Feint and Margin

Micro-learning project designed to increase rate at which children learn facts

Feint & Margin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:38:47 +0000

“I don’t usually cut and paste an entire article from another paper to Feint & Margin unless it’s an article I believe would be of great interest to our readers.

Upon completing the article below, it dawned on me that various African countries too have embarked on the free laptops initiative for students in Junior and Senior High Schools. It also occurred to me that the free laptop initiative was limiting as in most countries like in Ghana where the project has been rolled out,not much has been created in the form of relevant educational content on these devices for the students.

I believe that the programme initiated by Honorary Consul of Guyana to South Africa Kojo Parris , in Guyana is one which could easily be replicated and would greatly impact our students all across Africa.” Kate Nkansa-Dwamena Editor of Feint & Margin

Written By: Oluatoyin Alleyne

Original Article link: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/news/stories/04/28/micro-learning-project-designed-to-increase-rate-at-which-children-learn-facts/

Since Kojo Parris was the beneficiary of a sound education, he wanted to create an avenue to help students achieve this as well, and so together with likeminded persons he has created the Roraima Learning Trust (RLT). This is based on the micro-learning philosophy, a platform adopted from the Knowledge Pulse (KP), offered by the University of Salzburg.
Given the ever evolving technological world, the programme is designed to target students through the many electronic devices that are available.

Parris, who is Guyana’s Honorary Consul to South Africa, has already started a pilot programme in eight schools after the initiative was embraced by the Ministry of Education and other partners.

During a recent sit-down with the Sunday Stabroek Parris explained that what they are attempting is to take the bank of examination questions from first to sixth forms and put them into a format for children to access electronically.

Students of the New Amsterdam Multilateral School are seen listening to Kojo Parris who is partly hidden.

“The idea is very, very simple; it is to increase the rate at which kids can absorb facts. We are not claiming to deal with issues around synthesis and analysis of information which are important parts of the education system. We are simply saying that this approach will increase the rate at which kids can absorb facts. Once you have absorbed facts then you can start analyzing and synthesising,” Parris told the Sunday Stabroek.

He explained that with the micro-learning approach complexities are broken down into small bytes and if repeated often enough like the times-table then they will be absorbed eventually.

Parris, a self-styled social entrepreneur with a broad range of experience, said he had approached the Ministry of Education pointing out that there is teacher shortage, and one way of dealing with this was to reduce the amount of time spent testing students in class. The rationale behind this is that if more of the testing is moved outside of class time then more hours could be spent in class dealing with the synthesis and the analysis.

But more importantly, according to Parris, children are more comfortable on electronic devices such as laptops and as such they should be spoken to via these media and given alternatives to the many games and Facebook.

These arguments apparently satisfied the ministry which indicated that if Parris and his team reached it half way then there would be a deal. He provided most of the cash resources while the ministry has pitched in with teachers and other resources to ensure that the questions are well designed. The ministry also provides stipends and travelling allowances.

Explaining the process Parris said a typical question is transformed into a “learning card and that learning card is uploaded onto a platform and then kids have free access to it.”

“The ambition is [during] the next school year across ten subjects from first to sixth forms kids can access this throughout the country,” he said.

The ten subjects will be selected by the ministry, but a month ago a pilot of the programme was launched covering Mathematics and Chemistry for fourth form students only across eight schools. Those schools are the Tagore High School, New Amsterdam Multilateral, President’s College, Saints Stanislaus College, Tutorial High School, McKenzie High, Anna

Kojo Parris

Regina Multilateral and West Demerara Secondary School. No interior school was included in the pilot, but Parris said when the full roll-out is done schools from around the country will be included. The national roll-out is expected to be done by the beginning of the new school year.

Once successful Parris said there are plans to have the programme introduced at the primary and university levels.

Feedback

Questioned on what method would be used to assess the impact of the programme, Parris said the manner in which it is geared the programme itself has some inbuilt capabilities to get feedback. According to him each child would have a record of how they performed and they can ask how they are performing relative to other students, but they would not see the scores of the other students but rather see them aggregated. The teachers can also follow how students are performing and they can develop specific lesson plans.

At the level of the heads of school and the ministry, they can gauge from the programme what subject areas are problematic and they can then plan their budgets much more accurately and scientifically, because they have the details.

Students of the Tagore High School being introduced to the programme.

They would also have a record of how many students are actually using the programme because from the time they sign on the data will be collected, and in fact once the student signs on to the programme they will be hooked, albeit involuntarily. Parris explaine
d that once the student signs on even if they close the programme it will keep popping up back once they are using the device.

