The arrival of President of Angola, Mr Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, in Ghana on Sunday for a three-day official visit and the report that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the government is considering free education at the tertiary level are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the President of Angola, Mr Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco, is in Ghana for a three-day official visit.
He arrived yesterday afternoon to a warm welcome by ministers of state, some government officials and Angolans in Ghana.
The Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul; the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and some government officials met President Lourenco and his entourage at the Kotoka International Airport.
The Angolan President is in Ghana at the invitation of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who was in Angola in August 2019 for a two-day official visit, at the request of Mr Lourenco.
President Lourenco’s visit is geared towards strengthening existing economic ties between the two countries, as well as exploring possible areas of co-operation for mutual benefit.
President Lourenco will, today, visit the Jubilee House and confer with President Akufo-Addo, especially on issues of bilateral interest.
The two leaders will witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding on political consultations by the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two nations.
The Angolan leader will also tour, lay a wreath and plant a tree at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra.
The newspaper says that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), has directed members to withdraw all teaching and related activities on campus beginning Monday (August 2, 2021).
A statement issued by the NEC, and jointly signed by Professor Charles Marfo, the UTAG National President, and Dr. Eric K. K. Abavare, the National Secretary, said members on the various campuses ought to comply with this directive.
The decision to embark on an industrial strike, according to the NEC, was borne out of the government’s refusal to heed to calls by the Association to improve the worsening conditions of service of the university teachers.
It said the Association was not happy at the way the authorities had been dragging their feet on negotiations concerning the welfare of the teachers.
“Specifically, negotiation of our conditions of service which was started some two years ago, had overly been delayed with no end in sight,” Prof. Marfo told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in a recent interview in Kumasi.
He said the UTAG was carrying out its threats to demonstrate to the government the seriousness attached to the members’ demand for the right thing to be done.
According to the NEC, the attitude of the representatives of government in the series of meetings held over the week suggested that the university teachers were being taken for granted.
“We have no option than to resort to indefinite strike,” the UTAG National President noted.
The Graphic also reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the government is considering free education at the tertiary level, following the successful implementation of the free senior high school (SHS) policy.
He said the free SHS policy had resulted in some 400,000 more children getting access to SHS education in the country, with the government addressing the infrastructure challenges that came with the policy.
“So in Ghana, we’ve taken the decision that we’re going full scale ahead, now that we have widened public education at the secondary school level for all and sundry, to try and replicate it at the tertiary level too,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo gave the hint at the Global Education Summit, co-hosted by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, in London.
The President also mentioned the students loan scheme as one area which had seen major improvement.
“Until recently, if you wanted to get a student’s loan in Ghana, you had to find a guarantor. We’ve removed the guarantor requirement. If you have the Ghana Card, you can now go on the basis of that and you get the loan, which is also going to mean a significant expansion of education at the tertiary level,” he said.
Describing the steps being taken as “absolutely critical for our future”, the President noted that “if we don’t do it, we will not be able to get to our basic goal, which is a structural transformation of our economy. Lives and livelihoods are both keys to the future for us and we will hopefully continue to do that”.
President Akufo-Addo said the government was widening access to education for all school-going children because an educated workforce would help realise the vision of a progressive and prosperous country.
The Daily Guide says that the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has inaugurated the Governing Board of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
The Board is to oversee the affairs of GRIDCo.
Chairing the Board is Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere. Its members are Nana Akyereako Adjabinti I, Patricia Appiagyei, Dzifa Amegashie, Prof. Kwaku Appiah-Adu, Bernard Nii Sackey, Ing. Stephen Akuoko and Frederick Fredua Antoh.
Dr Prempeh, in his inaugural speech, urged the Board to implement effective strategic initiatives to ensure revenue growth and sustainability in the Company.
GIK/APA