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Harmonizing the Unrealistic Education System

Commentary/Ghana/Africa Education

The mass failure of Junior High School students at this year’s national examination, a worsening trend over the past couple of years, has sent educationists, parents, the mass media and Accra scrambling for answers. Is it the quality of teachers? Is it lack of educational material? Is it the environment? Is it the nature of the education structure that is frequently ruffled by ruling political parties? Is it the content of the curriculum? Are the education policies realistic? Is it the lack of the broader use of Ghanaian languages? Is it lack of deeper attention to educational issues?

The long-running education crisis reveals that after years of tussles to construct education content that actually reflects its Ghanaian/African appendages in relation to global linkages, there are still worrying schisms within the education system that undermine Ghana’s core progress. The science sector of the education system is still feeble. Research and Development (R&D) is nothing to write home about. Continue reading “Harmonizing the Unrealistic Education System”

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Exploring The Power of The Brain

One of the most exciting and complicated field of science is the study of the human brain. Recent research indicates that an individual is only able to fully utilize half of one percent of the brain’s capacity in his or her lifetime. Undoubtedly, the dynamics of the human brain remains a mystery to scientists.

The human brain

The report above reveals to a large extent the under utilization of the brain by humans which can be attributed to the frailty of the human species. Taking time to reflect on this should spark in you a desire to make the best use of this wonderful gift bestowed on the human race. Imagine the ‘brains’ behind the various inventions in the world of science and technology: computers, security gadgets, electronics, automobiles, nuclear weapons, medicine and so on. Despite these marvelous achievements in this jet age, it is challenging to know that just one percent of the brain’s capacity is utilized. So, we need to ask ourselves individually: am I fully utilizing the capacity of my brain? If measured after my demise, can it be said that I was able to use up to half of the one percent of my brain?

The Human brain is distinct in its design and makeup to that of other creations such as animals. As humans, our brain makes us reason on questions such as; WHY ARE WE HERE AS HUMANS; WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE; WHY DO WE DIE AND SUFFER AS HUMANS; DOES GOD REALLY EXIST? These questions and so many more are out of reach of the animal brain. Fundamentally, we as humans are created as ‘free moral agents’, whereas, animals are created to be guided by instincts. As free moral agents, we have the capacity to make decisions on our own without external influence, to be conscious of our actions either for good or bad, and to satisfy our spiritual desires all of which animals do not possess.

In what practical ways then can the human brain be put to its best use? I want to share three ways we can make the best use of the human brain.

The first way is what I will identify as ADEQUATE REST. The human brain as part of the human body needs adequate rest to be able to function properly. Many an individual takes this serious matter with levity or display a nonchalant attitude. Scientist have suggested that on the average, the human brain should be made to relax for about seven to eight hours especially during night rest when the brain is able to better coordinate its millions of neuron cells for full utilization. Due to the demands of modern society, many people hardly give adequate rest to the brain which in scientific terms represents an individual. People work from morning all through the night with little or no rest. Imagine one in such a situation tasking the brain with less than five hours rest per day, all through the year!! That is not only an abuse of this great ‘asset’, but also suicidal to such individual. Hence, it is vital to give the brain as much rest as possible on daily basis for its full potentials to be annexed by its host. This should not be left to chance; it is a must-do affair for our personal and social development.

The second way the brain can be best utilized is PRODUCTIVE THINKING AND MEDITATION. Thinking is the seed that germinates into an idea, which grows into innovation. Thinking in this context is not one that results out of our daily concerns and anxieties such as how to meet ends needs, how to meet deadlines on the job, or how to solve a personal or family challenge. However, productive thinking and meditation is one undertaken by an individual sometimes for days, months and even years to address or proffer lasting solution to societal problems or improve the quality of human life. Such productive thinking and meditation are responsible for the innovation of airplanes by Wright Brothers, Isaac Newton’s law of gravitational force, and so many others that have contributed significantly to human development especially in the areas of science and technology. Are such accomplishments out of the reach of anyone who desires them? Hardly will I say yes.

As individuals, it is imperative we conduct an honest appraisal on how we put our brain to use through productive thinking and meditation. Therefore, there is need for us task our brain productively. This we can do by taking time off maybe an hour or less in a day, if we appear too busy all the week, maybe an hour or two over the weekend to think and meditate productively on an area of human interest that needs to be addressed or improved upon. This will be made much easier if this productive meditation is done in line with an individual’s area of interest or strength in life. In other words, if your area of interest in life is in sciences, ask yourself; what aspects of my profession need to be improved upon? In what practical ways can I proffer lasting solutions to the identified challenges in my career? Care must be taken however, not to engage the brain for productivity when it’s not naturally inclined to be. There are moments the brain undergoes some processes unknown to an individual. Any attempt to engage the brain productively at such time will bear no fruit. Hence, draw up a number of problems you can identify around your area of specialization and take a quality time to meditate productively with the convenience of the brain in your quest to invent a lasting solution to the problem. Decades ago, malaria and Polio were thought to be ailments that had come to stay with humanity. Thanks today for the brains in medical science that have proffered lasting solutions to these deadly ailments especially in children. A good sanitary environment and effective anti malaria/Polio vaccines are available as remedies.