“In theory it can’t be closed…” he said.

The programme can also be used from cellular phones and when it was pointed out that the popping up feature may become annoying to some students, Parris said it will if they don’t keep updating the programme which they plan to do. He added though that there will always be a minority of students who would simply not want to be a part of the programme.

While the programme can be used independently of the school Parris said their first priority is to collaborate with the education ministry and he said the ministry, particularly Minister Priya Manickchand and her staff, has been amazing in terms of providing support for the programme.

Asked about accessibility, as there may not be internet connectivity for all students and some may not even have access to electronic devices, Parris disclosed that they have partnered with the One Laptop programme. And they have readily embraced the initiative as it will be the first platform that will be loaded on the computers that is relevant to Guyana.

“So reach is not a problem and it is free access…” Parris said, adding that they also have an arrangement with E-Networks to ensure it will be a gradual process.

E-Networks has been installing hot spots in all the schools, and according to Parris said that they were also welcoming of the idea and are providing the hot spots free of cost.

“I am pretty confident that with the various cables and the nature of the platforms that we are using anyway not too many students in Guyana will not have a cell phone with internet connection,” he said
.
And students can visit a hot spot, download the progamme and work with it off line before returning to upload their answers.
‘Fabulous education’

And while the idea is his, Parris pointed out that no idea can have one owner.

“I got a fabulous education, I have been very lucky in life…” Parris said when asked what was the driving force behind the initiative. He said that his father, former education minister Malcolm Parris, told him that education was the only thing he could give him.
“I think it is our obligation to try and ensure that we give to the next generation as many tools as possible to exceed our own achievements,” Parris said.

And Parris is not shy to admit that there is a “little bit of ego involved” as it is about a legacy, since he wants to ensure that they create a world-beating system that will enable students to self-educate.

“I would hope that it would endure, become bigger and better…” he said; that it would also be used in the Caribbean and the wider world as a Guyanese product.

And it is not something he has been thinking about for years, as Parris said it had its genesis as recently as one year ago, even though he was part of an approach some time back called Teach-Zimbabwe, where lots of money was raised and historically black schools were rehabilitated.

It was a chance meeting with an Australian national at an airport who told him about a programme he was part of using the called micro-learning platform, that caused him to see the confluence of what he was doing and what they could do. While the Australian programme is designed for adult education and while their programme is meant to run on cell phones it was reformatted to be used on laptops and other electronic devices in the Guyana context.

On board with Parris are University of Guyana lecturers Patrick Ketwaru and Denise Simons and the ministry has allocated many of their subject specialists who are creating the content. However, there is need for more subject specialists.

Parris said his team members are all working pro-bono, as he is tapping into that Guyanese spirit of self-interested philanthropy. Apart from him being a trustee of the programme his father and former Speaker Ralph Ramkarran are also trustees
.
Parris is a Buxtonian who won the Guyana scholarship and studied engineering at Cambridge University, after which he worked for Booker Tate for several years. However, he later found out that he was a “terrible engineer” and he did not enjoy estate life. He returned to London where he studied accounting and worked in management consultancy before joining a small investment bank which sent him to Zimbabwe where he spent “the seven best years of my life.”

In 2002 he was transferred to South Africa to open a branch of another bank he had joined in the interim, and he was lucky that the next year he retired.

“I spent a year not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life and then I became very interested in the idea about how we could use the same tool not to create lots of money but to create instead lots of social values, to address issues of housing, education, etc, for the poor, and that is where I got involved in what is called social entrepreneurship.”

Over the years he has spent some time lecturing and giving talks as he is “apparently an authority on social entrepreneurship.”

Africa Straight Up! Let’s Tell our Stories

Kate Nkansa — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:47:54 +0000

Since independence, we’ve been building the African revolution with words. A new spirit is needed in Africa; the current status-quo must be fought against with knowledge but this knowledge must be purely scientific, deliberate and action driven. it’s starts with our ability to tell our own stories. This is the very reason Feint & Margin was started it was to offer young Africans the opportunity to tell theirs stories from their perspective. It’s great to know that we are not alone in our mission to showcase our continent according to our perspective.

Remember to subscribe to our mailing list to get the latest articles from young africans with ordinary lives but with extraordinary minds.

