Now The Good Old Days Are Gone

Now The Good Old Days Are Gone

Now the good old days are gone,
To God be the glory for reality is dawn-
Life from of old;A story to be told
Told of a society that blossomed like a lily
Days,we drunk in the same calabash
Played football matches
Drunk palm wine in batches
But never ended up slanging matches
For neighbourhoods were Virgin and divisions were merging.

Those were the days-
Days,I was much older than I am today,
Life was drunken by pleasure,
Wives were heightened treasure
Toil to children was joyful leisure
We stood,elders sat and told fairy - tales
The paths our father's constructed were not sold
Our story was thus,gold.

Now the days are gone,
And here,I speak of the good old days our smiles were innocent
Music made meaning to the kids
It was kpana that made the hits
Bamaya moved the feets
Feok groomed the kids.

But now,the good old days are gone
And we may say the past is sold
We may say society is dead-
Dead to politics
Dead to hatred
Dead to vile envy
We may say the bank of happiness is bankrupt
The solid rock of brotherhood is broken.

The days are gone
And we may say,
We may say neighbourhoods have become islands
Progress a fairy wish land
Mecies that tripled are now,cripled into curses.

Now the good old days are gone,
And so I cry,O great Christ
Thy servant cries
Save us from this crises
For time has stolen the good old days
And I seek those days.

Read more on the blog;( ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com)

© ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM (AB)
(VILLAGE WRITER)
0241129910/0200704844

Why Do You Think Africa Leaders prefer to seek Medical Attention abroad?

Why Do Africa Leaders prefer to seek Medical care abroad?

It has become the rule,not the exception to wake up in Africa with news of political leaders fleeing the shores of the continent to seek medical attention abroad.

Only recently did the president of Nigeria,Muhammadu Buhari return home after a somewhat usual three months of sick leave in the United Kingdom(UK).The 74 year old we are told,was responding to treatment for an undisclosed sickness.

The president of Benin,Patrice Talon was away from the country some months ago seeking medical attention in France.He spent almost a month treating an undisclosed illness in France.

His excellency,the heavy-weight-no-nonsense Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has been frequenting Singapore to bank his medical liabilities.
He has been to that country twice since the beginning of 2017 to treat what we are told is cataract-eye defect.

And the list of "abroad-treating-undisclosed-sickness is just simply unending....May the good Lord grant us all good health.I forgot to add prosperity.Amen!

Indeed,the seemingly unquenchable thirst of Africa leaders for health systems' abroad leads one to the land of wonder if not fury about the faith of our own health system.

For crying out loud,Africa can pride itself with some of the best hospitals in the world.

We have  the Life Healthcare Hospital Group-South Africa,Neuropsychiatric Hospital Aro Abeobuta-Nigeria,Arab Contractors Medical Centre-Egypt,The Netcare Greenacres Hospital-South Africa,Genzouri Specialised-Hospital Egypt, Diani Beach Hospital-Kenya,St.Luke's Hospital Angal-Uganda,Ghana Canada Medical Centre-Ghana,MediClinic Group-South Africa,Institute Pasteur de Madagascar-Madagascar.
The aforementioned are just the top ten hospitals in the continent as catalogued by Peter Pedroncelli, AFK Insider.

We equally have the best trained doctors who are highly demanded abroad.

So what at all are our leaders looking for in those hospitals abroad that we don't have in Africa?Or is it the case that they build those ultramodern and well-equiped hospitals,and train the best doctors but lack faith in them?Are they by such actions encouraging us to also lose confidence in our own doctors and system?We have no option,anyway.

The above may all be possibilities.Infact,they are possibilities.

But one thing that has been engaging my attention in this mystification is the issue of confidentiality and privacy in healthcare delivery and partisan politics in Africa.

We seem to live in a continent where everything including anything is politics.The health of leaders offer either political dividend or liability.Why not?We need to be sure our leaders are healthy and fit to lead us.One cannot be productive without good health.
Hence,health is partisan politics in Africa.The walls,corners, beds, human resource of our hospitals don't only have ears,but engage in the "partisan politics some...Mercy!

