ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Improving the data management system of Social Security and National Insurance Trust : (a case study of Kumasi area office)

Providing good and reliable data is one of the most difficult tasks facing business organizations today. This study examines how Data Management in the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) could be improved using a case study of the Kumasi Area Office in the Ashanti Region. Using data collected from both primary and secondary sources the study made a number of important findings. The Trist is unable to issue out good and reliable data on the members of the scheme and also unable to provide accurate data for actuarial evaluations. Secondly the software systems used by the Trust are not integrated, thereby giving way for the running of different software systems by each operating department. In order for SSNIT to build, operate and maintain an effective Database Management System, the I.T. Department should provide an Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) based on the state of the art Relational Database Management Systems, Computers, Data communication technologies that are founded on a complete and accurate database. It is also recommended that the trust should introduce a policy for data dissemination to avoid inconsistencies and discrepancies in the flow of data from the Trust, and also to make identified departments responsible for the dissemination of all types of data from the Trust. Data getting out from this outfit should be considered final. To become more functional and forestall the provision of inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous information, the Trust should integrate the various software system

Source: KNUST
Improving security of websites using vulnerability assessment

The web is now an important means of transacting business. Without security, websites cannot thrive in today’s complex computer ecosystem as there are new threats emerging as old ones are being tackled. Vulnerability assessment is one of the means by which security can be improved on websites. The aim of this study was to use vulnerability assessment to improve security by identifying vulnerabilities and proposing solutions to solve the security issues. Assessment was done on 5 web hosts belonging to different entities. Two of the web host had recently been compromised so this assessment was important to them. Nmap, Nikto and Nessus were the tools used for the assessment. The first stage in the vulnerability assessement was information planning which involved activities and configurations performed before the actual assessement. The second stage was information gathering which involved obtaining information about the targets necessary to help identify vulnerabilities. This was followed by vulnerability scanning to identify vulnerabilities on the target hosts. The results indicated all the five hosts had security flaws which needed to be addressed. 16 vulnerabilities were identified on host 1, 8 vulnerabilities were identified on host 2, 15 vulnerabilities on host 3, 4 vulnerabilities on host 4 and 10 vulnerabilities on host 5. After the vulnerabilities were identified, a solution was proposed to mitigate the security flaws identified. The solution involved three steps which were encryption, network monitoring and update and upgrade. At the end of the study reports were sent to the web managers of the hosts on which the assessments were done. The study was beneficial to the respective managers of the website because they discovered security flaws which they were not aware of even though there had been recent upgrade of their infrastructures.

Source: KNUST
Improving the growth of oil palm seedlings with biostimulants neb-26 and neb29

Bio timulant appear an emerging option to improving seedling growth and development and a a production cost reduction strategy. They are known to stimulate the biological activitie of the oil microbe , increase root growth, enhance root nutrient uptake and reduce the need for addi­ tional fertilizer application. The study was to evaluate the effect of two bio timulant (NEB-26 and NEB-29) and their combinations with other fertilizer formulations on the growth of oil palm eedling at the nursery. The experiment, conducted at Okyinso near Kade from May 2005 to March 2006, wa a randomized complete block design with twelve treatment in three replica­ tion . Plant growth parameters such as plant height, butt circumference, frond dry weight leaf area and leaf area index were measured monthly. The results on the vegetative mea urement indicate that a mixture of NEB-26 with NPKMg fertilizer formulation and NEB-29 with PKMg fertilizer formulation promoted growth of the seedlings better than ole application of NEB-26 and EB-29 alone. .

Source: KNUST
Improving the land delivery system for the urban poor – a case study of Kumasi

