News Categories: Education

The Minerals Development Fund through the Local Management Committee in the Talensi District has donated desks to selected schools in the Talensi District to support and improve the condition of teaching and learning in schools.

The gesture includes the donation of 365 dual desks to eight (8) Primary and Junior High Schools in the district. The beneficiary communities include Gaare, Gbane, Yameriga, Zanwore, Tola, Datuku, Wakii, and Bapella. Further, 16 hexagonal desks were provided to Tola, Datuku, and Bapella kindergartens.

In early 2022, the Talensi Local Management Committee constructed several water systems across some mining communities in the district from the Minerals development fund and this kind gesture has improved the livelihoods of residents in the mining communities in Talensi.

“For now, Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited is the only large-scale mining company in the Talensi District that is contributing to the fund and we have so far disbursed the funds that came to the Local Management Committee at the district level in the area of water and education which are of major concern to our people”, Samuel Kuug, Chairman of the Talensi Local Management Committee stated.

Mr. Samuel Kuug expressed optimism that the furniture provided to the schools would help address the challenges in the educational sector in the district.

“This forms part of the first phase of furniture distribution and we are optimistic and confident that all basic schools will be provided with furniture through the Minerals Development Fund, kind courtesy of Earl International Group Ghana Gold Ltd”, he added.

The Public Relations Officer of Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited, Ebenezer Bognaab, said the company is committing to support the government to provide basic social amenities and infrastructure to its host mining communities.

“And for that matter, as a company, we do not renege on payment of royalties and taxes to the government though we have undertaken some projects in the district under our corporate social responsibility and we will continue to support our host communities in the district”, Mr. Bognaab indicated.

Some residents who spoke to the media described the operation of Earl International Group Ghana Gold Limited as a blessing to the communities “because thousands of the youth in the area have been employed directly and indirectly and this has improved their livelihoods.”

On the issue of the furniture, a parent, Yinbil expressed excitement with the provision of the furniture saying the gesture has come to improve the academic performance of pupils and students who used to learn on their stomachs and sat on bare floors in the classrooms.

“As part of the school PTA, we were planning to contribute some money to provide furniture for at least the JHS two and three students so they can prepare well ahead of the BECE, but we thank the Earl Group mining company for their contributions to the Minerals Development Fund and today our Primary, Junior High School and Kindergarten have received enough furniture”, he added.

The Minerals Development Fund (MDF) is a public fund set up by Act 912 of Parliament in 2016.  The source of the fund is principally twenty percent (20%) of mineral royalties that are received by the Ghana Revenue Authority on behalf of the Republic.

The funds are mainly sourced from holders of mining leases in respect of their mining operations. The purpose of the Fund according to the Act is to provide financial resources for the direct benefit and advantage of mining communities. It is also to equip traditional and local government authority within a mining community. The MDF fund also sets aside a portion of sums of money for the institution responsible for the development of mining – Land and Natural Resources.

Apart from the company’s regular Royalty contributions to the Minerals Development Fund, the Ghana Revenue Authority collects taxes and fees from the company.

Through the Minerals development fund, some of the royalties paid by Earl International Group Ghana Gold Ltd are returned to the host communities of the mine and managed by the local management committee for the benefit and development of communities affected by mining operations.

Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Talensi|Ghana

The Talensi District Chief Executive, Thomas Duanab Pearson Wuni has warned saboteurs and “cheap propagandists” to yank their minds from “cheap social media propaganda acts” as that cannot help to achieve the growth needed in the area.

According to him, such social media publications only ridicule leadership but do nothing to solve the problems at hand. Mr. Wuni insisted that he will not allow himself to be controlled by “social media cheap propaganda acts”.

The DCE comments come on the backdrop of the recent pictures of pupils of Yagzore basic school lying on the floor to study circulating on social media.

Speaking to the press after donating 115 dual desks to the pupils, Mr Duanab said the said school was even part of other schools his outfit listed to support with furniture.

He said, “I and my planning officer made several rounds to schools and we already knew the educational problems. So, I least expected people who are from home yet fail to approach the assembly and rather go ahead to post pictures on social media. In case they don’t know, I don’t work on social media. We as an assembly have a working plan and we are going according to that, not social media posts”.

Stressing on improving the educational infrastructure in the area, the DCE indicated that his outfit has plans to provide more furniture to various schools.

“Yes, I have made some raw estimations on the number of dual desks that can meet the furniture deficit and I can say roughly 2000 dual desks are needed. So, I’m calling on individuals both in and out of Talensi to support”, he said.

The gesture by the assembly, parents, teachers and some of the pupils however said was a dream come true as they never thought of such support.

A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Bolgatanga|Ghana

This afternoon, some staff of the Assembly took part on a Research Dissemination meeting of BRECcIA [University of Ghana]. The meeting sought to inform participants on the output of a research conducted on flood prone areas in the district. Particularly the impact of floods on communities along the white volta like Nungu, Pwalugu and Biung

The District Chief Executive of Talensi Thomas Duanab Wuni Pearson has admonished Basic School students in the Talensi District to take advantage of the government’s Free Senior High School policy (FSHS) so as to achieve higher heights in education.

According to Mr. Wuni, the President’s commitment towards education is unmatched which was why he implemented the policy to make sure every Ghanaian child of school-going age is able to access the second cycle in the various regions of the country.

