ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The roles of parent-teacher association members towards the enhancement of the academic performance of students who record lower attainment in Badu -Tain District, Ghana

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of Parent-Teacher Association members towards the enhancement of the academic performance of students who record lower attainment in Badu in Tain District. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research approaches where cross-sectional survey design was combined with phenomenology. Through purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques, 81 respondents (48 students, 18 parents, 12 class teachers and 3 head teachers) were sampled for the study. The researcher used questionnaire, focused group interview and documentary analysis as instrument. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was computed using Cronbach Alpha and found to be 0.85 for students and 0.71 for class teachers. The data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistical tools like simple percentages, frequency tables, mean and standard deviations. The results of the study revealed that the roles PTA members’ played towards the enhancement of the academic performance of their wards were financial obligation, physical and material support and ensuring discipline. Additionally, findings revealed that, the income levels, educational levels, family size and structure had significant impact on the ability of PTA members to perform their roles. Moreover, effective PTA role performance proved to be the highest predictor of students’ academic performance in the study area. Based on the outcomes of the study, the researcher recommended that parents should make adequate provisions towards their wards education by intensifying their involvement in the education of their children so as to improve their academic performance.

Source: UEW
Routine expressions in Anum

Routine expressions have been regarded among others as specific and standardized expressions which are universal in nature and are used for cultural and socio-economic interactions in speech communities. This study examined the linguistics of routine expressions in the Anum community. Taking a cue from earlier studies (e.g. Ameka, 1987, 1994; Dzameshie, 2008, Agyekum, 2010), the study employs the ethnographic design using a qualitative approach to gather data from three different Anum communities using the cluster, random and purposive sampling techniques. Through observation, recordings and focus group discussions with 60 indigenes, Anum routine expressions were identified to align with the universality of the phenomenon, although some of their meanings are language-specific. The analysis also revealed some aspects of the culture and socio-economic practices of the Anum people. One major significance of the study is the observation of how routine expressions reveal aspects of the history of the Anums. Based on the results, it is recommended that the study of routine expressions should go beyond the cultural and socio-economic aspects to assess the historical dimensions so as to project the rich socio-cultural as well as the history of the people.

Source: UEW
Rural commercial radio broadcasting and human development a case study of quality fm.

Radio has stood the test of time and continues to be a popular mass communication channel with the proliferation of commercial radio stations in rural communities on the increase. While some scholar perceives community radio programing to be developmental, very little is known about the impact of rural commercial programming. This study using the theories of Human Development and Sen’s Capability Approach investigated Rural Commercial Radio Broadcasting and Human Livelihood Improvement in the Garu District of Ghana. Through the use of Qualitative research approach, Case Study design, and Thematic Analysis, the study probed into the programming of Quality FM; Examining its role in enhancing the wellbeing of its audience. The Study found that Quality FM’s programing generally cover broad themes such as education, health promotion, economic activities, entertainment and culture. The study also explored stakeholders’ perspectives on the role Quality FM’s programing play as a tool for development and found that the stakeholders think of Quality FM as: development partner, agent of transformation and development itself. The study also revealed that Quality FM’s programing promotes the wellbeing of the people of Garu. By providing them Knowledge, and promoting their health and economic wellbeing. The study concluded that, Quality FM as a rural commercial radio station fits in very well with an approach to development related to building human capabilities.

Source: UEW
The Russia-Ukraine war and food security in developing countries. A case study of Ghana.

Geopolitical events often tend to have far-reaching consequences across the world. Occurrences like famine, wars, pandemics, natural disasters, and economic recessions influence the world greatly. The impact of these events mostly affects regions outside the boundaries of the place of occurrence. The Russia-Ukraine war as a geopolitical event has stirred up a lot of issues among economies of the world. This study explores the influence of the Russia-Ukraine war on food security in developing countries with a focus on Ghana. Semi-structured interviews were administered to the sampled population. The findings indicated that the Russia-Ukraine war has indeed affected food security in Ghana. The findings also showed that there were commodity trade disruptions, particularly with wheat and other grains, fertilizer chain disruptions, food price inflation, etc. Findings also revealed some measures that were implemented to mitigate the challenges posed by the Russia-Ukraine war on food security in Ghana. The measures included; the provision of storage facilities to deal with post-harvest losses, promoting the use of organic fertilizers, and some central bank policy rate adjustments to deal with the cedi’s depreciation on the international market. It is recommended that stakeholders diversify sources of funding for farming programmes, and collaborate with the private sector to build more organic fertilizer plants. University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh

Source: UEW
S-CCCapsule: Pneumonia detection in chest X-ray images using skip-connected convolutions and capsule neural network

The squash function in capsule networks (CapsNets) dynamic routing is less capable of performing discrimination of non-informative capsules which leads to abnormal activation value distribution of capsules. In this paper, we propose vertical squash (VSquash) to improve the original squash by preventing the activation values of capsules in the primary capsule layer to shrink non-informative capsules, promote discriminative capsules and avoid high information sensitivity. Furthermore, a new neural network, (i) skip-connected convolutional capsule (S-CCCapsule), (ii) Integrated skip-connected convolutional capsules (ISCC) and (iii) Ensemble skip-connected convolutional capsules (ESCC) based on CapsNets are presented where the VSquash is applied in the dynamic routing. In order to achieve uniform distribution of coupling coefficient of probabilities between capsules, we use the Sigmoid function rather than Softmax function. Experiments on Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center (GWCMC), Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and Mendeley CXR Pneumonia datasets were performed to validate the effectiveness of our proposed methods. We found that our proposed methods produce better accuracy compared to other methods based on model evaluation metrics such as confusion matrix, sensitivity, specificity and Area under the curve (AUC). Our method for pneumonia detection performs better than practicing radiologists. It minimizes human error and reduces diagnosis time. � 2021 - IOS Press. All rights reserved.

Source: UEW
Safety audit of locally installed liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) technology for light commercial vehicles in the Ho municipality of Ghana

The principal aim of this project is to contribute its quota to development of converted automobiles to ultimately serve intended purposes, protect lives and properties absolutely against liquefied petroleum gas related accidents and to update knowledge and practice on Technology for accelerated development of the Ho Municipality, enhance policy analysis by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and serve as a contribution to nation building. Random sample size of 212 converted automobiles representing 12.08% of the total 1,755 targeted population was deemed fit and utilized for generalization of analysis. Deplorable states and unavailability of some expected components and features, use of domestic cylinders and longitudinal mountings of fuel containers in boots, were some of the major findings. Virtually, no suffocation preventive means to protect health against fumes of fuel were made. Electrical wiring harness, connections and the use of fusible links to safeguard circuits had been seriously abused. It is imperative and cannot be over emphasized that concerted efforts be made to update converted liquefied petroleum gas automobiles in the Ho Municipality to meet Modern Developmental and International Safety Standards, so as to save lives and properties and give way to accelerated development of the city regardless of the cost factors.

Source: UEW
Sanitation practices of people living along the Winneba beaches

Environmental sanitation has become a serious problem in the country. One area that has suffered from this problem is our beaches. Having a healthy beach environment promotes good living and development. Winneba is currently experiencing poor environmental sanitation at the beaches. The beaches of Winneba are filled with both plastic and solid waste. There is open defecation and indiscriminate dumping of refuse. The main purpose of the study is to examine the sanitation practices of people living along the Winneba beaches. The study adopted the case study approach. The main instruments used for gathering the data for the study were interview guide and observation checklist. This enabled the researcher to understand the sanitation practices of people living along the Winneba beaches. The sampled population for the study consisted of twenty (20) respondents who live along the beaches of Winneba, one Zoomlion Official, Environmental Health Officer and the Assemblyman of Akosua Village/Sir Charles beach of Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. Data collected were analyzed based on emerging themes and patterns. The study revealed several sanitation practices of people living along the beaches. However, the overall environmental sanitation condition at the Winneba beaches is not up to standard. The research findings showed that environmental sanitation at the Winneba beaches is poor. The study again found out that inadequate toilet facility is one of the major sanitation problems of people living along the beaches. To ensure good environmental sanitation at the beaches, the study recommended that the Effutu Municipal Assembly should develop and implement periodic public education programmes on the need to maintain good sanitation at the beaches in order to change the attitudes of people living along the beaches to practice good sanitation.

