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The Sustainability of the Science in the Productive Cultural Instruments of African Ancestors for Natural Resource Management
Get PDFThe cultural practices in many African societies are often misconstrued
as idolatrous practices. While some of the cultural practices are
counter-productive, many others intelligently showcase the
science of the African forebears in the field of nature conservation,
specifically, the sound management of landmass, water bodies, flora,
fauna, and aquatic species. Adopting the PRISMA systematic review,
Ninety-Six published literature on cultural practices and traditional
ecological knowledge for natural resource management such as
taboo systems, cosmological belief systems, and totems in some
African ethnic societies were scholarly analysed and interpreted, with
inferences drawn for contemporary use in the management of the
scarce resources in Africa. The findings indicate that these productive
cultural practices were cleverly formulated by the African forebears to
prevent the wanton looting of nature’s resources while jealously and
sustainably protecting them for the current and future generations. The study contends that the restricted times, number, and aspects of
nature’s resources for harvesting, the affiliation of nature’s resources to
vengeful deities and respected ancestors in the society as well as the
earmarking of particular spots as sacred groves are scientific strategies
set by the African forebears to sustainably manage the resources in their
environment for posterity. Therefore, such traditional instruments for
nature resource management must be constantly included in policies
and strategies in modern biodiversity and environmental policies for
African countries
Interrogating The Sacred-Secular Binary in Ghanaian Choral Music
Get PDFThis paper examines the determining factors responsible for the idea of
sacredness or secularity of a song, the relationship between the sacred
and secular, and how the sacred and secular interplay in Ghanaian music.
We focus particularly on the sacred and secular binary as reflected in what
may be termed ‘Ghanaian Choral Highlife’, as both choral and highlife
music initially emerged as distinct sacred and secular musical categories
respectively. The research methodology in this work involves data from both
primary and secondary sources including interviews, musical works and
libraries. The musical elements of selected compositions are analysed, and
compared to ascertain their relationship, areas of similarities and differences.
Major findings in this study reveal the close relationship between the sacred
and the secular in Ghanaian music and how both musical genres influence
each other. It also reveals how this influence transcends into Ghanaian Choral Highlife music. Based on our findings we argue that Choral highlife has come
to stay as a result of the relationship between the sacred and secular, that is,
between Ghanaian choral music and Ghanaian highlife music
ON SUPPRESSION AND COUNTER-ACCUSATIONS: THE VENERATION OF TRADITIONAL GHANAIAN MONUMENTS FROM THE CREATIVE ARTIST'S VIEW
Get PDFEvery nation, society or community has individuals who played pivotal role in their history, and in that regard, their efforts or contributions are considered worthy of emulation. In the Ghanaian setting, to make the legacies and achievements of these national or traditional heroes or heroines indelible until perpetuity, they are sometimes immortalised by naming facilities, amenities and structures after them. In other cases, they are honoured by the designing or construction of monumental statues in their likeness. Citizens, indigenes and inhabitants of various geographical locations who are conversant with the historical or cultural symbolism of these traditional monuments revere them passionately. This act on the other hand has over the years sparked controversy between sympathisers of these statues or traditional monuments and others who deem these artistic elements as the woes behind Ghana’s retarded socio economic growth. This study through a library search from secondary data as well as primary sources through observation from fieldwork, aims to analyse the allegation and diverse opinions on the role or effect the veneration of these traditional Ghanaian statues have on Ghana’s economic growth
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: A SITUATION ANALYSIS OF GHANA’S EDUCATION LAWS, STANDARDS AND BASIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM.