The District Chief Executive who was speaking at this year’s Independence Day Celebration organised in the Tongo School Park of the Talensi District said, “I’ll like to use this opportunity to entreat you, especially, my dear students who will write BECE this year to try and make good grades to enable you to enjoy this opportunity and in endowed schools as well”.

Speaking on the performance of students in his District, he explained that, it is of great concern to his outfit because they have long been waiting to record a 50% pass mark even though the performance have been increasing in recent years.

He noted the below 50% pass mark is worrying and therefore, immediate actions need to be taken to salvage the situation.

He used the opportunity to call on stakeholders and partners in and around the region to work in unity so as to achieve more positive results.

A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Kennedy Zongbil|Bolgatanga|Ghana

The performance of students at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region has improved over the last three years.

From 2018 to 2020, the district recorded a significant increase in performance with more students passing and gaining admission into second-cycle institutions.

In 2018, only 17 per cent of the students who sat for the BECE passed, but the rate increased to 36 per cent and 48 per cent in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Hajia Adisa Emelia Abdulai, the Talensi District Director of Education, made these known to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Tongo.

Hajia Abdulai noted that despite the numerous challenges that confronted many schools and the directorate, commitment on the part of the directorate to work collectively with circuit supervisors and management of the schools resulted in success.

She said the staff and director relationship was key, adding “there is cooperation between the staff and I and I do demonstration teaching during my monitoring exercises to lead by example and encourage the teachers to put up their best to help the children.”

The District Director explained that apart from school infrastructures such as classroom blocks, furniture, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities deficit that confronted many schools in the district, the directorate did not have the resources to do proper monitoring.

She said the frequent delay in the release of school grants had crippled the ability of the directorate to get resources to fuel the vehicles of circuit supervisors to embark on monitoring and said, “Most of the time I use my own money to fuel my vehicle to go on monitoring duties.”

She said the district was a rural one and some of the schools were located in hard-to-reach communities with poor road networks, making monitoring difficult.

“Our territory is so wide that it shares boundaries with North East Region and Bawku, they are places that we find it difficult to go because there is no road network and we have to pass through a lot of places before we get there and yet there is no motivation for our School Improvement Support Officers (SISOs).

“Sometimes our officers will travel all these rounds and come back tired and frustrated because there is nothing for them and it is through the monitoring that we can identify these challenges,” she added.

Hajia Abdulai, therefore, advocated an incentive package designed to motivate SISOs on regular basis to ensure that they supported the directorate to do proper monitoring and identification of problems to engage stakeholders to find solutions to them.

Source: GNA

The National Teaching Council (NTC) of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced that it will begin issuing teacher licence and registration numbers to all qualified teachers in the Ghana Education Service as well as those in private institutions from May 2021.

A letter from the Ghana Education Service to all regulatory bodies in the education sector stated: “As part of the process, all qualified teachers who were employed before 1 September 2018, are required to log on to the NTC’s Teacher Portal Ghana (TPG) via tpg.ntc.gov.gh and register”.

The letter also noted that “all teachers who were employed after 31 August 2018, are required to pass the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination to merit the licence and registration number.

“Thus, their provisional licence shall be replaced with a full licence during the exercise”.

“All qualified teachers who fail to avail themselves of this licensing and registration exercise shall lose their right to practise as teachers in Ghana, in accordance with section 64 (1) of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020, Act 1023,” the letter further indicated.

The deadline for registration on the portal is 7 May 2021.

Source: Classfmonline.com

The Talensi District of the Upper East Region has won three out of ten awards in land restoration at the just-ended Beating Conference, held in Bamako-Mali.

The awardees were rewarded for their commitment to the implementation of the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) project, an initiative by World Vision Ghana to reclaim degraded lands in the area.

Chief of Tongo-Beo, Naba Naabia Anaba Bileya-Namalteng was given a prize for Male Excellence in Land Restoration, while Topok Saparoog from Yagzore won the Female individual Restoration Champion award.

The Yameriga community was adjudged Excellence in land innovation restoration while World Vision Ghana adjudged NGO Restoration Supporter Award-Excellence in land restoration.Speaking at a community durbar in Tongo-Beo to showcase the impact of the project, Regional operations manager of WVG, Timothy Akanpaabade said the FMNR project, which started in 2009, has secured 750 acres of protected lands and increased trees population on farmlands by 1,500 acres in the Talensi district.He admonished other districts to adopt the FMNR initiative which involves organized regrowth and management of trees and shrubs from felled tree stumps.

Mr. Akanpaabade called on traditional leaders and the Talensi district assembly to enforce all environmental by-laws to save the environment from degradation.He also appealed for the connection of the Kanabisi and Sheage shea butter processing centers to the national grid to commence operations.

Mr. Roland Bunch spoke on behalf of Tony Rinaudo, who introduced the FMNR project and commended WVG and the beneficiary communities for their hard work to make the project a success.

He urged the country to adopt the project as a sustainable approach to combating the negative impact of climate change.

For his part, chief of Tongo-Beo, Naabia Anaba underscore the benefits of the project to his traditional area saying “the project has led to high crop yield, provide pasture for our animals and bush burning has become a thing of the past”.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citinewsroom.com/Ghana