In that light,don't you think our leaders are suspicious and full of trust issues-of our system-health confidentiality?Maybe,just maybe they simply don't trust our hospitals and health care providers with their health information and the bearing of that on their political fortunes...

Don't get me wrong,I don't doubt one bit the integrity and professionalism of our health care workers.But I doubt in every way possible,our way of politics.
There is nothing politics cannot do to an African man.Because of politics,we now fear our own shadows.

Our doctors may be perfect,but our leaders are simply wrestling with trust issues.They feel convinced about being able to keep as secret any information about their health after returning from such health asylums abroad.Anything short of this,and power may be kissing them good-bye.

But someone should please remind them that our people here are also capable-their health records are quite safe.
Let's bank our health concerns in the hospitals and doctors we have altogether build and trained respectively.

I may be wrong.I may be right.But let's all think it.

May God bless our continent.

The writer of this article is a teacher by profession(current GNAT Youth Coordinator of West/North Gonja),a freelance journalist,youth/community advocate,blogger/writer and a student activist/leader.
Read more of his works on (ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com).

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB)
(The Village Writer)
0241129910/0200704844

The Regrettable Agony Of Africa In Recent Times(A Critique)

Overfed Negativity to Overhead Tears:Oh Mother Africa!Is There Hope In Sight?

(A critique of current fateful happenings in some countries in Africa)

A drop of ink may make a million think.But a drop of blood may make a million sink.

It has been a moment of tripling crisis in Africa and everyone is crying.It has been days of humanitarian emergency in Sierra Leone and everyone is wailing.

Africa seem to always be at the receiving end anytime the anger of mother earth yells. 
From overfed negativity to overhead tears-the regrettable agony of Africa in recent times tolls.

In black and red garment,I travelled all the way to Sierra Leone,and my cheers turned into tears.I was gripped in fear as 300 people were lowered in a Mass Grave known as "Ebola cemetery following a mudslide.In consoling the bereaved,I was told 600 people are still missing,400 people are known to have died.And about 3,000 people are homeless.(Lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu inspires me to call it,"Homeless but not Hopeless").

As I was trying to reconcile the situation in Sierra Leone,I eavesdropped on Togo.And the reality is that, death was being visited on innocent citizens.Their crime being that,they were protesting for reinstatement of the 1992 constitution,and an end to Gnassingbes family dynasty.
The 1992 constitution of that country limits the term of the president to five years.But Faure Gnassingbe,we are told,has changed the 1992 constitution arbitrary and replaced it with the 2002 constitution which guarantees a perpetual reign-for him and his family.A reign of no end in sight for the "almighty Gnassingbes.

You see the sort of leaders we claim to have in Africa!Your brothers in Sierra Leone are crying for humanitarian assistance in this moment of tears.As wise men are helping to build bridges for them,the foolish are building dams.Maybe to perish innocent citizens in flood.
How fast indeed,smart opportunist can be intellectual morons!

Some of our politicians,permit me to say,are like drums which make lots of noise but are hollow inside.
You just wonder whether they are leading or misleading.

But what beats my imagination is the international community,human right groups and the AU.They all look on helpless as the likes of "Mr.power drunk politician(s)" enjoy a field day with impunity.People have their rights restricted.From the last time I checked, two protestants had been killed and thirteen others seriously injured.So tell me;where is the justice and equal rights the world is crying for?

Cudoes to my comrades-Bukinabas for marching against terrorism.This follows a recent attack in a restaurant leaving 18 People dead.Terrorism has terrorise us enough and must end!The aluta is on!The aluta has dawn!

Have you no shame,much ado about nothing people of Kenya?Islamic militants are beheading your valuable citizens,and there you are rioting to death.Twenty-Eight (28) people have been shot dead by the police in that country following the recent disputed reelection of president Uhuru Kenyatta.I need coaching here.Is the police trained to kill or protect?We kill ourselves before we remember of the court of law.Crazy!