Get PDFFollowing the United Nation’s adoption of the Agenda 2030 resolution, and the African Union’s implementation of Agenda 2063, Ghana, as a member of the United Nations and African Union is expected to institute measures to ensure the attainment of these ambitions. Given UNESCO’s recognition of inclusive equitable quality education as pivotal in the achievement of all the SDGs, questions remain as to how Ghana, through its educational policy and curricula, is prioritizing the attainment of SDGs. This paper is the outcome of a situational analysis conducted to determine the connectedness of Ghana’s educational policies, legal documents, and curriculum to Agenda 2030. Following a research framework and instruments provided by the Global School Pilot Project’s Secretariat, seven (7) Ghanaian educational policy documents together with twenty (20) K-6 curriculum documents were analyzed to highlight gaps, and explore linkages, and synergies, between the content of these documents and the Agenda 2030 Education learning outcomes. From the analysis, it was observed that more recently formulated policy documents had a higher prevalence of SDG concepts and competencies compared to documents promulgated before 2015. It was also observed that some explicit references were made to SDGs and Learning Objectives in the K-6 curriculum but they were focused on a section of the SDGs and concentrated in a few subjects. Significant sections of the SDGs received very few to no mentions at all in the entire K-6 curriculum. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for the review of outdated educational policies, a forceful push for incorporation of SDGs in the under-review Grades 7-12 curriculum, and engagement of policy makers and key stakeholders on the outcome of this research
Causes and Management of Industrial Disputes between University Management and the Junior Staff at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Get PDFThe study examined the causes and management of industrial disputes between University management and the junior staff represented by the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) at the University of Cape Coast. The study which was descriptive employed 337 respondents. Two sets of questionnaire were used to gather data for the study. The study showed that issues concerning wages and salaries are the leading factors that account for disputes between the union and management in the University of Cape Coast. However, according to the study, such issues are mostly resolved amicably through negotiation without external intervention. The study further revealed that majority of the junior staff did not have knowledge about the conditions of service which is supposed to be their reference material when they want issues to be addressed. Based on the findings from the study, it is recommended that issues concerning salaries and wages and other economic benefits to staff be addressed by management promptly to prevent the occurrence of industrial unrest. Management and the TEWU executives should
periodically update the junior staff on policies, rules, regulations and the conditions of service
Mathematizing Mathematics in Holy Writ
Get PDFStudies have unraveled and given exposition on mathematics inherent in Holy Writ, the Bible. This study provides further evidence of more implicit and explicit mathematics in its words, verses and chapters. These are furnished through document analysis and purposeful mathematizing and explication of a selected host of Biblical texts and contexts to demonstrate their mathematical nature and worth. It reveals mathematics, some amenable to formulation, are embedded in the texts and underlie the contexts of scripture. It further reveals, among others, that internal logic, coherence and fact-validation, and diversity of content areas that match 21st century curriculum characterize mathematics in the Bible. Recommendations were made for faith-based Christian schools to incorporate mathematics in biblical context into their curriculum and for this study to be replicated with other religious texts
A Morpho-syntactic Analysis of Some Selected African Print Fabric Names in Akan
Get PDFThis study looks at the morphological and syntactic analysis of some selected classical
African prints and their names in the Akan language. Fifty (50) Classical African wax
print fabrics were selected from fifty (50) different shops at the Kumasi Kejetia New
Market based on patronage, proverbial, and catchy names given to them compared to the
contemporary ones. One hundred and fifty (150) native speakers who were shop owners,
print fabric buyers and users assisted in getting these prints and their names in Akan. The
Construction Morphology theory was adopted, and the Qualitative method was used to
analyze the data. The study found that the names of these prints can morphologically be
classified into simple words, that is, those which are roots and are single independent
morphemes, and complex words which are formed by combining two or more morphemes
to get compound noun names. It was also identified that, at the syntactic level, there are
names that are simple sentences, names that are compound sentences, and those that are
complex sentences functioning as either declarative sentences or interrogative sentences. It
was revealed that none of these names are given by the companies themselves but by the
consumers who link fashion to history, to celebrate famous people, and to express the
trends of the moment. The findings contribute to the people’s understanding of the
importance of linguistic analysis in uncovering the meanings and values that are
embedded in everyday language
Comparative Study of Pension Benefits between Ghana Universities’ Staff Superannuation (GUSSS) and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT)Schemes
No full textThe practice of using public social security systems as potential welfare and income re-distribution policy tools is widely acknowledged both in academic and practitioner literature. From the perspective of a pension fund member, the most important thing is to receive a retirement benefit that is large enough to improve one’s quality of life in the post-retirement period. This is particularly true when the potential retiree faces the choice of two or more pension schemes; it is therefore useful to undertake a comparative analysis of retirement benefits under different schemes and under different conditions to facilitate an informed choice-making. While there is no consensus on which indicator best measures retirement benefits adequately, the total financial benefits received by the retiree following retirement represents one of the most important indicators of benefits adequacy. To this end, the total financial benefits of retirees under both the GUSSS and SSNIT was assessed. Employing different scenarios including different length of years of working and corresponding monthly contributions as well as the pension rates captured in the focal schemes, it was discovered that GUSSS generates superior retirement benefits side by side SSNIT. Among others, the writers seek to advocate that the board of GUSSS educate members on the superior financial retirement benefits offered by the scheme as compared with SSNIT and to review the pension rights under the GUSS
An Assessment of Governance Challenges in Higher Education Institutions in Ghana.
No full textThis paper explored the inherent militating issues that confront Ghanaian universities in their attempt to execute their mandate as expected. The study used both exploratory and comparative approaches to investigate challenges confronting Ghanaian universities in governance and institutional leadership. The study adopted a multi-stage sampling technique for the selection of three public and private Ghanaian universities. Anchored on Agency and Performance theories, the study focused on six (6) out of the sixty-nine (69) universities sampled. Findings indicate that externally, issues such as funding, quality assurance, linking up with the labour markets, getting requisite academics, aligning with the global trends as well as internationalisation militate against Ghanaian universities. Some operational challenges including funding (tools and logistics-related), political interferences, dealing with staff and students complaints, unapologetic stance of institutional leadership, neglecting policy feedback and policy implementation challenges also exist. The state-owned universities were found to have comparative advantage in dealing with these challenges. The study among other things, recommended governmental financial support for the private universities while decentralising operations of the supervisory bodie