Finally, the brain can be put to good use through HEALTHY SOCIAL INTERACTION. By this, I mean the ability of an individual to effectively interact in all spheres of human life. This includes but not limited to the academics, social clubs, religion, professional career, associations and so more. When an individual is actively involved in one or more of these forums, the brain is intellectually engaged and this aids its development. The academia for example assists an individual to interact with like-minded people in the pursuit and advancement of a given profession. Such interaction involves making extensive researches, conducting surveys, amongst others. This puts the brain to good use and help in its development.

Therefore, I challenge all you readers of this piece who are yet to be conscious of the need to fully utilize the brain as addressed above to start the exercise. The brain is just like a tool that needs constant usage under favorable environment to work properly or be productive. When a tool such as a cutlass is not utilized by a farmer for days or months, it naturally starts deteriorating. The same principle applies with equal force to the human brain. By putting the three workable suggestions above to use, you might just be positioned to be the next person whose name appears on the Guinness world Book of records for your creativity and ingenuity.

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The Role of the AU in Science and Technology Development in Africa

Here, we discuss some of the tasks the African Union (AU) can pursue in the area of Science and Technology (S&T) to bring prosperity to the African continent. The AU was formed from the Organization of African Unity in 2002, with a new vision of “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” In other words, the current African Union (AU) has the mandate to facilitate the search for solutions to the existing and emerging problems of African countries so as to quicken the pace of development. But then, what is going to be the method for development? Is it going to be by orthodox economic methods or by innovation through science and technology?

Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action makes it clear that, the African Union (AU) acknowledges Science and Technology (S&T) as prerequisites for the rapid transformation of African economies, and to a level that positively impacts the standards of living of the majority of Africans. However, despite the series of meetings, which have occurred over the years to generate ideas to use S&T for Africa’s development, little has been achieved in terms of the general improvement of the standards of living of the African people. That is to say, if the AU only makes recommendations for individual countries to carry them out without taking the responsibility of accomplishing some of the tasks itself, it may be difficult for Africa to meet the millennium development goals (MDGs). Here, I suggest that that the AU also assumes an active role of promoting or establishing Research and Development (R&D) in the area of Science and Technology (S&T). In the ensuing discussion, we shall look at ways the AU can accomplish that for the benefit of the people of Africa.

Almost all countries in Africa are saddled with the common problems of underdevelopment, which we are all aware of, but the information that is not readily available is how efficient different countries in Africa are attempting to solve these problems. So, one of the tasks for the AU will be to compile statistics that identifies countries within Africa, which are able to use S&T to solve the problems of underdevelopment effectively. The R&D facilities in these countries are then assisted by the AU to do intensive and more sophisticated work to increase knowledge in that area of their expertise for the benefit of all Africans. For instance, in Africa, malaria is generally a serious problem, but the capacity to research on malaria to come up with effective solutions may not be available in all countries. This means, it will be prudent for the AU to identify African countries with the infrastructure and research expertise in malaria and assign them the task (with the appropriate resources) to do R&D in malaria for the whole of Africa. In other words Africa will be practicing division of labor with its limited resources to solve some of its key problems.

On the other hand, some of these key problems facing Africa can be solved in the shortest possible time when they are pursued by research and development (R&D) facilities set up by the AU, because these centers of excellence will have the state of the art equipment and highly skilled human resources drawn from across Africa and the developed countries. Currently, some of the key problems pertinent to the development of Africa and the well-being of Africans are in the area of Food Security, Primary Health Care and Energy. Interestingly, these problems can be tackled head-on with Science and Technology. We shall attempt to explain why it will be beneficial to the African people if the AU tackles these problems directly.

Food security means the continuous availability and accessibility of adequate, safe and nourishing food to the people of a country (adapted from WHO). From this definition, we can infer that food security may be a world-wide problem. But for the purposes of this article, we shall limit the discussion to Africa. Currently, Africa has a significant number of undernourished people simply because Africa is not producing enough to feed its people. The reasons for the low production are many, but the main one being the low usage of S&T to transform Agricultural production. We are still depending on rain-fed agriculture, planting crops and rearing animals, which have little resistance to diseases and using outmoded equipment for farming. These prevailing conditions are huge problems which may be difficult to overcome by anyone country and so the AU can step in by establishing facilities (R&D) to develop or adapt to technologies which will dramatically improve yields of food. Such technologies are then passed on/disseminated to individual countries to use. The AU must as well set up policies, which will ensure that these technologies are applied in member countries to increase food production and improve food security.