I am in pain.Tell me the gain when human beings are wasted like that just because of politicians?People who after grabbing power,end up like misers,saving even for the people who will bury them.

Woe betide head of state of Mali,His excellency Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta,and the people of Northern Mali if that reeling conflict being negotiated is renewed.Africa will not forgive you!Just Smell it...

Someone should whisper into the ears of the people of Nigeria that they have disappointed us.BBC just told us Lagos is the second worst city in the world.

People of South Africa,listen to me now:women are the world's most great power and treasure.It is five years on.Wake-up to the reality and let the women of Murikana have justice before I invite my village god's to strike you.Dead!

Well,I want to return to my homeland,Ghana.But not without a word to our leaders.Though hope does not kill,you are not giving us hope in sight.
Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana,Nelson Mandela of South Africa,Jomo Kenytta of Kenya,Julius Nyerere of Tanzania,Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Patrice Lumumba of Congo,Samore Machel of Mozambique and Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali are watching you! This was not the Africa they envisioned and shed blood to found.

To the citizens(not spectators as my president rightly puts it),let's unite like spider webs to blame,condemn and straighten the politicians who overthrows the pot of our soup.
We must also change our mindset and attitude.And build a resilient Africa together
René Descartes,the Latin Philosopher will say,"Cogito Ergo Sum" translated in English Language as,I think, therefore I am.
Africa must stand tall!Our system must work again!

May God bless mother Africa!

The writer of this article is a teacher by profession(current GNAT Youth Coordinator of West/North Gonja),a freelance journalist,youth/community advocate,blogger/writer and a student activist/leader.
Read more of his works on (ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com).

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB)
(The Village Writer)
0241129910/0200704844

Supersizing Africa Youth Population,A Blessing Or Curse?

Supersizing Africa Youth Population,A Blessing Or Curse?

Columnist:Ananpansah B Abraham(AB)

Let's arise youth of Africa! The time to spark the 21st-century revolutionary change is now

Africa is that beautiful youngest continent replete with abundance of enviable natural resources.
As faith will have it, it is the only continent with a significantly growing youth population.

Available data holds true that in less than three generations, 41% of the world's youth will be African. By 2035, Africa's labour force will be larger than China, and will account for 1/4 of the world's labour force.

Even though, the question of 'Youth' can sometimes take controversial definitional dimensions, the African Youth Charter adopted at the seventh ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of African Union in Banjul, Gambia, in July 2006, defines the youth as," a person between the age of 15 and 34 years".
There are some who will simply say it is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood.

In Africa specifically,data from the United Nations Population Division show that in 2010, young people aged (15 - 24 years) accounted for 20.2%(209 million) of the total population.
Other accessible data points to the fact that over 60% of Africa's population are under 20 years of age, and majority of these are females. In 2050, youth will constitute:
18.6% of the population in central Africa; 18.5% in Eastern Africa;18.8% in Western Africa; 15.6% in Southern Africa;13.9% in North Africa and about 36.8% of Africa's workforce are youth.

At a quick glance of the figures, a critical curious mind will quickly ask some acutely critical questions:
Are these figures a sign of a demographic divident (a blessing/asset) or a disguise (liability/curse)? Have governments (both past and present) created and shaped the environment enough through policy intervention to contain the urgent needs of these teaming masses of youth?
As a youth, are we developing or being given the chance to develop our capacities and potentials as imperatives of democratisation and the vision of a preferred future for Africa?

Conversely, the enthusiasm, edge, vim, verve and dynamism of African youth should have been an asset of blessing in advance but it is fast been reduced to a liability of blessing in disguise/curse.The youth in unspoken words, hold and are the future and hope of Africa.But what are we trying to do to this bright promising future?

Even though, in 2009, three years after its launch, the African Youth Charter (AYC) urge member states to endorse and adopt the charter, and develop and implement national policy for the youth - in Ghana for instance, it was unclear whether the country had a national youth policy in place.
Ghana officially launched its national youth policy on August 12,2010, as part of International Day Celebration endorsed by UN general assembly.But since then, no significant change has been seen or felt.
Infact, government programmes to promote youth employment and empowerment in Africa are essentially dysfunctional and propaganda tools in the 21st century.

