Category: Literacy

Attorney General's Office (PGR) has reiterated the need for the inclusion of subjects on corruption in the academic curriculum in the country.

The need was reiterated by National Director for Prevention and Fight Against Corruption of the PGR, Inocência Pinto, on Tuesday in Luanda, who said that the move was intended to fight against corruption in education sector.

The PGR official was speaking at the ceremony that marked the official launch of the consultation process of draft National Strategy for Prevention and Repression of Corruption (ENAPREC).

In her capacity as coordinator of the technical sub-group, in charge of drafting the proposal, Inocência Pinto, who is also Deputy Attorney General, said the inclusion of the corruption prevention in the education system aims at curbing such practices.

According to Pinto, the consultation process, due to start this month, will last more than 30 days in all country’s provinces.

She said that the proposal aims to allow, from an early age, people to have "contact with matters related to public probity and the common good".

In her speech, Pinto noted that the implementation of actions to combat corruption in Angola "has been bearing fruit".

As an example, she highlighted the fact that Angola was ranked 116th in the corruption perception index, according to non-governmental organisation Transparency International, in its report published in January 2023.

Contribution of the institutions

Although the content has already received various contributions from public and private, national and foreign institutions, the coordinators deemed it necessary to conduct a nationwide public consultation process, as part of the participatory democracy principle.

This exercise is extensive to all natural and legal persons interested in sharing their knowledge for the enrichment and conclusion of the document.

The draft National Strategy for the Prevention and Repression of Corruption was prepared by a Working Group created in 2019, integrated by various public bodies.

The group is coordinated by the minister of State and Head of the Civil Affairs Office to the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, under the guidance of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

The Working Group was also tasked with conducting studies and drafting of proposals and mechanisms for the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Management and students of Okuapeman Senior High School have expressed a desperate need for computers following a recent theft of computers in the school.

The incident happened when the school went on a short break during the Easter festivities.

Mr Peter Anoma-Kodie, an alumni of the school told the Ghana News Agency that thieves broke into the ICT lab of the school and made away with about ten desktop computers, four laptop computers and a sound system which was mostly used by students for their oral English.

The school has several students who are visually impaired and who do not know how to use braille, so they rely heavily on computers and laptops to do anything academic.

Mr Anoma-Kodie said the students were going to write their West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in three months and the students who were visually impaired would be the most affected if they did not get computers to write the exams.

He said the absence of computers and the sound system would also affect how the school prepared the students for the final exams.

Mr Anoma-Kodie said, 'We would want to appeal to the public, and government through the Ministry of Education, corporate Ghana, NGOs' and churches that this was an emergency, and we need their support as soon as possible.

'We need as a matter of urgency about 20 desktop computers and 10 laptop computers before July so we can prepare the visually impaired students for the WASSCE exams, and we will also need a good sounds system for oral English and lectures at the center,' he added.

Okuapeman Senior High School located in the Akuapem North Municipality has a lot of students who are visually impaired.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Two men appeared in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the robbery of a teacher at Rundu’s Rudolf Ngondo Primary School last week.

According to the charge sheet, the two are Annanias Amutenya, 27, and 33-year-old Paulus Shaanika.

The two were arrested at a local bar in the Sikanduko informal settlement on Thursday.

The vehicle allegedly used in the robbery was also found hidden in a yard at Sauyemwa informal settlement and it is believed to have been hired from Independence Car Hire in Windhoek.

Both were denied bail when they appeared in court, and the case was postponed to 25 July 2023.

It is alleged that on the day of the robbery, the teacher withdrew an amount of N.dollars 14 000 from a local bank, meant for a regional sports event, before heading to school.

It is suspected that the accused followed her there and jumped the school fence to gain entry.

They allegedly went from class to class searching for the teacher, and when they finally found her while teaching, they grabbed her handbag, in which she had the cash she withdrew along with an additional N.dollars 1 200 of her own and some documents.

