Sep 30, 2007 - The fifth, sixth and seventh papers deal with the issue of education and ... even with the relatively limited emphasis on technical education.
EDITORIAL (ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GHANA POLICY JOURNAL) As Ghana celebrates the 50th anniversary of its political independence this year, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) deems it appropriate to launch the Ghana Policy Journal (GPJ), a multidisciplinary journal that addresses policy-related issues across a wide spectrum. The Journal is produced by the Institute and has the additional distinction of being the first academic journal produced by an independent think tank in Ghana. The eight papers published in this maiden issue of GPJ deal with major contemporary issues in Ghana like economics, education and law/politics.
The first paper deals with trade liberalization, foreign aid, poverty and income distribution. Using a computable general equilibrium model, the authors examine the impact of trade liberalization involving lost tariff revenue that is then replaced by foreign aid redistributed to households as transfer payments. They show that elimination of trade related import duties and export duties accompanied by an increase in foreign aid reduces the incidence, depth, and severity of poverty of all categories of households. The issue of poverty is also discussed in the second and third papers. In the second paper, the two authors report on empirical evidence concerning willingness to contribute to a national health insurance scheme (NHIS) as an alternative means of financing health care. They conclude that the NHIS can raise adequate monies from contributors to finance public health care in Ghana.
The factors determining the likelihood of poverty among a relatively homogenous group of fishmongers in James Town, Accra based on a cross-sectional sampling survey are analysed in the third paper. All the sampled fishmongers are females. The author establishes that the use of family planning methods to control child birth, the gender of the household head and participation in other income generating activities are significant factors that influence poverty among this group of people. Fishmongers from female-headed households are more likely to be poorer than those from male-headed households. She suggests that fishmongers should be encouraged to use modern family planning methods by government and non-government organizations. Furthermore, she advocates the strengthening of traditional and modern marriage counseling services to improve marital stability as a means of reducing poverty among fishmongers.
The fourth paper is concerned with analyzing the economic implications of the growing phenomenon of expensive funerals across non-Muslim parts of Ghana, especially among the
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Akan people who constitute about 50% of the population of Ghana. The author argues persuasively for behavioural change to shift resources away from the dead to investments that lead to growth in the economy. He suggests various sets of policies that provide incentives for families to reduce the time it takes to bury the deceased.
The fifth, sixth and seventh papers deal with the issue of education and policies that can improve the quality of education and general manpower development in the country. Over the 30-year period from the attainment of independence in 1957 to the major educational reform of1987, Ghana’s educational system was generally regarded as one of the best in the developing world even with the relatively limited emphasis on technical education. This period saw the training of thousands of students many of whom have gone on to establish distinguished careers in Ghana and overseas. For example, Mr. Kofi Annan, the previous Secretary-General of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) and hundreds of other Ghanaian bureaucrats who have worked in the UNO civil service system. It is now widely accepted across all political divides that there has been considerable decline in the quality of education over the last 20 years since the 1987 educational reform. Beginning from September 2007, the Government of Ghana is initiating a major educational reform to improve the quality of education in the country by addressing some of the fundamental problems of the educational sector. Given this preamble, it is gratifying to note that a large number of articles submitted to the Ghana Policy Journal for publication dealt with improving the quality of education in Ghana.
In the fifth paper, the author discusses a study of Junior Secondary School (JSS) mathematics teachers’ conceptions of, and beliefs about, mathematics and its teaching. This discussion is based on survey-based research in 75 junior secondary schools drawn from five educational circuits of the Winneba District of the Central Region. He establishes that teachers tend to have disparate conceptions of mathematics and its teaching. He argues that the diverse conceptions may be a consequence of cultural and curricular ambiguities in respect of the teaching of mathematics. He concludes by drawing some implications in respect of teachers being able to fulfill the national curriculum requirements.
The issue of gender bias and limited access of the girl-child to basic education is addressed in the sixth paper. The author indicates that factors such as insufficient materials, unavailability of teachers, poverty and geographic isolation are often suggested as the key factors contributing to the relatively low retention of the girl-child in schools at the basic level. He casts a wider net to
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identify other causes of the problem. He concludes that the level of gender awareness/sensitivity that basic school teachers bring to their teaching functions can be considered to be another major factor affecting the retention of the girl-child.
In the seventh paper, the author evaluates apprenticeship training in the country and proposes a two-site apprenticeship model called Ghana’s Dual System to address some of the challenges facing the apprenticeship sector. The model envisages apprenticeship as taking place at workshops (on-site) and through distance learning (off-site). The on-site mode follows the conventional apprenticeship training system, while the off-site mode employs various instructional approaches used in distance learning to complement the former.
The eighth and last paper deals with the delays in the delivery of judgments or rulings by the courts in Ghana. This paper examines in detail the question of time for delivery of judgments and rulings in the light of the statutory rules on time. After a detailed analysis of the problem, the author draws some general conclusions and calls for further reform in the law by the Rules of Court Committee, established under the 1992 Constitution.
I would like to thank all the contributors to this maiden issue of the journal for their work. On behalf of the Institute of Economic Affairs, I use this opportunity to invite all readers to attend the 2007 Economics Conference to be organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra, Ghana scheduled for the second week of December 2007. The conference will bring together economists, policy makers and others to address issues in the economy of Ghana during the 50 years of Ghana’s independence. Papers to the conference are welcome and should be sent to the IEA by the 30th of September 2007. Contributed papers will be edited and published in the Volume 2 issue of the Ghana Policy Journal to be published in March 2008.
Kwabena Asomanin Anaman Editor
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