According to staticstics from the 2012 Mo Ibrahim forum, Youth unemployment increases with educational level in Africa.Literacy is growing, but Africa still lags behind the rest of the world.Young Africans are more literate than their parents, but more unemployed.
In 2009, the youth unemployment rate was at 11.9% in Sub-Sahara Africa and 23.7% in North Africa. It has been estimated that out of about 250,000 young people entering the labour market annually, only 2%(50,000) get employed in the formal sector....

Agriculture which happen to be the backbone of the continent has been poorly developed and reduced to a poor and dirty man's job; making it highly unattractive to the youth. In rural areas, for instance, 53% of occupied rural youth are not into agriculture, but engaged in other activities. Less than 2% of African youth are studying agric.

Sadly enough,the youth are largely rendered nolle presequi in pursuing the dreams and visions of a better future for Africans by the older folks.
We are constantly, been employed by unscrupulous politicians and reduced as tools and stooges and subjected to selfish political tricks, emasculations, manipulations -and used as means to an end defined by the whims of selfishly corrupt leaders; instead of being seen as necessary partners in development.

Change they say is the only fact of life."Time and tide waits for no man--or person" -Shakespeare.
Along with change comes fear, threats and insecurity as well as challenges and opportunities.
In the dynamics of globalisation and change, what distinguish successful countries from less success ones is the existence of leaders with the capabilities of anticipating change and responding effectively in that light.

Unassailably true, the current generation of African leaders are failing to respond to the challenges of change and globalisation and to create an environment for the evolution of succeeding younger generations of leaders...

It is also worthy of note that although today, we have a crop of potential young leaders, the socio-political and economic environment is impeding us from striving and standing for Africa.
The younger generation of Africans are highly educated with all the understanding of the trends in modern development but overwhelmed by the legacy of the past and present older folks, as well as the system, the glorification of mediocrity continues unabated!

Increasingly true, we cannot also run away from the fact that, our problems as Africans and a youth for that matter are deeply rooted in history.
Indeed, the persistent negative images painted about Africa as a violent prone continent unable to solve its own problems are particularly unhealthy and damaging.
Making the youth cast doubts on our unlimited capabilities and confidence and immersing us in a complete psychological whirlpool of trauma.We are fast losing our cultural identity as a continent. Joseph K - zerbo once said, "It is not possible to cash a cheque drawn on someone's else's cultural bank account".
As a result of this lost cultural identity, we live in a continent that is fast exposed to the promiscuous dangers of westernisation and fast loosing confidence in its own potentials.

For instance, in 2007, an estimated 3.2 million young people were living with HIV in Sub-Saharan African alone, and 50% of all doctors trained in Ghana since 1980s are practicing in OECD...a host of other graduates prefer driving taxi cabs and doing other menial jobs in US and UK than staying home to develop Africa.

At a time when developed and developing countries are racing for the limited space in the 21st century, there is no room for idiosyncrasies or sentiments.We cannot whinger nor linger and continue to depend on tricky foreign aids and grants.

In the midst of the challenging lacunas and the seemingly negative unfavourable legacy, I am overly convinced as an advocate for the youth that the time is just right and the time is now to spark a revolutionary change. I feel a positive vibration of change across Africa through the youth.
Our numbers must not scare us. It should rather hint us that the dependency ratio on the continent will soon reduce with increasing labour force.

Youth indeed,is the spirit of adventure and awakening.It is the time of physical emerging. To be called a youth is not a process of being but rather becoming.Hence, let's begin changing our mindset in order to defeat mental slavery and pave the way forward for the continent to flourish.
As Samuel Ullman rightly put it,"youth is not a time of life;it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life".

Yes, the youth are the hope and future of Africa but let's remember that, "A man who dread trials and difficulties cannot become a revolutionary.If he is to become a revolutionary with an indomitable fighting spirit, he must be tempered in the arduous struggle from his youth.As the saying goes, early training means more than late earnings"-Kim Jong II.

