A community development advocate has blamed Ghana’s inability to solve most of its development challenges on what he describes as a problem-solving gap between academics and real life.
The Founder and President of the Foundation for Generational Thinkers (FOGET), Prosper Dan Afetsi, registered this observation when his non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), organised a contest last Friday on the country’s waste management crisis among some Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Greater Accra region.
Ghana, he said, would not need much foreign intervention if educational authorities in the country nurtured the can-do spirit in the youths by providing them with opportunities and responsibilities to explore ways to solve the problems facing the country.
Dubbed “FOGET-GNAPS Quiz and Challenge Competition 2018”, the event brought together 4 schools tasked with the test: “Your community has been filth-laden. Devise means by which waste can be properly managed to ensure clean environment”.
The S. Sowah Boye Memorial School, who came up with a workable solution to help address poor sanitary conditions at Chorkor, a community in Accra, the national capital, and its surroundings, won the competition. The New Generation Preparatory School placed second, with Joehans Academy finishing third and the St. Charles Preparatory School in fourth place.
The contest began with 36 schools selected from the GNAPS Greater Accra Zone ‘5’. The number gradually came down to the last 4 as the competition progressed through knockout stages. Prizes including cash, electronics, stationery and certificates were awarded to the 4 finalists. The schools were assessed by a panel of environmental and sanitation experts after the students were taken on a tour of some waste management companies and had conducted some research on their own for three weeks.
Participants Commended for Encouraging Feats
Although the judges found the solutions proposed by the participating schools not specific enough to the problems they had sought to tackle, they were full of praise for the efforts the students put up at the competition.
The panel, chaired by Emmanuel Addai, a communications specialist, lauded the organisers for the initiative which, according to the jurors, would help groom the students into patriotic and responsible citizens. Also on the panel were Ama Ofori Antwi, Executive Secretary to the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), and Ing. Joy Hesse Ankomah, a senior official of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A crowd of teachers and students, who came to root for their schools, witnessed the event. Addressing the gathering, the outgoing Accra Metropolis Director of Education, Eugene Yeboah, charged teachers to render adequate support and guidance to their students— an important ‘backbone’ the judges noticed the students lacked whilst doing their research.
“This project has helped you to work and to learn together as a team. The contest has also encouraged you to read from many sources while you were conducting your research. It is said that a reader today is a leader tomorrow. Please don’t stop; continue to read more,” the Director told the participants.
He also promised to champion the same programme at the Upper Denkyere East Municipal Assembly in the Central region, where he is due to take up an appointment as the new Municipal Education Director. The competition was sponsored by Ghana Ohuade Company Limited, Robertkusco Enterprise, AKAKUBI Enterprise and Bluecrest University College.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