Please spare 30 minutes of your time to watch this video titled Africa Straight Up! This is a documentary showing the new ‘face’ of Africa. Feint & Margin supports this initiative and we encourage all our readers to help spread this video by taking the following steps:

1. Watch the Video and Share the video

2. Share your african story

3. Join the community to share african stories.

The Essence of National Development in Africa

Feint & Margin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:47:10 +0000

“You can’t enjoy the fruits of effort without first making the effort”, said Margaret Thatcher.

There is a need in Africa, a need of national development. A need of improvements. A transparent need for a transformative growth in Africa. A need that all African citizens shall eat its fruits of effort. But who should/must direct structures to meet that need of development, improvement, of a transformative growth in our mother land, Africa? What kind of leadership do we require? Are our African morals, values, respect, that we can trustfully give the authority to lead African nations to climb a ladder to grasp that essence need of national development?

For Africa cries a tear that questions its political integrated leadership. Where are we going under the current political leadership? For this house of Africa exist a vacuum of much more doing, development within the economical structures that promises results of great employment. Development within political strategic ideas that promises to deliver results that are to serve the community. Devoid of self-enrichment tenderpreneural, enterpreneural mandates that are to benefit the minority. Listen here, you African citizen, there is a need in this continent, a need of constitutional knowledge and wisdom from ordinary citizens that would in a well crafted platform of a social cohesion dialogue spit out words, ideas, examples, that Africa has been waiting for.

As much as we are divided as Africans, as much as African nations continue to retariate civil war against each other we shall never unite we need a common goal, vision, purpose, and understanding, that there is a need, the essence of national development in Africa, then I don’t think Africa will ever ascend the channels of becoming that ever thought continent to growth much as nations around the world expected in its ramifications of political, socio-economic, and social ideals. For the education system in Africa need a clear, consistent leadership that have experienced, jolted the discouragement of “poor” education. How can Africa in general, attain the dignity to meet that need? What can Africans in general, with interconnected dignity do to meet that need? What changes within African political parties can best be implemented in order to enhance leadership creativeness to meet that greater need? Or, perhaps, Africa must wait for a hand of help from Western nations, therefore Africa can be able to meet that essence need of national development.

To borrow words of Gregg Mills, author of WHY AFRICA IS POOR AND WHAT CAN AFRICANS DO ABOUT IT, surely is to encourage, inspire, re-awaken thoughts of Africans that indeed there is a need that must be met in Africa.

Wrote Gregg Mills, words such as, “…there are two societies in weak states. The first of these contains those who believe in the possibility of a peaceful and prosperous multi-ethnic society, a progressive extension of the cosmopolitan capital the elite have experienced, the type of state that earnest Westerners talk to and prefer to hear. Then there is the society characterized by a hard-scrabble, prosaic existence in the country side where law and order are defined less by the law than tribalism, religion, chauvinism, detterance, and retribution”.

In the African society exists a vacuum of much dignity need that when all African nations come together to fight the common enemy, poverty, undefined political structures, inability to meet both socio-economic and micro-economic needs, to eradicate self-enrichment business connected with politics tenderpreneurs, so that the African generation will have greater education facilities to expand and explore a world capacitated with opportunities beyond doubt. There is a need, the essence of national development in Africa. How do we as African citizens transform in a transparent ideal house where our differences are put aside, but with a common aim, to meet that need, The Essence of National Development in Africa.

About the Author:

Mpho is the founder of CYF then YOTM,former youth radio seco presenter,leader of annual youth motivational projects,member founder and CEO of CPM,spokeperson of RH Intellect Youth,writer of Strategic Thinking Group.

About the Authour

Seeking Management Consultation Solutions is Key to the Growth of Small Businesses

Kate Nkansa — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:38:08 +0000

Every entrepreneur wants their small business to be successful so every segment of professional advice can go a long way in obtaining business goals. Consultants to a business offer invaluable expertise that aim to help your business succeed, or achieve its goals.

According to the latest survey done on the ease of doing business in Ghana, Ghana was ranked (see diagram below) out of the 183 countries surveyed.

Globally, Ghana stands at 104 in the ranking of 183 economies on the ease of starting a business. So what happens to the entrepreneur once they’ve managed to start their business?

Businesses become insolvent on average 5 years after they start. So what are some of the factors which contribute to the demise of SME’s within a five year period and how can entrepreneurs protect their business from going under? Challenges most businesses face are competition, insecurity and debt collection, lack of working capital and power interruptions in Ghana.

