We are the Teachers, We are the Creators.’
We, the Mentoring Minds, inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instil love for learning…Let’s give something unique to our students, something special, something that they will value forever. Let them put on their learning CAP. You might be wondering which ‘CAP’ I am talking about.
Let’s all work upon three main domains:
Cognitive (Knowledge)
Affective (Emotional)
Psychomotor (Kinesthetic)
Our foremost objective of teaching is to provide knowledge to the students but in today’s world where information is just a click away, and Smartphones, Tabs, Notepads, Laptops, Desktops etc. are easily accessible to the students.
Let’s ponder over…Why do they need teachers?
We shall work upon their cognitive skills as a whole and not only the knowledge part.
We have to help them in comprehending the knowledge available to them and to enable them to apply the knowledge in their daily lives. Let them analyze and distinguish between facts and inferences, and then let them justify, evaluate and criticize.
Finally, let them be the Creators…
How creative it would be…
Creators creating another creator like a chain reaction.
Society will be best served when teachers will not only teach but also create.
Along with knowledge, ‘Values’ are also vital. Values are significant because they channel our ABCD of life i.e. Attitude, Beliefs, Conduct and Deeds… Yeah, you guessed it right! We shall direct them to develop their Affective domain.

It’s precisely cited that
"If wealth is lost nothing is lost."
"If health is lost something is lost."
"If the character is lost everything is lost."
“Best of all things is character.”
Help them be the embodiment of values. Make them share with each other and care for each other. A person with values will expect and accept all phases of life cheerfully. 

It’s well said that ‘Practice Makes Us Perfect.’
Here comes the Psychomotor Domain. This is specific to prudent bodily functions, reflex actions and development of gross and fine muscles.
It includes the following skills:
• Imitation: imitating the actions
• Manipulation: acting by instructions
• Precision: perfection in the action
• Articulation: performing various skills together
• Naturalization: performing naturally without thinking.
Let’s teach them beyond the four walls of the classroom. Give them the freedom to learn but guide them to apply and analyze, and create their own concepts.
How nice it would be if the philosopher’s stone changes the base metal, not into gold but another philosopher’s stone. Creator to Creator.
Meenakshi Narula
M.A. (Eng) M.Sc. (IT) B.Ed.
Activity Coordinator
Suncity School 37D, Gurugram