A high percentage of the health care budget of many African countries deals with preventable diseases. In other words, the Primary Health Care of African countries are more concerned with preventable diseases – mainly communicable diseases. This is not an acceptable situation, because scarce resources which should have been invested in other areas of the health care delivery (for example R&D, training and treatment of non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and the like) are devoted to otherwise preventable causes. If we assume that, to a large extent, the governments of Africa are doing their part in educating the public on preventable diseases, then the problem of high expenditures on preventable diseases will more likely be due to the lack of enough or quality medicines to treat the diseases. Incidentally, both of these conditions potentially result in resistance strains of the causative micro-organisms, which further compound the situation, so this is where the AU comes in. It can tackle the problem in two ways, namely, the development of generic drugs in Africa and/or the development of our local medicinal plants. The AU has already taken a bold step in pushing for the idea of development of generic drugs in Africa and a couple or so of African countries like Cameroon have started pursing the idea. The hard fact is that, even in the long-term, only a handful of African countries may be able to pursue this initiative, so what I think has to be done is for the AU to have a regional research and production centers, which will look into developing appropriate technologies for the generic drugs and local medicinal plants, for use by African countries and for export.

Many African countries have not been able to meet their energy needs and that still appears a formidable task for the individual countries to handle. Most of them depend on hydropower for their energy sources, but this source in itself has contributed to the unstable energy supply in African countries. This is because, during droughts volumes of water decrease, and as a result, the amounts of energy being generated from such sources also reduce – sometimes to about 50% or more of the maximum capacity. This means that, alternative renewable energy sources must be explored, for example wind, solar and biomass. But, because it is a heavy task for many individual African countries to pursue, the AU must play a role in it. It can set up an R&D to research into alternative ways of developing clean and renewable energy for Africa as well as for export. Currently, alternative forms of clean and renewable energy development are attractive areas of investment for many countries around the world and the AU can bring a lot of business to Africa if it takes part in that business.

As we are aware, Africa is endowed with a lot of natural resources, that include oil and minerals, which are largely untapped or exported as raw materials. Governments are aware that if they export processed natural resources they stand to gain in terms of more foreign exchange and creation of jobs for the people of the country. However, the situation of exporting unprocessed natural resources has not changed much since the 20th century, and future prospects are not well defined. And so, what can be done to improve this situation is to have the AU set up R&D facilities and huge industries across Africa, which will seek to research and process our raw materials before exporting them. Such activities are likely to bring huge foreign exchange to the continent and create jobs for many Africans.

All these initiatives suggested here, and to be carried out by the AU, will enhance the S&T capability and capacity of Africa. Consequently, they will attract heavy foreign investment, significantly improve the quality of our exported commodities, create more jobs and improve the well-being of people in Africa. The AU will be able to better accomplish these tasks, if it is well resourced, and so the members must consider setting up and contributing to a fund, which will catalyze the projects the AU will undertake for the benefit of the people of Africa. Please look out for the next article.

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Development of Science and Technology in Ghana/Africa – part 4

This article looks at several other methods the government of Ghana (and that of other African countries) can explore to quicken the pace of Science and Technology (S&T) development in their respective countries. For a systematic development in any field, there must be a well formulated policy/plan which seeks to guide the field. The necessary adjustments to the policy/plan are then made with advancing knowledge in the field. That is for Ghana and other African countries to make a leap in S&T, they need to have a sound S&T policy in place. Such a policy should be partly guided by the type of technology they wish to develop in their respective countries. Broadly speaking, two forms of technology could be available to a country and they are the Borrowed Technology (BT) and Indigenous Technology (IT). The former, as the name implies is a type of technology which is accessed from another country whilst the latter is developed in the home country.