A male teacher who tried to defend his colleague was injured in the process.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The Costheta Educational Support Fund in partnership with Duamenefa Foundation, a non-governmental organisation has awarded 20 brilliant, but needy Christian students from various institutions in the country.

The awardees made up of 11 males and nine females received a certificate and a cash amount of GHS1,500.00 each with an added Ipad for the best awardee.

Dr David Kotei Nutakor (also known as Costheta), a Geotechnical Engineer based in California, USA and the brain behind the Fund in a speech read on his behalf during the third award ceremony at Dzodze said he started the Fund in memory of his late parents, Mr Leonard Besa Gbede Nutakor and Madam Sabina Atsemuyo Evortepe as a way of giving back to society.

He congratulated the awardees whose visions for the future he was proud of saying, he set out to get 'the smartest, most creative needy Christian students to address ongoing challenges we currently face in the world.

'It is important to note that success is not only about titles, the awards, the recognition and the money we have, but joy of personal success resides in how much we contribute to society by helping family and friends to build a better life for themselves and those around them,' Dr Nutakor said.

Mr Emmanuel Ketaman Evortepe, Executive President, Duamenefa Foundation expressed gratitude to Dr Nutakor for choosing the Foundation as a conduit to extend his long thought-of dream to support and motivate students at secondary schools in the country to study hard and exhibit good morals and prayed for other individuals and organisations to support the project.

He called for true education necessary to bring changes to society saying, it goes beyond earning degrees and acquiring bookish knowledge to mean 'inculcating moral values, positive thinking, an attitude of giving to society and ethical values.'

Madam Esi Azalekor, mother of the best awardee, Ms Cynthia Makafui Abla Baragbor from Keta Senior High Technical School, who obtained a perfect score of A1 in all eight subjects - and currently studying Medicine at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, attributed her daughter's brilliant performance to the good upbringing she gave her and urged all parents to train their children to grow into responsible adults in future.

Ms Rejoice Morvey, an awardee and currently a student at University of Health and Allied Sciences asked for God's blessings for organisers of the award and urged secondary school students to take their studies and Christian life serious to qualify for the award.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr. Tom Ilube CBE, chair and founder of African Gifted Foundation, has encouraged young females across Africa to immerse themselves in science and technology.

Dr. Ilube said desiring a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) held the potential to transform the lives of the girls, their countries and the entire African continent.

He said this in an address during the inauguration of a new robotics and laboratory block for the African Science Academy, an all-girls STEM educational institution in Tema.

He said the opening of the new building would help to expand the school and increase the intake of brilliant but needy girls in STEM.

'Our mission is to excite and empower girls with knowledge and confidence in STEM to become future problem solvers and leaders. This is indeed a launch pad for my vision and our vision in science and technology for young African women.'

On April 27, 2023, the world would celebrate International Girls in ICT.

He indicated that there was need to support initiatives and organisations that believe in the power and potential for African women for science and technology.

For her part, the Executive Director of African Gifted Foundation, Yasameen Al-jboury, said there was the need to acknowledge girls role in the development of society through STEM, and expressed the hope to see more women and girls in leadership roles in the ICT sector.

'African Science Academy seeks to support African Gifted girls across the continent to be at the fore-front of innovations.'

Ms Gifty Ghansah, Head Teacher of African Science Academy, said the school currently had 40 girls' students from 12 African countries.

She also urged African young girls to not lose their feminity in pursuit of careers in ICT or studying STEM.

'STEM is not just going to take you through engineering and all that, because STEM is all over us, and I want people to begin to think about it in that way,' she said.

She also called on parents to consider giving their daughters the chance to explore the opportunities within the areas of STEM.

She also urged teachers of both mathematics and science to ensure the subjects were made interesting and relatable in their various schools.

African Science Academy is a private, not-for-profit school founded by the African Gifted Foundation.

Source: Ghana News Agency