The vision of African renaissance should not be equated to manners that must fall from above.It simply has to take a critical crop of aggressive young leaders with the right competence, conscientization, entrepreneurial skills, integrity to drive the home grown revolutionary change.History must and i repeat for emphasis must not be repeated!

Let's be inspired by the apparent success of the Soviet Union and Communist China in rebuilding their societies and feeding their peoples.

Interesting enough, we will have no excuse letting African down.
Probably, the first generation of African leaders had their success and failure.Four decades of independence down the lane; we have learned and experienced. We have the past and present to guide and guard us.
We need to create and sustain the synergetic impulses of past and present generation of leaders. Whiles making justifiable pride in striving to annex the immutable component of dogma or fixed traditions by which we learn what to believe, thus, stucking us in prejudice and limitations and never free to change and grow by thinking critically...

As we progress along the journey lets be guided by the following words:
"...It is right and proper that we should know about our past.For just as the future moves from the present so the present has emerged from the past.Nor need we be ashamed of our past. There was much in it of glory.
What our ancestor achieved in the Context of their contemporary society gives us confidence that we can create, out of that past, a glorious future, not in terms of war or military pomps, but in terms of social progress and or peace... Our battles shall be against the old ideas that keep man trammelled in their own greed; against the crass stupidities that breed hatred, fear and inhumanity.
The heroes of our future will be those who can lead our people out of the stifling fog of disintegration through serfdom, into the valley of light where purpose, endeavour and determination will create that brotherhood which Christ proclaimed two thousand years ago, and about which so much is said, but little done".(Kwame Nkrumah, The Autobiography of Kwabena Nkrumah, 1957).
Yes, African youth arise! Your continent is calling you to be the game changers challenging the nay sayers whiles paving the way forward.
May God bless the continent Africa and deliver our leaders from the spirit of corruption and sheer greed...

Dedicated to all African youth in the youth struggle.Youth Advocacy is the source of inspiration behind this write up.

BY: Ananpansah, B. Abraham ( AB)
(Community Radio Youth Advocate and Student - University Of Ghana Business School)
Contact(s):0241129910 / 0200704844
Email (s):aananapansah@yahoo.com/aananapansah@gmail.com

Community Development, A Collective Effort!

Community Development, A Collective Effort!

Ananpansah,B Abraham of Olive International Konsult writes:

The word development has engaged the attention of the world ever since the baptism of the United Nations.It’s gaining eminence each passing day especially,in the face of heightened so-called technical and economic aid to less developed countries from the world’s superpowers in an attempt at tackling poverty.

Development could mean a lot of things.But it could also mean “change”.A change that is the dream of every government-central to community(local).A change that is mostly talked about but stubbornly elusive.A change that enable people to gain control over their environment,and situation.That change may be economic or human in dimension.

As a community advocate,I’ve always been enthusiastic about the type of development called “community development”.
And by community development,I mean a grassroot process by which members of a community collectively drive local solutions to their common problems thereby increasing their capacity to deal with the environment around them.Where community development is a possibility,the human beings who happen to to the real wealth of the community develop their full potentials within an enabling environment.The local people are able to lead productive and meaningful lifestyles through enlarged choices.And poverty is alleviated if not eliminated.

As a matter of fact,due to the endemic nature of poverty in communities particularly in Africa,community development is a much desired goal.
Obama puts it in another way,”If poverty is a disease that infects the entire community in the form of unemployment and violence, failing schools and broken homes, then we can’t just treat those symptoms in isolation . We have to heal that entire community.”
— Barack Obama

In this light,over the years,there have been several efforts to change the situation of communities in Ghana and Africa at large through policy,handouts and band-aids-from government to NGOs.Most of these attempts from experience have failed to yield desired results.They at best end up producing temporal or quick fix solutions.The bottom line being that,they fall short of community support and participation.