Source: UEW
Sanitation situation at Aboabo Zongo communities in the Asokore Mampong Municipality, Ghana

The study was carried out in Aboabo Zongo communities in the Asokore Mampong Municipality in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It aimed at investigating the state of sanitation and health of people living in the area. Five key objectives drove the study: explaining the nature of environmental sanitation, identifying root causes of poor environmental sanitation, ascertaining effects of the phenomenon on health, assessing the nature of intervention put in place and exploring best practices in sanitation management. To achieve the objectives of this study, the descriptive research design precisely the case study design was adopted. However, the approach to inquiry was explicitly qualitative. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were used to select all total of twenty (20) participants from the communities. Semi-structured interview guide and observation guide were the data collection instruments used. Data were analysed thematically and descriptively. The study revealed the nature of environmental sanitation using three indicators: water systems; toilet, lavatories and urinal systems and drainage, sewage and solid waste systems. The study also showed that attitudes and behaviour among other factors remain the greatest determinants of poor environmental sanitation in the area. It was seen that contraction of hygiene and sanitation related diseases and poor access to healthcare were the major effects of poor environmental sanitation on the health of people. The study also identified the diverse interventions put in place by the Assembly in curbing the phenomenon. It was revealed that public education, installation and treatment of sanitation facilities, commitment to change in behaviour and attitude and establishment and compliance of legal systems constitute sanitation management practices that can improve the health of people living Aboabo Zongo communities in the Asokore Mampong Municipality. The study recommends the use of sanitation laws as measures to check sanitation practices. It also puts forward that opinion leaders join environmental sanitation campaigns. The study proposes a collaborative effort of health professionals, residents and stakeholders of environment, health and sanitation in sensitizing the public in sanitation and hygiene related controversies.

Source: UEW
Saving for one another: the informal economy of subsistence among the urban poor in Ghana

Urban space is monetized. Survival in urban areas is therefore largely dependent on the dictates of methodological individualism, capitalist norms and values, which are invariably linked to rent-seeking and instrumentalism in most urban transactions. The urban poor in Ghana, who are mostly informal sector workers, face enormous challenges in transacting with banks and other financial institutions. This challenge, however, does not prevent them from participating in the money market. They devise strategies of savings and acquiring loans largely on interest-free basis. They also invest in informal activities to financially secure themselves and their future. This paper discusses the mechanisms that regulate the institutionalization of informal savings and investments in urban poor communities in Accra and Winneba in Ghana. It is based on a qualitative research conducted between 2014 and 2016 with 133 participants in four Ghanaian communities using purposive sampling technique. The study employs the concept of equality matching to discuss urban financial common strategies. The paper attempts to debunk the hegemony of the capitalist profit perspective in urban transactions, emphasizing that the urban poor in Ghana mobilize their finances through established social relations with largely no profit-making in mind. � 2020, Springer Nature B.V.

Source: UEW
Savings Groups, Livelihoods and Education: Two Case Studies in Ghana

Does access to better village-level facilities for saving and borrowing improve educational outcomes and expenditure? Based on a literature review and case studies in Ghana commissioned by Plan UK, this paper finds that savings groups programmes, such as village savings and loans associations, help poor rural households pay for education in some contexts but not others. Households use loans directly to pay school expenses and also invest in income-generating activities that allow them to raise educational expenditure in the longer term. There are additional indirect effects on education through health care, nutrition and household decision-making. � 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Source: UEW
Saying it the Artist's way: An aesthetical discourse on selected works of Art from the Department of Art Education, UEW

This paper is intended to project the inherent beauties and communicative essentials of the creative works produced by students and lecturers of Department of Art Education in the University of Education, Winneba. These works are poorly displayed at obscure corners of the University and are accorded the least of regards in the University’s inventory. Through aesthetic discourse, this paper brings out the value of three selected works of art – one conceptual painting, one abstract painting and one sculpture in the round. The revelations of the kind of beauty these works exude coupled with the messages they put across give justification to the need, not only to take good care of these works, but to really find ways of putting them within the public domain.

Source: UEW
The scaffolding effect on basic 9 students’ van hiele geometric thinking levels in 3d shapes in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.