Operating a business is one thing, making it profitable is another. Marketing and operational strategies are essential in ensuring that your business is profitable. Business owners fall short and leave their customers disappointed. Business owners should seek professional management consultation solutions to give it the edge. If you want to have a profitable business you need to seek the right consultation solutions to your business needs.

There are three major elements of every small business which can be taken into consideration by consulting firms to style a general method for your business.

1. Business Development

2. Modifications

3. Consumer demands

A consulting firm can design an overall organizational and operational strategy for the small business to follow.

Any small business regardless of whether it’s a mid-size or a small company should through this consultation method, have knowledge of locations and marketing demographics that need to be targeted, and why. These factors could seem unimportant to begin with, yet in the long run; these minimal factors could determine the success for your business.

In many situations individuals and entrepreneurs’ are protective of their businesses, and they let pride get in the way of success. Those who are able to brave the un-chartered waters of seeking professional help are the ones who are ready to take the actions necessary to make their business profitable.

Seeking Business Advice from your Bank is not always the best solutions. A Banks focus is to make profit from doing business with you. The advice they will provide your business may not always be the best advice for you. Management Consultants have a different focus than your bank, the aim of the Consultant is to help you maximize your profits and growth of your business. When you succeed so do they.

Kate Nkansa-Dwamena is a Business Development Consultant. She holds a Bachelors in Economics and Business Finance from the University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg. She’s has experience in product management and credit and Change Analyst working as a banker and in the retail industry for a number of years. She has worked on three continents (Europe, Asia and Africa) and brings with her a unique perspective on creating a world class business. She was trained through the Gordon Institute of Business Science as a part of the ABSA Management Program in South Africa. She serves as an advisor for the Ghana Youth Employment project of the World Bank in Ghana.

Kate is the Managing Director of a Management Consulting firm Zhest Consult. If you wish to contact Kate to seek Business advice, E-mail zhestconsult@gmail.com.

References
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6552055

Doing Business, Ghana’s Economic Profile 2012

Review: The Tale of an Orphan

Feint & Margin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:44:18 +0000

Book Title: The Tale of an Orphan: A Lesson to Learn

Synopsis:

This book is about life. How painful and beautiful it can be. It is a lesson teacher as well as a comforter. It is an encourager as well as a chastiser. It is a journey through a storm with a triumphant ending. It is a book that can help change the world; a spellbinding memoir of childhood aching sadness and desperate humor. It is a testament which makes you believe, in spite of poverty and death, there is hope for the future.This chronicle of amazing triumph against all odds will help you understand life properly and live to be a blessing to the world.

REVIEW:

“Richard Paa Kofi Botchwey has stunned the world with this extraordinary tale of how a family endured poverty. But what sticks with us is his generosity to share and his richness to inspire.”

KOFI AKPABLI

CNN/Multichoice Journalist Awards Winner (Arts & Culture)

Author: Tickling the Ghanaian- Encounters with Contemporary Culture

A Sense of Savannah- Tales of a friendly Walk through Northern Ghana
Author Bio:

Richard Paa Kofi Botchwey is an internationally known Ghanaian Writer, a trained Conventional Stock Trader, a Blogger, a Poet, an Idealist, a Photo Journalist & a Public Speaker. Born into a humble but poor family, he has come out as a strong, moral, determined young man. He is the founder & CEO of Orphan Trust Movement, an organization established to encourage orphans like himself and make an everlasting difference in their lives by giving them books, clothes and the basic necessities of life. His organization’s mission is to encourage children, no matter their gender, color, size, religion and origin to arise and bless the world with their potentials.

His poems, Life lessons & The Birds were published by Rising Artist Magazine (April 2009) and Imbue Life Publications (December 2010) in U.S.A respectively. Several of his captivating essays such as The Slaps Switch & I’ve Said I Can’t Too Often have also been published online. Kiss of Death, The Soon Drama and The Muted Island are some of his poems which have gained much attention around the world.

