College of Art and Built Environment

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    School-based enterprise and school –to – work transitions in fashion and textiles vocations: a conceptual model for HND CBT Fashion and Textiles Programme in Ghanaian Polytechnics
    (JUNE 2015) Crentsil, Timothy
    In 2001, JICA upon request of Ghana Government completed the Study for Development of a Master Plan to Strengthen Technical Education in the Republic of Ghana. The JICA Study recommended the introduction of CBT into Polytechnic Education as a means to correct growing mis-match between skills of trained graduates and competencies needed in industries. Based on this recommendation the NPT/NUFFIC CBT Curriculum in Fashion and Textiles dubbed ‘Design and Production of Fashion and Textiles’ was started in 2004/2005 and was successfully piloted and evaluated in October 2009. Preliminary research showed that the new HND CBT Fashion and Textiles curriculum had deficiencies in practical entrepreneurial competencies. This deficiency was identified by stakeholders during the final evaluation of three years of piloting the curriculum at Accra Polytechnic (NUFFIC NPT/GHA/046 CBT Project for Fashion Design, Accra Polytechnic 2009). The deficiency revealed a glaring gap that needed urgent attention. The review also established that productive education which to a large extent equips trainees with trade and industry skills has long existed, but its implementation has not been widespread. This established the framework for the study with the purpose of seeking approaches to incorporate PBCs into the new HND CBT Fashion and Textiles curriculum to address the entrepreneurial gap, while making attempts at filling the void created by the low implementation drive of SBEs. The objectives of the study were to: examine selected best practice approaches to CBT business education in fashion and textiles; examine the structures and activities of Polytechnic Fashion and Textiles Production Units as potential components of SBE for HND CBT Fashion and Textiles; and lastly, to develop a conceptual model of SBE as part of the HND CBT Fashion and Textiles programme in Ghanaian Polytechnics. The study was a mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative) and employed the descriptive-survey and case study methods. Interviews, self-administered sets of questionnaire and observatory excursions were used to gather data after-which descriptive analysis was done by deriving associated themes. The themes constituted specific headings under which the responses gathered were assembled and discussed. The study revealed that currently the HND Fashion and Textiles programme is less related to actual world of work and that graduates do not exhibit PBCs on the job. This meant that the programme is not demand- iv driven and also lacked much needed business orientation and focus. The best practice approaches of relating formal training in fashion and textiles to actual working practices outside school was to adopt adult learning methods, which were found to be multi-faceted and heavily practice-based. The study revealed that SBEs can guarantee acquisition of PBCs by students in fashion and textiles academic programmes. This establishes that SBEs could be integrated into the new HND CBT Fashion and Textiles curriculum to enable trainees acquire the needed PBCs to be industry relevant. This outcome confirmed earlier findings by Stern et al. (1994), Gugerty et al. (2008), Stratton (2008), Smith et al. (n.d.) and DECA (n.d.) that SBEs are effective in ensuring productive education with adequate transferable skills that graduates can utilise in their future jobs. The existence of production units attached to HND Fashion and Textiles programmes in Polytechnics have great potential and promise for conversion into SBEs. Based on these existing foundations a conceptual model of SBE has been developed for incorporation into the new HND CBT Fashion and Textiles curriculum. The components of the model are; SBE Curriculum Plan which proposes two practice-based courses (Enterprise Practice I and II), an SBE Business Plan and Guidelines for Implementation and Operation of the SBE. It is concluded that since majority of HND Fashion and Textiles graduates struggle to establish themselves and practice successfully in the manufacturing and core business sectors of the fashion and textile industry, they need additional skills to fit into the core business sectors of the industry. If PBCs can be acquired, then it means that a lot of competency areas are left uncovered by the school system that planners and trainers must re-visit. The school therefore does not exhaust the training of HND Fashion and Textiles graduates if training is limited to intellectual learning and technical skills acquisition while remaining silent on business related skills. As a recommendation, an intervention that could save the situation is to focus on incorporating SBEs into the new HND CBT Fashion and Textiles curriculum. The school should be fashioned as a mini-workplace where problem solving and critical thinking is encouraged for productive learning of trainees. This makes it imperative to adapt the concept of SBE as part of the CBT/Learning approach.
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    Framework Development for Integrating Information and Communication Technologies Into The Ghanaian Senior High School Visual Art Curriculum
    (2010-07-15) Degraft-Yankson, Patrique
    Within the past decade, efforts at integrating ICT into the school curriculum have become popular in the country's educational institutions. Even before the government of Ghana, on the basis of the Anamuah-Mensah committee on education, recommended ICT infusion into the educational system, there were far-flung ICT integration attempts initiated by Parent/Teacher Associations, Old Students Associations, non-governmental organizations and some ICT related establishments. This indeed is a clear manifestation of how conscious Ghanaians have become about the importance of ICT in institutions of learning. Unfortunately, however, a close observation of the emergence of ICTs in Ghanaian Senior High Schools seems to lack definite goals for teaching and learning. Besides, attempts at ICT integration are happening so independently that the extent to which its infusion or introduction (to phrase itrealistically) is benefiting education of the students is uncertain. It is for this reason that a Curriculum Framework aimed at developing the use of ICTs in the teaching and learning of Visual Arts in Ghanaian senior high schools is considered essential. This study begins with an examination of the opinions and knowledge base of Art teachers and students about ICT and Art Education. It also explores the educational goals of existing ICT progarmmes in Ghanaian Senior High Schools which focus on conventional computing that only enables students to use a narrow range of software that have very little benefit for the Visual Art student in particular. The study further seeks the views of ICT experts, curriculum planners/reviewers, teachers and other stake holders concerning effective integration of ICT into the teaching and learning of visual arts in the senior high schools. Two key dimensions emerged from the views sampled from Visual Art teachers, students, curriculum reviewers and ICT experts: (1) Motivation for ICT integration and usage, based on (2) Curricular and pedagogical innovations. Despite the divergence in opinions, beliefs and attitudes, Visual Art teachers and students seem ready and highly motivated by the promises of new technologies to use ICTs. However, this can be possible only when efforts are formally put in place to ensure innovations in pedagogy through a qualitative change in the existing Visual Art curriculum. The outcome of the investigations formed the rationale for developing a Framework for Integrating ICTs into the Ghanaian Senior High Schools Visual Art Curriculum. The framework aims at exposing students in the Visual Arts to relevant basic skills that are required to develop their computer literacy skills beyond word processing, ultimately developing their creative thinking skills through information and communication technology.