Ghana and other African countries need to be clear about the direction they are taking as far as the two types of technology are concerned because, that will largely guide the nature of Research and Development (R&D)they set up.  The question then is, do African countries stick to the Borrowed Technology or the Indigenously Developed Technology, or use both of them simultaneously? Definitely, we cannot move away from developing our Indigenous Technology, because we need that to be able to process many of our raw materials that we consume and export. That is to say, the Indigenous Technology, when well-developed has several advantages including development of skills of the labor force, availability of jobs and reduced prices of consumer products. However, IT alone may not be enough to keep up with the technological demands of our growing economies and especially improve the standards of living of people in the short-term. And so in addition to the IT, African countries can borrow technology from scientifically and technologically developed countries, adapt and possibly improve such technology to suit their environment(s). For instance, one area of importance to many African countries is improving farm yields, and currently we are aware that Biotechnology among others has the power of accomplishing that task. So if such a technology is available we can establish an R&D to adopt and adapt it to our benefit – saving us the trouble of researching from the scratch. In other words, it will be a good idea if African countries formulate policies, which make use of both Indigenous Technology and Borrowed Technology simultaneously, which in turn is expected to guide planning and investments in R&D related to S&T development.

Funding is required to develop Indigenous Technology and properly use Borrowed Technology. Especially in the Borrowed Technology situation, expertise would have to be sought at a cost probably from the country or countries which have developed the technology. To minimize the costs for such technology transfers, the government of Ghana (and that of other African countries) should seek to form bilateral relations in science, technology and innovation with the industrialized and newly industrialized countries. Under such bilateral relations, we can benefit from among others, training of our personnel, sharing of technologies, solving of common problems together and systematic development of capacity and capability for science and technology. Such bilateral relations should also seek to actively establish research and training centers of excellence in Ghana (and other African countries). The African Union (AU) is poised to encourage the development of S&T in Africa and harmonize emerging technologies and innovations among member states, which is a good first step.

Funding for R&D in Science and Technology (S&T) can come from three main sources: the private sector, government funds and foreign loans. It is very helpful when the private sector contributes significantly to R&D development of a country because that means the private sector is robust and is building the skills of the labor force and creating jobs. However in Ghana, private sector contribution to R&D is very small (less than 5%) compared to about 40% or more in industrialized and newly industrialized countries. Government funding of R&D through locally generated funds is economically wise for the main reason that the government tends to dictate its scale of preference for projects and their funding. However, in the last case of funding R&D with foreign loans, there could be a problem in that the lender usually sets up guidelines for the use of the money and that could conflict with the priorities of the government and indeed the country. This situation can lead to stagnation or even retrogression in S&T growth. So it is advisable that government tries as much as possible to generate funds from its local resources to pursue R&D in S&T programs.

Process Plant Technology is a South African technology company, based in Johannesburg.

It must be understood that many of the countries which have excelled in S&T have devoted considerable amount of resources to R&D and currently, the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) invested in R&D is an important parameter in measuring technological advancement. That is, in those countries with high science and technology development, investments have been between 1 – 4 % of their GDP. South Africa is investing close to 1% of its GDP in R&D and it appears to be the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa with advanced development in Science and Technology. In Ghana and in many other African countries, the percentage GDP invested in R&D has been below 0.5% and consequently, the level of S&T development in such countries has been poor. The African union (AU) recommended that African countries strived to achieve an investment of at least 1% of their GDP in R&D by 2010, but it is not clear how many African countries were able to meet that goal. It is imperative that African countries strive to achieve that goal and go beyond that in the short-term as part of their commitment to use S&T to transform the economies of their countries.

As we mentioned above, in Ghana, the contribution to R&D development from the private sector is very small. This does not augur well for development of S&T especially in the circumstances where government funding to that sector is also weak. Government must take bold steps to encourage R&D in industries by creating a congenial atmosphere for that purpose. It must also put in place measures which do not favor wholesale import of semi -finished goods to be assembled to finished products in Ghana – some of the key reasons being that, importation of semi finished products takes away research and development (R&D) from the local industry, diminishes technological advancement and reduces job creation, which are bad for the economy. So government must rather encourage imports of raw materials (if they cannot be found locally); and process such raw materials in Ghana to finished goods for consumption locally or for export.

One area lacking proper coordination and management in Ghana and other African countries is harnessing innovative ideas from academia and translating them into industrial products. To address that, government must set up an innovation and technology transfer office to oversee such creative endeavors. Such an office, among others will seek to minimize the bottlenecks which come up during the process.

These are few suggestions which will impact on the S&T development in Ghana and other African countries. Please look out for the next article.

By Nana Osei-Kwabena

sciencnt@yahoo.com

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Development of Science and Technology in Ghana – Part 3

This article will be focusing on tertiary education with emphasis on the universities in Ghana and how they influence the development of Science and Technology. Most of the points which we shall discuss are also shared by universities in other African countries. In Ghana, the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), under the Ministry of Education is directly responsible for managing tertiary education institutions. The universities are established to teach, educate, research and develop innovative ideas for the benefit of society, but depending on the resources a university has, its role may just be a partial fulfillment of the above functions.