Currently, he is working on his next books: My Shoes Don’t Fit—a Young Man’s Conversations with God and a novel—The Girl Who Swallowed Fire. For more information, please visit: www.rbotchwey.blogspot.com

Purchase Link/Website

ON AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/The-Tale-Orphan-Lesson-ebook/dp/B007MD8X3Y/ref=pd_rhf_cr_p_t_1
ON BARNES AND NOBLE:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tale-of-an-orphan-emmanuel-young/1108888696?ean=9780985075927
ON WATERSONES:http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/emmanuel+young/irene+archer/yancy+walker/richard+paa+kofi+botchwey/the+tale+of+an+orphan+28ebook29/9320203/
ON BOOKWORLD: http://www.bookworld.com.au/ebook/the-tale-of-an-orphan-a-lesson-to-learn/31453304/
ON KOBOBOOKS: http://www.kobobooks.com/62436/ebook/Book.aspx?MixID=RsusL9EI30eVB6o_Af4wzw&PageNumber=1
ON ITUNES:http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-tale-of-an-orphan/id512276997?mt=11
ON SRC.COM.GH: http://www.src.com.gh/store/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&path=20&product_id=76

Breaching a new Frontier for Pan-African Inspired Fashion

Feint & Margin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:20:44 +0000

54 Kingdoms continues to put Pan-African inspired fashion on the global frontier. Three years ago, Ghanaian-born natives, Nana Poku (CEO) and Kwaku Awuah (President) brought 54 Kingdoms to mainstream fashion and every year, the multi-talented duo break new grounds.

In a recent Applause Africa Magazine feature entitled, “Fashion Geeks”, Nana and Kwaku confess their addiction to technology and how it has enhanced the company’s creativity and provided a competitive edge. In 2010, 54 Kingdoms predicted to be the first Pan-African fashion house to own a mobile application and indeed that vision has bear fruition today, as the company launches a mobile app for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch).

According to the company’s president, “the app is part of building the 54 Kingdoms Kulture”. After several months of working with Yblew, another Ghanaian owned web and application development company, users who download the app can:

• Access exclusive gallery, products shots, and videos

• Create wish lists and purchase products

• Locate 54 Kingdoms vendors

• Connect with, and share 54 Kingdoms on social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo)

• Receive updates of new contents

• Reach out to 54 Kingdoms directly via app contact

• View individual product details

• Get exclusive 54 Kingdoms fashion and styling tips

Over a month ago, the company launched its long awaited Kingdom Come collection during New York Fashion Week at the famous Thompson-Smyth hotel. The event, which attracted over 800 reservations, has been deemed one of a kind by various media outlets and fashion bloggers. All products from the collection are available for purchase through the new 54 Kingdoms App, which can be downloaded via iTunes/App store.

About 54 Kingdoms

54 Kingdoms is an apparel company that brings the Pan-African creative, history and culture to the doorstep of global fashion. By paying close attention to detail and fine craftsmanship, 54 Kingdoms serves the cool, common and sophisticated. At 54 Kingdoms, we don’t dress to IMPRESS, but to EXPRESS our culture, pride and identity.

Why Children Don’t Go to School

Feint & Margin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:11:30 +0000

“I volunteer at a Non for Profit Organisation called Hold-a-Hand which is a programme which provides a platform for caring adults to mentor young students in Ghana. A few weeks ago I spoke to the Methodist Junior High School in Nungua about social entrepreneurship. We discussed some of the problems they face in their communities, they mentioned issues like child trafficking, kids who skipped school to look for scrap metal to sell and refuse being dumped everywhere. They came up with some very savvy ways to solve some of their problems. I also spoke to the class about my online publication Feint & Margin . I caught the attention of a budding journalist, Joana Essandoh a 15 year old, she asked if she could write an article for Feint & Margin about her experiences in her community and her solutions to the problems they face. Below is her first contribution to Feint & Margin.” Kate Nkansa-Dwamena Editor -Feint & Margin

It is an undeniable fact that the children of Nungua have been facing a host of problems for some time now and the earlier urgent solutions are found to these seemingly insurmountable problem ,the better . Education is one of the things which every individual must pass through before becoming successful in life .Without education you cannot become a successful person in future.

Everyone needs education, everyone must be educated. Children are our future leaders which means they will rule our country in the future and we train and educate them in order for them to prosper and rule the country well . Children sometimes do not go to school, street children are always begging for money and food which is really bad. They must be sent to school in order for them to acquire knowledge . Some of the reasons children do not go to school are because of lack of parental care . This is because some parents do not care about their children. They think their children are useless and by educating them they are rather pouring water on stone.

Another problem is the lack of money; parents do not have the money to send the child to school . This is because both parents are not working and are very poor. A possible solution is for parents to seek help from other members of the family or get help from other people like churches and non profit organisation .

It is my opinion that the following suggestion should be considered in order to resolve these problems . The solutions to these problems are that parent should care for their children and love their children, by providing their basic needs and educate for them in every situation because they are the future leaders .

I support the fact that children should be educated because they can make our country beautiful and bright in the future. They can change the bad things into good ones. And the most important thing is that they are our future leaders .