It is on this note,I dare to say community development will remain a remote reality without a concerted efforts of all members of the community(community support and participation).Thus,a collective drive towards self help community projects aimed at community empowerment.It must not be the traditional handouts or band-aids.But a pooled efforts an reviving the lost days of communal labour.Community self planning is key!

The land,people, local resources and community must think alike…Wes Jackson will say that,”When people, land, and community are as one, all three members prosper; when they relate not as members but as competing interests, all three are exploited. By consulting Nature as the source and measure of that membership, The Land Institute seeks to develop an agriculture that will save soil from being lost or poisoned while promoting a community life at once prosperous and enduring.”

One modern day trend that frustrate efforts at community development is the so-called grassroot politics.Grassroot politics has caused more harm than the devil can ever cause to communities.Development effort in the community now has political coloration.Sanitation which used to be the trademark of communities has now taken a political dimension.The end result being cholera and malaria killing us like flies in this 21st Century,and reducing productivity.Thanks to this “modern day evil,the death of a neighbour no longer diminishes a community.We mash our faces like mashed potatoes at each other with every tick of the clock.Jabbing and throwing salvos at each other are the order of the day.At every least provocation,we reveal family history and tell the opponent what s/he doesn’t even know about his/her own family.”Chai.I think the white man infected us with democracy as a deliberate punishment for escaping colonialism.
Every effort at communal labour or community support project is politically defeated.It's either my party,or it's bad at all cost.

Don’t get me wrong.Politics at the local level is good.Indeed, it’s the only way governance can be brought to the doorsteps of the people.The only way local people can mobilise local resources for local development.And when I talk about grassroot politics being good,I talk about the one advocated by Vaclav Haval,
” Genuine politics — even politics worthy of the name — the only politics I am willing to devote myself to — is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us. Its deepest roots are moral because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the whole.
— Vaclav Havel

This is the kind of politics I think we should embrace at the community level.

The lost days are not lost yet.The good old days are not gone yet.We can still put our best foot forward and scrap community transformation together.Community Development is a Collective Effort!We must all be deeply immersed in community service. “Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It’s important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It’s the way in which we ourselves grow and develop.”
— Dorothy Height

Community Development is a possible goal with the spirit of communism and togetherness.Let’s get a move on,and spark the community flame!Our collective situation should not present pity but hope.We may need external support along the way but we dare not depend on it…
“We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.
— Grace Lee Boggs

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM (AB)- Olive International Konsult.

Free SHS;A Challenge To Bridging Gap In Education Between Northern And Southern Ghana

Free SHS;A Challenge To Bridging Gap In Education Between Northern And Southern Ghana

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB)

The razzmatazz that heralded the 2012 and 2016 general election can still be recollected fresh.Free education.Free education.Free education.Now it's here...Indeed,if government says yes,who can say no(apart from God).Thank you your Excellency Nana Addo.Thank you sedulously tax payer.The handwriting is bold enough.Free Senior High School(SHS) is here to stay despite your right to say.This is a fact all "priviledged person's" must accept or feel free to burn the sea!"Chai, I feel you well well Mr . Education Minister like Don Jazzy feel Omotolla.Hard talk be what?
The baseline remains September 2017.(Ghc400 million cool and we've started).This is albeit the gritting concerns on the table yet to be addressed.

Infact,I should say that government's decision to expand access by redefining basic education to include secondary education is commendable.It's a constitutional must-have.Financially distressed parents can now sleep with all two eyes closed.The 'School Fees BP' of poor parents will reduce.I celebrate government for this effort.

Yes,the policy is laudable.But no matter how letter-perfect the policy on Fee Free Education may appear to be,in the absence of clear information and a government white paper on the implementation of the policy,the genuine concerns of critics should well be understood.It's therefore,very important we hasten slowly in our attempt to render every dissenting view nugatory.Dissenters may not necessarily be 'priviledged persons' or 'antagonist', but citizens who care for the system.