Urban land development has always been and still is a problem facing the world in general and Africa in particular. Throughout history, the competition for natural resources has made people to move and converge at areas where these resources are abundant. Rural-urban migration plays a vital role in this direction. The resultant effect is that several urban areas have expanded and continue to grow thus providing fertile grounds for land use conflicts. The environmental effects of this continuous movement of people from the rural areas to the urban centres are illegal developments at unapproved sites leading to slums and squatter settlements. The urban poor live with many deprivations such as access to employment, land, adequate housing and infrastructure, social protection, lack of access to health, education and personal security. They survive through their own initiative and yet most of their initiatives are deemed illegal. Three slum areas and a squatter settlement were randomly selected within the Kumasi Metropolitan Area. The areas were chosen based on the multi-ethnic and socio-economic background and the type of residential properties they occupy. Four Hundred respondents being residents were purposively selected from the four suburbs. Eight government institutions connected with land delivery were also selected for the study. The grand sample size for the study was the multi-stage sampling involving a three stage sampling procedure. Interviewing and questionnaire schedules were adopted as data collection technique for the study. Institutional capability to help the urban poor was discovered to be constrained by inadequate staffing, poor remuneration and monitoring. It was also realized that there is no programme which is developed to cater for the land needs of the urban poor. In most cases the housing projects and others that are developed as low-cost are beyond the reach of the urban poor. Based on the strength of the findings of the study, it was concluded that the housing situation of the urban poor should involve all interest groups especially the institutions connected with land management and seek to identify and solve problems before they arise. There should be a policy (on the part of the government) to introduce the urban poor into the formal land market. This can be done in two ways. Firstly, there is the need to increase the supply of land for the urban poor through the provision of site and services. The second intervention is to increase the effective demand for land for the urban poor. It has been argued that subsidizing the poor is not sustainable. To increase effective demand for the urban poor, there is the need for community-based organization and increasing savings and providing access to finance.

Source: KNUST
Improving the mode of revenue collection for District development - a case study of Ahanta West District in Ghana

In an attempt to correct the disparities in regional development and the wide gap existing between rural and urban areas in Ghana since the colonial era, the (P) NDC Government has adopted self-reliant development philosophy by, decentralizing decision-making process to the district Assemblies. The district assemblies are expected to be responsible for the overall development of their districts by depending largely on their own resources. Since development involves finance, the PNDC Law, 207, gives administrat.ve and financial powers to the assemblies. Using Ahanta West District, the study identified and evaluated revenue sources in terms of relative contributions to total revenue and revenue variability and analysed the methods of revenue collection. Recommendations are then proposed for increased revenue mobilisation for development of the district. The main data for the analysis is based on the Ahanta West District Assembly Trial Balances (1989-1992). Simple mathematical and descriptive tools are used for the analysis. From the study, it was clear that the district has potentials in terms of socio-economic bases that could be tapped to finance district development. On the basis of the findings, recommendations were proposed so that own-source revenues could be mobilized efficiently and effectively as against the reliance on Central Government transfers which are uncertain.

Source: KNUST
Improving the organization of industrial attachment for hotel and catering students at Takoradi Polytechnic

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problems associated with the conduct of students’ industrial attachment at the Hotel and Catering Department at Takoradi Polytechnic and institute appropriate interventions to improve upon the situation. The study was conducted within the action research framework. The research methodology was in three stages. The first stage consisted of activities to collect the baseline data as basis for developing the interventions. The second stage of the methodology was the implementation of the interventions. Activities adopted at this stage included the identification and development of work sites for students, arrangement of work schedules, orientation and induction of students, worksite visitations, guidance and counselling. The final part of the methodology was an evaluation of the impact of the interventions that were aimed at improving the industrial attachment practice. The questionnaire was the main instrument used in collecting data. It was however supplemented with personal observations and interviews. The main findings of the study were that student’s perceptions of industrial attachment were positive. However, the students lacked interest, motivation and direction to undertake the attachment due to the absence of proper guidance and training schedules. The intervention provided the much needed guidance, interest and motivation. The conclusion drawn was that with proper guidance and well structured training guide coupled with commitment from the Polytechnic, the industry and students, the industrial attachment would satisfactorily be undertaken.

Source: KNUST
Improving the Quality of Teaching and Learning of General Knowledge in Art Using Multiple Intelligences Lesson Plan

One type of teaching strategy that has been tried, tested and proven effective in advanced countries is the theory of Multiple Intelligences. This teaching philosophy assumes there are nine ways in which people show intelligence: Verbal-Linguistic, Mathematical-Logical, Musical-Rhythmic, Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinaesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalist and Existential Intelligences. Multiple Intelligences theory has been in use for many years in some developed parts of the world, but it remains an untapped domain in Ghana. This study was therefore, conducted to find out the extent to which teaching based on the theory of Multiple Intelligences can improve academic performance of students in General Knowledge in Art (GKA) within the Senior High School level Visual Arts Programme. The study involved two groups of GKA students at the same class level. Students in the Control Group were taught with the normal “chalk and talk method” while students Experimental Group were taught with lessons based on the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI), and comparing the performance of groups using Chi-Square Analysis. The study showed that for each grade classification, the Experimental Group significantly outperformed the Control Group at 5% test level. The implication of this result is that lesson plans based on the theory of Multiple Intelligences significantly improves teaching and learning of GKA which is an integrated subject. It also proves the MI theory is real and applicable to the teaching and learning in Ghana for promoting quality secondary education. The researcher recommends adoption of the theory by GKA teachers to improve their teaching in order to raise academic performance of their students and the standard of secondary education in Ghana.