I would like to advise everyone to educate his or her child in order for the children to prosper and become good leaders in future.

Messed Up World

Feint & Margin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:50:57 +0000

Eleven year old Tiane Parris from South Africa wrote this rap song. She’s a symbol of hope that our future generation will take care of our world a little better than what she came to meet. Here is her piece on how she sees our world.

I’m just a teenage girl
in a messed up world
half the people here are crazy
politicians all are lazy
cause I was walk in in the street
I was trip pen trip pen
cause peeps on the street they were suffering suffering
people walked by

they just ignored
some of those kids
have never seen a school bored
health is an issue
people got no tissue
patients turned away
that’s what they say
cause no medical aid
the govment never paid
cause they ain’t no taxes
people getting waxes

whatthere’s poverty ya
it’s politics ya
they all want the power
people treated sourno education, not even ‘electricity
water is scarce
just a little slashthere’s global warming
like the bees when they swarming
the little birdie lost a wing
let me tell you this, somt-thingit’s hot
it’s cold
it’s rainin
it’s not

our environment is dying
plants and animals are crying
weather patterns weird
death of animals is feared

what are we doing boat
the rhino pouching
what are we doing bout
all dem strikes

1.. 2..3
cresendo: what r we what r we gonna do

low down low baby bringnit down slowx2

how do we stop poverty
how do we stop hate
there’s something big going on
no food on plates

the youth are unemployed
life can’t be enjoyed
the world is bad
soon we’ll all need elbow pads

minimum wage
on every single page
houses are a dream
for sum naw mean

trees are dying
coming down fast
it’s a well known secret
that they need to last

the colour green
in nature barely seen
in exchange for white paper
can’t we use it later
the world is stuck
it’s falling in a rut

donna what going on
donna what gonna happen x2
just a troubled teenx2
you naw mean…

there are many of me
that don’t no know what to do
don’t you see
it’s up to you

Telling Our African Stories!

Kate Nkansa — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:35:14 +0000

This is the very reason Feint & Margin was created it serves as a platform which offers young Africans the opportunity to tell theirs stories from their perspective. It’s great to know that we are not alone in our mission to showcase our continent according to our perspective.

Remember to subscribe to our mailing list to get the latest articles from young africans with ordinary lives but with extraordinary minds.

1. Watch the Video and Share the video

2. Share your African story

3. Join the community to share African stories.

Ghana’s First Presidential Youth Dialogue

Kate Nkansa — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:48:58 +0000

Brief Overview of the Youth Situation in Ghana

Ghana has a relatively youthful population which faces various challenges. The National Population Council observes that although the population of young people is projected to decline in the near future, their continuous increase in absolute numbers after 2025 poses a challenge to the government. According to the preliminary figures of the Housing and Population Census in Ghana, the population growth rate between 2000 and 2010 was 28.1% (Ghana Statistical Service). In respect of this high percentage, the future growth of the population could cause serious conflicts if the state does not respond with efficient policies and programmes particularly in the field of education, health, skills training and employment.

As the much clichéd future leaders, young people represent immense potential as both treat and opportunity. Political leaders demanding change and those seeking to defend the existing order, seek to mobilize young people to their side.

Rather unfortunately, the youth are most often than not, left out of the decision making process. There is very little opportunity for the youth to participate in decision making. This worrying trend has resulted in successive governments crafting policy documents and designing youth development programmes without any input from the youth.

THE PROGRAMME

In a typical election year such as 2012, political parties present their manifestoes and in those manifestoes, they outline what they will do for the youth. These manifesto promises are however based on political expediency; another worrying trend. Africa Youth Network (AYONET) & it partners believes that the young people of Ghana deserve an opportunity to interact with presidential aspirants. This then calls for a forum where presidential candidates will meet exclusively with the youth of Ghana and present their intended policies and programmes to them. This forum will be moderated by the Legendary Quiz Professor of the 90’s, Professor Ewurana M. Addy of Brilliant Math and Science Quiz. The youth will then use that same opportunity to ask certain critical questions and possibly make an input into such policies and programmes in order to reflect the general aspirations of the Ghanaian youth.

This forum will bring together youth representatives from all the ten regions of Ghana to dialogue with all presidential aspirants. Flag bearers will use the opportunity to present to the youth their policies and programmes to be implemented should they be elected in the 2012 elections. The youth will then pose questions to the aspirants based on what they have presented and some other critical issues that may not be covered by the aspirants.