Since the establishment of our public universities (University of Ghana, University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast) decades a go, there has been very little discussion about redesigning the curricula at the universities to specifically meet the demands of Science and Technology development in Ghana. Essentially, the same content of science syllabi has been taught over decades and may partially explain our present level of development in Science and Technology. The university graduates who have been produced by this system are not well suited to provide the necessary inputs for the Science and Technological development of our nation. In other words, they are unable to contribute effectively in that direction and the situation is not peculiar to Ghana, but to many other African countries. We need to take a critical look at the academic content of our science syllabi at the universities and restructure them to solve the problems of our country. To achieve this, academia and our local industry should foster good relationships so as to be able to identify specific problems in Science and Technology that need to be addressed in Ghana. The scientific and technological problems identified should then be reorganized and translated into a significant part of the lab and project work done at the universities. Such lab and project work will give room to students and professors alike to research and come up with solutions. A student who has graduated with such expertise is relevant to the economy because his or her skills can be directly employed or deployed to contribute to the Science and Technology development of the country.

This brings into question the state of funding at the universities to pursue Research and Development (R&D). Currently sources for funding R&D at the universities in Ghana mainly come from the government subvention, the GET fund and local industries. But contributions from these sources have not been enough to kick-start vigorous R&D in Ghana. I am suggesting here that a Research and Development Fund (RDF) is set up by the Ghana government and the government must be committed to contributing a reasonable percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ghana into it annually. This must be seen by the government as building the capacity and capability for Science and Technology development in Ghana. The rest of the contributions to the fund must come from local industries, the African development bank, universities and countries with economic interest in Ghana as well as philanthropists. Researchers will have access to funds from the RDF by developing research proposals (which should contain among others, the objectives of the research, methods to pursue the research, expected outcomes and amount of funds needed for that purpose) and submitting them to an independent body for consideration. Such a body should be made up of varied professionals such as science professors, entrepreneurs and social scientists who are knowledgeable in their field. One key requirement for awarding grant money to an applicant will be that the proposed research should seek to address some of the key problems of our country. To efficiently manage the funds, it will be the duty of government, policy makers and fund administrators to have a scale of preference in place to determine which areas of Science and Technology need urgent funding and/or more funding. Establishment of a robust RDF will be one of the few but effective ways of creating an enabling environment for research into Science and Technology in Ghana. In line with the above, the Government of Ghana should set up a Research, Technology and Innovation center (RTIC) at the universities if it has not already done so, to see to the patenting of ideas which come out of such pursuits and transfer the technology as appropriate.

Funding is not the only factor that limits research. In fact adequate time is also a requirement for research. Where the student: faculty ratio is large (that is a large student population compared to the number of professors), professors have little time to engage in research. This is because the professor spends most of his or her time meeting with students who need assistance and the rest of the time for marking/grading papers. To partially alleviate the situation so as to be able to create some time for research, I recommend the following: first, conditions should be created such that professors teach continuously and intensively for at most two semesters and then the third semester is devoted to intensive research – that is, alternating two semesters of teaching and one semester of research. Second, I recommend that we de-emphasize the essay question format. This is because the essay question format usually requires the experience and knowledge of only the lecturer to mark/grade and can involve a great deal of time if it is to be done objectively, whereas other formats like multiple -answer question could be graded by the Teaching Assistants (TAs). Thus, in any examination we can limit the essay-type questions to about 50 % or less, the professor then provides answer keys for the rest so that TAs can mark/ grade them.

Generally, because of the fast pace of research discoveries in Science and Technology in the developed world, there could be a gap in scientific/technological knowledge between professors in the developing and developed countries – with the professors in the developing countries being at a disadvantage. This calls for several measures. The most basic is that the universities must subscribe to leading journal publications from America and Europe. These publications must be made available in electronic form so that both students and professors can have easy access to them, and it is important that both of them read the material. Seminars must be regularly organized to give room to both students and professors to discuss latest information they have read and gathered from the journals. This will partially bridge the information gap. I am also proposing that, it is about time we look into making some of our professors in the developed countries adjunct professors in our local universities. What that means is that, such professors in the developed countries will be attached to our local universities and they will spend about a month or so annually teaching at our universities. The adjunct professors will help build syllabi, teach and give seminars in areas they think are “new” in their field. This is intended to bridge the science information and technology gap between the developed and developing nations like Ghana. After all, this is not a new concept in other fields – especially soccer. When Ghana and other countries are going to play international games, they invite seasoned professionals playing in other countries to join the national team so as to increase their chances of winning. So we can employ the same technique here with our skilled science and technology professionals in the developed countries.