This study aimed to find the Scaffolding effect on Basic 9 Students’ van Hiele Geometric Thinking Levels in 3D Shapes in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. The research employed a descriptive and interpretive design using a parallel mixed method approach. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five basic 9 students. Quantitative data consisted of students’ scores in the tests (pre-test and post-test) which were administered before and after the intervention activities. The tests were structured according to van Hieles Levels of Geometrical Thinking. The pre-test was administered before the intervention activities while the post-test was administered after the intervention activities. The study revealed several difficulties that students face in learning 3D shapes. In the findings, difficulties students faced included language of instruction, teachers’ knowledge and experience, lack of learner support outside the formal school and comprehensive class preparation. However, ways to reduce the difficulties included teacher development, peer teaching, training and mentoring, reduction in the student-teacher ratio and sequencing lesson delivery. The study also found out that students at Basic 9 had not reached level 1 of van Hieles’ levels of geometric thinking in 3D shapes in the pretest. It concluded that the use of ‘Scaffolding’ was a very effective intervention method for enhancing student geometric performance and scores from the post-test showed that students were operating at level 3 of van Hieles’ geometric thinking levels. The recommendation of this study included the need for teachers to comprehensively plan lessons on 3D shapes, taking into account students’ diversity, professional development and the general learning environment. For policy-makers, there is a need to facilitate a multilateral learner support system, which empowers the students to take charge of their learning and development, encourage parents and guardians to provide conducive out-of-school learning environments and help schools to provide the necessary stimulus to students for development.

Source: UEW
Scale and scope economies and productivity of polytechnic higher education institutions in Ghana and gender earnings gap of their higher national diploma graduates

This Social Studies thesis consists of four empirical studies on the public Polytechnic Higher Education Institutions in Ghana (PHEIGs). Using the flexible quadratic cost function model, the first empirical study examines economies/diseconomies of scale and scope of PHEIGs outputs. Product–specific diseconomies of scale are found at the Technician programme, Higher National Diploma, Bachelor of Technology and Research mean outputs. Global economies of scale, product-specific and global economies of scope at mean operating outputs are established. The second empirical study using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), reveal empirical evidence suggesting that 80 percent of the PHEIGs are technically efficient in productivity for the 2014-2015 calendar year, while the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) results indicate that the PHEIGs total factor productivities changes fall between 0.21 and 0.93 values suggesting that majority of the PHEIGs registered losses within the range of 7 percent to 89 percent in productivity, and the prevalence of technical inefficiencies in the range of 0 - 56 percent and little changes in distance from most productive scale size over the study period of 2010-2011 to 2014-2015. The value ranges also indicate that the PHEIGs do not operate at a homogeneous level of efficiency. The third empirical study examines the sources of PHEIGs Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) and established that 94 percent of the 32 items constituting the IGFs realised are additional cost to students indicating the continuation of the era of cost-sharing in Higher Education in Ghana disguised as IGFs. The fourth empirical study conducts a tracer study to determine the earnings structure and the gender earnings gap among PHEIGs 2013 Higher National Diploma graduates (HND) using the interval regression model and the Oaxaca decomposition models respectively. The phenomenon of an intra-class gender earnings gap is established in the Ghanaian labour market, suggesting that 2013 male HND graduates with sample 2013 female HND graduates average characteristics earn 44 percent more in monthly earnings than their female counterparts on average, ceteris paribus.

Source: UEW
School attendance, dropout, and academic performance in mining areas the case of selected Junior High Schools in the Atwima Kwanwoma District

This study sought out to investigate the influence of illegal mining on school attendance, dropout and academic performance of junior high school pupils in the Atwima Kwanwoma District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, a convergent mixed method design was employed. The sample size for the quantitative study was 105, comprising 70 pupils and 35 parents. In the qualitative phase, a sample size of 8 comprising 4 pupils and 4 parents were employed. The researcher used questionnaire and interview guide as the primary tools for collecting data. The questionnaire and interview guide were employed to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Product and Service Solution, SPSS version 20 whereas the qualitative data were analysed using the thematic approach. Among the findings of the study, it was revealed that most of the pupils acknowledge the fact that they often absent themselves from class and go into mining without official excuse or permission. It was again revealed that, illegal mining activities contributed statistically significantly to pupils’ poor academic performance in Social Studies. The study recommended that the Directorate of the Ghana Education Service at Atwima Kwanwoma District and traditional leaders should be in constant dialogue with members of the communities, especially parents, to appreciate the value of formal education in order to ensure that their children stay in school and study. It was suggested that further research be conducted in other basic schools in the country where illegal mining activities are carried out to give the general overview regarding the influence of illegal mining activities on school attendance, dropout and academic performance of junior high school pupils and to come out with holistic approach in curbing the situation.

Source: UEW