Hiding in my little 'somewhere' as a village blogger fully raised in the 'village situation',I smile miserably at every mention of free education.I have always had genuine issues to raise about the policy.I see a good policy on one hand, and on the other hand,I prevision challenges for that 'village student'.(My previous articles on the subject matter speaks volumes).As I've always maintained,the policy in itself is good.But a good thing may be done wrongly defeating its intended purpose.

We've also heard it all.The voice of the Minister of Education is loud enough..."You don't need to be brilliant to enjoy free SHS...;Sit the BECE,pass, get placed in a public SHS,and you benefit from Free SHS".Two sides of the same argument,I guess!And this position seem to provoke my curiosity.
The emphasis is the usual "grade producing educational system".Pass.Pass.Pass.Well!

The 'Cut off pass mantra' is the clear reason why most people are classifying the policy as a scholarship package.Thus, you must meet a pass condition(Cut off grade) before you can enjoy the policy package.If you don't meet the condition,count yourself out.

Expanding the argument by taking a closer look at the wisdom contained in article 25 (1) of the 1992 constitution,the very basis of this policy,which says "All persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities....", I ask myself:Do we all have equal educational opportunities and facilities in this country?Article 17 (4 )(a) makes it beautiful by empowering parliament to enact laws that are reasonably necessary to provide "for the implementation of policies and programmes aimed at redressing social,economic or educational imbalances in the Ghanaian society."

In an attempt to create such equal opportunities and redress the imbalances in our educational system as a country,particularly between the North and South,the Northern Scholarship was instituted in 1957 by Ghana's first president Dr.Kwame Nkrumah as a gap bridging mechanism.Feeding grants and examination registration fees are covered under the scholarship.The policy, distributive as it's, aims at addressing equity challenges and ensuring social justice.

But it appears we have now grown pass the stone age of "so-called Northern Scholarship to negotiating Free SHS policy that is going to be universally proportional in nature regardless of the existing systemic imbalances.The playing field will be levelled irrespective of environmental,socioeconomic and existing conditions.The policy is going to treat unequals as equals.The benchmark is simple,"pass your BECE and enjoy".

In effect,students who use stones as computer mouse are expected to score the same grade in ICT as those who enjoy ultramodern ICT facilities in the cities.Children from underserved communities and deprived backgrounds must compete in the imbalanced system with their affluent counterparts and obtain the same grades if not better...No more preferential treatment.Whether in "King's or Queen's JHS or Kotito Number 10 JHS",you must pass the same exams with or without the needed TLM's, facilities or learning support.That is now the system.

And it's or should be said that,in such a system,I envision a deliberate attempt to further widen the already widened inequality gap in education between Northern and Southern Ghana.The existing loopholes in education between the two halves of our country may not be plugged any sooner.

Educational standard in the three Regions of the North and some deprived communities in Ghana is generally accepted to be low.Not because children from these parts of the country are born 'stupid',but the clear established gap in resources and facilities "cause am".
Taking the 2014 BECE results as an example,only 60% of students who sat for the examination qualified to enter SHS.In the three Regions of the North particularly,22% qualified from Northern Region,11% from Upper West and Upper East Regions.In the same year under review,80% of students qualified from Greater Accra and Ashanti Region to enter SHS.So you see the clear disparity?

Students from the north who hitherto didn't patronise the 'big public SHS's" in the south for fear of the fees would now want to 'dare there'.The requirements and the challenge of competing with students exposed to improved learning environments for limited space in such schools may,however, limit their chances.We are gradually going to have a system where students from advanced Junior High Schools get not only the best of the policy but the most out of it.The poor and disadvantaged students can't catch up with the system.The very people for whose reason the policy is being implemented.
A good policy among other things,must aim at increasing the equity and fairness of all members and sectors of society by balancing the existing conditions.

The policy if not prioritised will create undue added advantage for our brothers in the south,whilst creating added disadvantage for those down north.

It's on this note that I wish to call on the Northern Caucaus of Members of Parliament to seek clear answers and demand for a fair implementation of the policy along the existing imbalanced conditions.A wise man once said there no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.The gap between the north and south is already wide enough.Any any attempt to widen it the more can only spell doom for our common good .It's not for nothing that nations usually rise against nations.
Let's beware!