It is not clear whether the universities in Ghana (and for that matter other African countries) have a reward system in place for the professors teaching and researching on Science and Technology. Here, it is suggested that a well formulated reward system be put in place to acknowledge professors who are able to contribute to the development of Science and Technology in Ghana. Specifically, the system must identify and reward professors who are able to develop innovations which can lead to or has led to better technologies to teach science, process food and medicinal plants, increase the yield of animal and crop farming, tap into wind, solar and biomass energy… just to mention a few. And the reward should come in the form of good salary, research funding, equipment and larger laboratory space.

These factors are likely to attract and retain good professors, and catalyze the Science and Technology development in Ghana and other African countries. Please look out for the next article.

By Nana Osei-Kwabena
sciencnt@yahoo.com

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Chemistry Is Booming in Africa, But Funding is Scarce

Johannesburg (South Africa) – African chemistry is booming, according to scientists who gathered this week at a conference in Johannesburg from across the continent to kick off the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC2011).

The past decade has seen growth in African chemistry, fuelled in particular by the classification and investigation of natural products, according to James Darkwa, who chaired the Chemistry — the Key to Africa’s Future conference (16–21 January).

But, despite the recent boom in African chemistry with several continental and regional networks springing up, sustainable funding for research and maintenance of laboratory equipment remains a big challenge, SciDev.Net heard on the sidelines of the conference.

Alejandra Palermo, international projects manager at the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), told SciDev.Net that a particular challenge is maintaining and accessing laboratory equipment, as there is a lack of engineers, spare parts and chemicals.

And Darkwa, a chemistry professor at the University of Johannesburg told SciDev.Net that sustainable funding for chemists remains a challenge.

However, Darkwa said that the new chemistry networks could now help bring these issues to the attention of African policymakers and help chemists collaborate on finding solutions.

Members of one such network, the Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN), told SciDev.Net there were several success stories since its launch in 2007.

Jean Claude Ndom from the University of Douala, Cameroon, was sponsored by PACN and the São Paulo Research Foundation for a two-month research fellowship in the Brazilian capital, which resulted in several long-standing collaborations.

“PACN is not only bringing together African chemists but also chemists around the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chemical Society of Nigeria has received 2,000 books through PACN, said Yilkur Lohdip, the society’s external relations officer, and travel grants and networking meetings have been popular.

PACN has also identified centres of excellence to act as regional training and research hubs.

“This is the right way to get African chemists on the world map of chemistry,” said Anthony Gachanja, professor of chemistry at one of the excellence centres — Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya.

Another network, the Botswana-based Southern and Eastern Africa Network of Analytical Chemists, has helped chemists communicate their research findings and identify colleagues on the continent, according to Darkwa.

“The network allows people who don’t have resources to go to labs that are better equipped,” he said.

The conference took place alongside the 40th South African Chemical Institute convention and the third meeting of the Federation of African Societies of Chemistry, where chemists examined sustainable use of chemistry for development and better research links on the continent.

It was also the first in a series of worldwide events that mark IYC2011 — an initiative campaigned for mainly by Ethiopian chemists — which will be formally launched at UNESCO headquarters in Paris next week (27–28 January).

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Development of Science and Technology in Ghana/Africa – 2

By Nana Osei-Kwabena

This article will be focusing on pre-tertiary education in Ghana and how it influences the development of Science and Technology. Parallel examples would be drawn from other African countries as appropriate.

The Ghana education system and that of many other countries can be divided into two main areas:  pre-tertiary and tertiary education. In Ghana, the pre-tertiary is managed by the Ghana Education Service (GES) whereas the tertiary is managed essentially by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE). How do we define education? There are several definitions available, but I will define education as a systematic development of the human mind through a measured exposure to information and reasoning.

For decades, the educational system of Ghana and that of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) member countries were based on an adapted British educational system, which entailed 6 years of primary education, 4 years of middle school and 7 years of secondary education.  Policy makers in Ghana identified several problems with this system, which included prolonged school years and purely academic content of curricula. And so in in 1987, the pre-tertiary education in Ghana was radically reformed. The length for pre-tertiary education was shortened to: 6 years primary, 3 years Junior Secondary School (JSS) and 3 years Senior Secondary School (SSS). In essence, pre-tertiary education was shortened from 17 to 12 years. The direct effect of this reform was that it reduced the cost of pre-tertiary education and made more funds available to expand and improve existing infrastructure so as to partially meet the requirements of the Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) for all.  Currently, all the WAEC member countries are using this system and it appears similar to the American pre-tertiary education system. Though a lot of effort has gone into the implementation of the new educational system, it has had its fair share of problems. Among others, all of the WAEC member states have been faced with various degrees of poor examination performance in science – as have been determined by WAEC. And the cause may be one of two things, that the educational system is not working well for our students in science or it is lacking the necessary inputs to enable it work efficiently. In any system, a good input usually produces a good output (and vice versa) and so the latter point of lack of necessary inputs may be a large contributor to the poor performance in science of the current educational system. This is not to say that the WAEC member countries including Ghana are not working on the problems. In fact they are, but then they must prioritize Science and Technology to enable it to receive the necessary resources (human, funding and recognition) to thrive.

