Decolonize pre-tertiary curriculum to empower local communities - Educationist tells government

A teacher and educational leader, Mr. Al-Hassan Kodwo Baidoo has asked Government to further decolonize our pre tertiary curriculum to emphatically include grassroots perspectives to empower the locals and the community. He made this call at an event at the Ntranoa Pentecost church auditorium last Thursday, the 2nd of June.

Mr. Baidoo who is also the President of UNIJOSA 95 Year Group led his group to donate some high specs desktop computers and UPS devices to Ntranoa Basic School to start an ICT Laboratory in the school which since it’s inception in 1962 could not boast of a single computer.

At the presentation ceremony, the group also honored Miss Georgina Ama Aggrey, the Headteacher of the Ntranoa Basic school who also happens to be their former English teacher of University Junior High school in Cape Coast. In attendance were the Chief and elders of Ntranoa, the Deputy Director of Education, the Assemblyman, the leaders of the school’s PTA, headteachers and teachers from various schools within the community, church leaders, parents and school children.



The chairman of the ceremony Mr. Ebenezer Buertey who’s the Deputy Director (F&A-KEEA M.E.O) delivered the keynote address on behalf of Miss Cecilia Aboagye, the District Director of Education. Miss Aboagye thanked the UNIJOSA 95 Year Group for their unparalleled commitment to community development. She quoted Luke 17:15-17 in appreciation of the kind gestures of Mr. Baidoo and his group to their former English teacher and to the Ntranoa school.



She appealed to the group to as a matter of urgency institute a Counseling and Mentoring Program in the school to encourage the school children to take their studies seriously. She noted that the school children must be taught to be knowledgeable, responsible and dedicated to national development. She ended her speech with a call to the School Management Committee (SMC) to ensure the safety and good maintenance of the donated digitalization tools.



The President of UNIJOSA 95, Mr. Al-Hassan Kodwo Baidoo explained the need and importance of school-community participation. He underscored the importance of parental involvement in children’s education by explaining to the crowd the overlapping spheres of influence of the family, community and the school on children’s holistic development, citing Armstrong Piner’s (2008) model.



He has challenged the parents and the larger community to partner the school to raise young boys and girls who’d become responsible problem solvers for mother Ghana. Mr. Baidoo asked teachers to pursue continuous professional development for self improvement. He noted that the more the teacher is knowledgeable, the better the pedagogical approaches. If indeed the future belongs to these children, then we have to send decision making close to the classrooms and get them involved in the developments of the community, Mr. Baidoo reiterated.



A staff of the ICT Department of University of Cape Coast and Vice President of UNIJOSA 95, Mr. Jerry Tamakloe in his speech shed more light on the importance of ICT for teaching and learning. He encouraged teachers to inculcate these digital toolkits in their teaching methodologies to achieve diversity and inclusivity in teaching and learning. He assured the community that a special ICT training program will soon be rolled out for the entire school and asked the teachers to take good care of the machines even as the group works to bring some more.



The Principal Domestic Bursar of Asuansi Technical Institute and Treasurer of UNIJOSA 95, Miss Judith Baaba Asiedu made a special appeal to parents to re-focus on the training of their boy child. Miss Asiedu bemoaned the inherent dangers in empowering young girls while neglecting the boy child. She noted that most issues confronting families now stem from men who were not well equipped to lead their families. She praised her father for his role in their upbringing and challenged men and fathers present to get more and more involved in the training of boys.



Chief of Ntranoa, Nana Kweku Ntsin V thanked the group after receiving the items and assured the group that his people will take great care of the machines. He narrated the history of Ntranoa and the school in particular and expressed his joy to be alive to see the start of such an important project. The school has since it’s inception in 1962 not seen a computer before, the happy Chief surmised.

In his closing remarks, the Chairman, Mr. Ebenezer Buertey also thanks Mr. Al-Hassan Baidoo and his group and said like Oliver Twist, they are asking for more from the group. He reiterated the request of a Counseling program made by Miss Aboagye to talk the school children out of pre marital sex and consequently teenage pregnancies. He cautioned parents to stop sending their young girls to the hospital for family planning since that will mean that the children were indirectly being encouraged to have sex without getting pregnant.