May God bless our homeland Ghana.

The writer of this article is a teacher by profession,a freelance journalist,youth/community advocate,blogger/writer and a student.
Read more of his works on (ananpansah-ab.blogspot.com).

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB)
(The Village Writer)
0241129910/0200704844

Towards Girl Child Education:PTA/SMC Executives Of Damongo Model Girl's Pays A Call To DCE Of West Gonja

Towards Girl Child Education:PTA/SMC Executives Of Damongo Model Girl's  Pays A Call To DCE Of West Gonja

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM(AB)

The Parent-Teacher Association/Organization (PTA/PTO)/School Management Committee(SMC) executives of Damongo Model Girl's Junior High School in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region of Ghana paid a call to the District Chief Executive(DCE) of West Gonja District,Hon.Muazu Jibreal in his office today,Wednesday August 2,2017.

Led by the chairman of the SMC,Mr.Berimbo Claudia,a retired educationist,the visit was to discuss pressing issues of the infant school with the DCE.Key among them was to enquire about the progress of work on the uncompleted school building.An issue which has been a major concern to the parents,teachers and students alike since the 2017/2018 academic year was due anytime soon.

In a comprehensive yet succinct response to the concern,the DCE admitted he was in the know about the school and the state of the school structure,since the immediate outgone director of GES in the district briefed him on the situation of the school.

He expressed committed efforts at getting the school building completed before the end of the year.This he disclosed would include accommodation facilities for the teachers for a start.And as and when funds become available,accommodation for the pupil's will be inculcated as per the original plan of the school.

The DCE disclosed that the school was among the uppermost priority of his administration.And that he was passionate about promoting girl child education in the district.
To this end,he has marked the uncompleted school building and teachers accommodation as  major projects to be carried out by the end of the year.And that these projects were duly factored into the annual plans for the district to be funded from either the District Assembly Common Fund(DACF) due to hit the accounts of the District Assembly next month hopefully or the $1m per constituency initiative of government.

He however,wondered why such an important project was not budgeted for under GETFUND but DACF;since GETFUND was more regular than the DACF.

Mr.Wilson,the Circuit Supervisor(CS) of the jurisdiction of the school and his colleague Mr.Asumah(CS) both SMC members of the school, reiterated the need to speed up work on the school building.

A teacher of the school who doubles as the PTA/SMC secretary,one Mr.Ananpansah,B Abraham disclosed to the DCE the school was currently challenged in getting a suitable classroom for the much expected form one's.The school according to him,was expecting 35 qualified pupil's as form one's next academic year but has no assured classroom to house the number as the situation currently stands.He therefore appealed to the DCE to as a matter of urgency work within his power to get the school building completed within stipulated time to save the situation.He further disclosed that the situation apart from holding back the process of teaching and learning,was also making it difficult to maintain adequate discipline among the students.A task he described as daunting since the pupil's didn't have the benefit of their own environment for proper monitoring,and stringent enforcement of rules.

The DCE in a plain language doubted if the school building could be completed before the beginning of next academic year.He however,suggested the need for the school authorities to liaise with GES to get a temporal structure to serve the purpose of the time whilst he works to get things done before the end of the year.

Damongo model Girl's Junior High School is a newly established girl's school under the initiative of EBIS-Ghana (now OXFAM),an NGO.The initiative is being implemented by District Assemblies across Northern Ghana.The school currently has a total enrolment of 32 girl's.35 girl's are expected as per the admission records for the 2017/2018 academic year.It has currently,four permanent and one non permanent teaching staff.Pending the completion of the school building,the school currently hold classroom sessions/lessons in a single classroom block at Yabum J.H.S.The idea is for the school to develop into a girl's science school in the near future.

By ANANPANSAH,B ABRAHAM (AB)
(Staff/PTA/SMC Secretary/Blogger/Writer/Freelance Journalist)
0241129910/0200704844