The quality of science and technological education at the Junior Secondary School (JSS) level is crucial because it is a foundation for further science studies at the Senior Secondary School (SSS) or entry into the labor force. However, many of the teachers who handle this subject are SSS graduates who may not have mastery over the subject. This issue is particularly prominent in the private sector. To make the situation worse, many of these SSS graduate teachers of science may not have majored in science at the SSS. And so, poor science is done/delivered at the JSS level making the students perceive science as a difficult and complicated subject – a perception that can be carried with them for the better part of their school life and influence their decisions in Science and Technology in the future. As our student population grows and Science and Technology evolves, so should be our trained teachers. It is a good effort by the government of Ghana to develop the teacher training certificate programs into diploma programs. However, here it is recommended that the government of Ghana makes plans to strengthen the science discipline in the 38 or so training colleges in Ghana and more importantly encourage more teachers to be trained in science and technical skills so that they can replace some of the SSS teachers. Several more training colleges should also be built for that purpose. The other WAEC member countries can work along similar lines.

In 1995, the government of Ghana established the Science Resource Centers (SRC) project as part of the educational reforms. The SRCs covered one hundred and ten (110) senior secondary schools spread across Ghana. The idea behind this project was to bridge the gap between resourced schools and non-resourced schools in science within a forty kilometer radius. Indeed, this was a bold decision taken by government of Ghana. Assuming that the resource centers had enough funds to buy equipment and materials, the one most important element/factor that will be needed for successful delivery of science education at such places will be the competency, dedication and current knowledge in science and technology of the teaching staff. That is not or cannot be guaranteed and so it would not be out of place if professors at our universities are attached to the SRCs – to assist in the teaching of especially more difficult concepts in theory and lab work to both teachers and students. In fact in the United States, many science College professors are tied to the high schools. They go there to teach and also to oversee what their colleagues at the high schools do. This is an inspiration to both teachers and students alike. In the same manner, SSS science teachers should be attached to JSS schools so that they can offer some help in the teaching of the science subject at that level. This measure will allow for fluidity in Science and Technological education in Ghana and other African countries.

The science syllabi of the old educational system and the new one are not very much different in academic content but the students within the new educational system are much younger than the old system. It will not be productive to essentially stick to the science syllabi of the old system if we want to make progress, because those syllabi do not have aspects that seriously deal with the problems of our country. We should seek to comprehensively redesign the science syllabi and make them more relevant to our economy. The syllabi should be able to cover at least some of the basic problems we face as a nation and creative methods (which will not be limiting) to remedy them. I recommend that about 10 – 40% of the science syllabi (whether integrated science or pure science subjects) are devoted for this purpose and the rest to the core science principles – for the duration of the pre-tertiary education. These percentages should be linked to the level of education such that at the primary school level, 10 -15% of the science syllabi will be devoted to problems and solutions confronting the nation, 15-25% at the JSS and 25-40% at the SSS. Equally important is the fact the syllabi should be directed towards raising curiosity, creativity and entrepreneurship in students. To craft such a syllabi will require extensive brainstorming by competent scientist, policy makers and even business people. We should not assume that the problems of the country can be best tackled at the university. National development in Science and Technology in our present circumstances will require the contribution from all.

Another area which needs serious consideration is the lack of well written textbooks (either from the government or the public) to suit the demands of our science and technological development. Most of the science books on the market are still essentially based on the old educational system. Though I think it is a good and bold step to produce indigenous books for use by our students, the book writers must be assisted. It would not be out of place if the Curricula Research and Development Division (CRDD) of the Ghana Education Service and similar bodies of other WAEC member countries organize workshops for book writers in their respective countries or together so that authors are more informed of what is required of them and that the CRDD have some control of what the public consumes in terms of scientific material. From my standpoint, attending the CRDD workshops should be a pre-condition for writing science books, and with time more stringent measures could be put in place to control quality of science material on the market.

These are a few of the adjustments we could make to the pre-tertiary educational sector in Ghana/Africa to boost Science and Technology development. Please look out for the next article.