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    The Contributions of International Development partners to rural poverty reduction in Ghana: a case study of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (ifad) and small-holder farming in the Sekyere-West District, Ashanti Region
    (2009-07-15) Asamoah K., Kennedy
    Although available statistics in recent years reveal a decline in poverty in Ghana, many people still live below the poverty line. Rural small-holder food crops farmers are the most vulnerable groups affected by poverty. They have limited access to productive assets, most especially micro-credit. Many international development organisations have emerged to help alleviate some of the problems encountered by the rural poor. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as an international development partner in Ghana, has been working with small-holder farmers in the Sekyere West District since 2000 with the aim of improving rural income, reducing vulnerability, ensuring rural household food security and generally improving the well-being of the rural poor. This thesis examines the effects of IFAD’s project on food crops production, employment as well as income levels and the general welfare of small-holder farmers in the District. A random sample size of 240 IFAD assisted farmers in the District was used to undertake the study. Cross-sectional data covering the farming years (2000 – 2004) were elicited from the farmers through structured interviews and focus group discussions. Information such as sources of financing, farm input, farm size, crop yields and income levels were sought from the farmers. The study revealed that IFAD, as enshrined in its policy statement of ensuring gender equity in the distribution of its resources/assistance (IFAD, 2000), equal number of male as that of female small-holder farmers (approximately 50-50 respectively) were selected in the District to participate in the project. The study also showed that majority of the farmers interviewed depended on farm income as their main source of subsistence. Micro-credit provision was particularly seen as the most important factor influencing food crops production in the District. The study also showed that the effective training and monitoring activities of IFAD field staff ensured that resources given out to the farmers were not misappropriated. The study showed that the project registered a high food crops production rate as well as a high loan repayment rate of the farmers. Furthermore, the study revealed that the average income of beneficiary farmers increased considerably over the project period due to the good marketing strategy introduced by the project. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the government should adopt and replicate the IFAD intervention scheme in all the other districts in Ghana since the project could have a multiplier effect on the livelihood of the rural poor especially the small-holder farmers.
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    Household Energy, Coping Strategies and Health Effects in the Bongo District of Ghana
    (2009-07-14) Odoi -Agyarko, Aba Obrumah
    Currently millions of people around the globe rely on wood as a source of fuel for cooking. Although this situation not only pertains to impoverished rural communities, it is within these communities and in developing countries like Ghana that this is occurring the most. The burning of wood in open fires is causing a number of health problems but is also deteriorating for the rural household economy as well as for the local and global environment. Women and children are the main groups exposed to the indoor smoke produced while cooking. Illnesses as a result of this exposure take millions of lives every year. This thesis looks into the relationship between rural household energy consumption patterns, coping strategies and health effects for domestic cooking in the Bongo district in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Several methods including household survey; focus group discussion and key informant interviews were employed to collect data at household and individual levels. The methods involved queries on several aspects of household energy consumption. The survey of household energy consumption pattern was carried out in fifteen communities comprising of 625 households between January-April 2006. The households surveyed covered heterogeneous population belonging to different income, educational and social groups. Daily average concentrations of respirable particulates and carbon monoxide from woodsmoke in 45 rural homes selected through stratified random sampling from the Bongo district in Ghana was also quantified using UCB Particle Monitors. CO was measured with Onset HOBO Loggers. Graphical, cross-tabulation and multinomial logistic regression methods are applied to data drawn from Household Survey. The results indicated that there was more availability and utilization of solid biomass fuels as energy resources in domestic sector as compared to the commercial fuels. Crop residues, firewood and Charcoal were found to be the three main fuels used for cooking, though LPG was also used along with biomass fuels. But complete conversion to cleaner fuels has not taken place yet even in households that has been using LPG for many years. Income was an important factor determining the choice of fuel for cooking, but there were some socio-cultural factors which were equally important in making fuel preferences at household level. The use of biomass fuels; from it collection to combustion also has impacts on the health of the user. Result from the woodsmoke monitoring shows that the values of respirable particles (PM2.5) ranged from 0.05–6 _g.39mg/m3 and 2.90- 45.60ppm for CO. Both PM2.5 and CO concentrations were well above both the World Health Organisation 24-hour Guideline and Interim Targets. Observed health effects from the collection and use of biofuels included eye discomfort, headache, backache, coughing, skin irritation, stiff necks and chest pains. Extrapolation of diseases with PM concentration showed that households were in a higher risk of being infected with respiratory diseases from the use of biomass fuels. This observation confirms with the self-reported symptoms associated with biomass fuel use where respiratory diseases dominated (cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, eye irritation). Considering that traditional biomass will likely continue to be the most popular cooking fuel in rural areas of the district in the near future, and that households can achieve considerable welfare gains from improvement in stoves and kitchen ventilation, the analysis suggests that the government should consider reviving the improved stove program with a new advanced stove strategy coupled with conducting advocacy campaigns on how to improve kitchen ventilation.