By Nana Osei-Kwabena

Email: sciencnt@yahoo.com

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Africa: Unlocking the Economic Potential of Biotechnology

Jose W. Fernandez

By 2050 population growth is expected to translate into a 70 percent increase in global demand for food. Add the estimated 27 percent decline in global productivity expected due to climate change, and it is clear that the demand for food production will become more critical in the coming decades.

Countries that depend on rain-fed agriculture will be especially vulnerable. Crop models for Sub-Saharan Africa have indicated that in 2050, average rice, wheat, and maize yields will decline by up to 14 percent, 22 percent, and 5 percent, respectively.

But there are rays of hope as we go towards 2050. The potential for agriculture in Africa is great. African countries can use their own experiences, indigenous knowledge and traditional methods, as well as the many talents of their people to adopt and adapt the best of what science has to offer in new technologies.

An essential lever for raising agricultural productivity is increasing investments in science and technology. An important lesson of the 1960s “Green Revolution” was that agricultural research could contribute decisively to spurring agricultural growth. Countries that simultaneously adopted the technology and increased their investments in agricultural research have maintained and even accelerated their rate of productivity and growth. New technologies – like biotechnology, conservation tillage, drip irrigation, integrated pest management, and new multiple-cropping practices – have improved the efficiency and productivity of agricultural resources over the last decade. Around the world some 14 million small and resource poor farmers in the developing world have already benefited from biotechnology crops.

In a 2008 survey of the global impact of biotech crops, the global net economic benefits to biotech crop farmers was $9.2 billion dollars, divided roughly equally between developed and developing countries. In South Africa, for example, biotech maize, soybean, and cotton are estimated to have enhanced farm incomes by $383 million dollars. In other areas of the world, the technology has changed the lives of farmers and raised incomes in a matter of years. In India, conservative estimates for small-scale farmers have indicated that the use of biotech cotton has increased yield by 31 percent, decreased insecticide application by 39 percent, and increased profitability by 88 percent, equivalent to $250 U.S. dollars per hectare. With the advent of enhanced tools, such as drought-resistant corn and disease-resistant bananas, those who have paved the way for the technology will reap even further economic benefits.

African researchers are already working on the next generation of biotech crops that will have a wider array of benefits for farmers, like drought tolerance, nitrogen-use efficiency, and salt tolerance to help address shifting environments due to climate change. But second generation biotech crops will go beyond benefits to the farmer. Work is underway in crops, like cassava and rice, to increase their vitamin, mineral, and protein content, benefitting the consumer as well.

So we know what technology can do. The question is what has been keeping it out of the hands of those who could benefit from it? In many cases misinformation has made people fear a process and its products. However, the real obstacle is the lack of functioning regulatory systems that would allow countries to make their own decisions about the safety of these products. Biotechnology-produced crops have been assessed for safety in all regions of the world – from the European Union to Japan to Brazil to Burkina Faso. Not to adopt biotechnology because of unfounded claims after more than 15 years of safe use and proven benefits would be to unnecessarily narrow an African farmer’s agricultural potential. It is one of the tools, which, when paired with the right incentives, can enable Africa’s farmers and businesses to close the productivity gap.

But those incentives must have political will behind them. Technology alone is not the answer. To make use of the potential of biotechnology, science-based regulatory systems must be established. I call upon those who have the ability to do so to put in place such sound policies, based on science, and to take full advantage of what investment in agricultural science and technology can do for African farmers and economies.

Several African countries have already adopted the policies and regulatory frameworks needed to support the responsible and safe use of biotechnology. I applaud their courage and foresight to move forward. With increased political will, strong research support, and biosafety policies and regulations that empower the use of the technology, African countries can revolutionize their agricultural sector. What’s more, they can squarely look those in the eye who maintain that crop technology leads to lost markets, and ask them to explain why the expanding economies of the world are exactly those that are developing and using biotechnology.

To those who fear monopolies and multinational ownership of the food supply, I say promote competition, don’t stifle innovation. It is clear that economic growth will be achieved by those countries that are innovators in agriculture and that take the leap of faith needed to invest in their farmers, which is an investment in their future.

Mr. Fernandez was nominated by President Obama on August 6, 2009, and sworn in as Assistant Secretary on December 1, 2009. He serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs. He leads the Bureau that is responsible for overseeing work on international trade and investment policy; international finance, development, and debt policy; economic sanctions and combating terrorist financing; international energy security policy; international telecommunications and transportation policies; and support for U.S. businesses and the private sector overseas. Mr. Fernandez was named one of the “World’s Leading Lawyers” by Chambers Global for his M&A and corporate expertise, an “Expert” in International Financial Law Review’s “Guide to the World’s Leading Project Finance Lawyers”, and one of the “World’s Leading Privatization Lawyers” by Euromoney Publications.
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