Source: KNUST
Improving the quality of education at the basic level in the Northen Region: The case of Gushegu District of Northern Ghana

The study was conducted in the Gushegu District of Northern Region of Ghana with the aim of establishing strategies that will improve the quality of basic education in the district. The study made due with both secondary data taken from the Ghana Education Service and primary data collected from 129 sample respondents consisting of head teachers, classroom teachers, Parents Teachers Association/School Management Committee (PTA/SMCs) members, circuit supervisors and director of education (The simple random sampling through balloting technique was used to select five basic schools from each of the eight circuits to constitute forty sample basic schools. Again, the same method was employed to select one teacher from each of the sample schools, whilst purposive sampling technique adopted to compost the forty head teachers, forty PTA/SMCs of the sample schools, the eight circuits supervisors and the District Director of Education). The study found that the current state of basic education delivery in the district was far from quality. For instance, the best performance of the District at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for the recent past five years since 2008, was 37 percent in 2009/2010. However, this level of output at the BECE by the district on the same time frame was consistently fell below the least National average performance of 46.93 percent in 2013 (Opong-Sakyere et al..2013). This poor performance of the district could be attributed to challenges such as inadequate qualify and dedicated trained teachers (45 percent), inadequate teaching and learning materials (pupil textbook ratio, 5:1), poor parenting, poor conditions of service and inadequate infrastructure (thus, the district needs 60 number, 6-units classroom block at the basic level for serene classroom environment) militate against quality delivery. The study further found presence of educational sector NGOs in the district, large tracks of land available to schools (for more classrooms construction) and availability of experienced teachers as potentials that could be tapped to improve the quality of basic education delivery in the district. The study again revealed that expansion of school infrastructure (by government and World Vision Ghana), intensification of supervision (GES Directorate) as well as introduction of inter-schools debate and quiz competitions (heads of basic schools) as strategies to improve quality education delivery. The study therefore recommends that in addition to implementing the above suggested strategies by the key stakeholders, educational sector organizations operating in the district should harmonize their divergent efforts to be able to impact on the delivery of quality basic education in the district.

Source: KNUST
Improving the solvability of ill-conditioned systems of linear equations by reducing their condition numbers of their matrices.

This thesis is concerned with the solution of a canonical example of ill-conditioned system called Hilbert Systems of Linear Equations (HSLE's) via the solution of an equivalent/transformed HSLE's which are well-conditioned. A matrix is rst constructed from that of the given ill-conditioned system. Then, an adequate right-hand side is computed to make up the instance of an equivalent system. Formulae and algorithms for computing an instance of this equivalent HSLE and solving it will be given and illustrated. Analysis is made between the original Hilbert system and its equivalent/transformed system. Under original Hilbert system comparison is made between unperturbed and perturbed Hilbert system and under the equivalent/transformed Hilbert system comparison is made be- tween unperturbed and perturbed transformed Hilbert system. The results es- tablished the fact that well conditioned solutions are more accurate and reliable than ill conditioned solutions due to their error margins and condition numbers.

Source: KNUST
Improving the status of guidance and counselling at Cape Coast Polytechnic

The research was undertaken to examine the guidance and counselling programme at Cape Coast Polytechnic. The researcher surveyed the present status of guidance and counselling programmes at the Polytechnic and in particular identified the self-perceived social and personal problems of the polytechnic students. He then determined strategies to be put in place to improve the guidance situation at the polytechnic. Both published and unpublished studies on students’ problems and the effectiveness of guidance and counselling were viewed. The researcher developed questionnaires for lecturers and students for data collection. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyse data to answer the formulated research questions. The analysis revealed the following: 1. That eventhough some guidance services were run at Cape Coast Polytechnic, counselling service was not provided at all. 2. Factors which accounted for the non-existence of counselling service included, among others, lack of monetary reward for counselling, nonexistence of official counseling office, and lack of separate offices for lecturers. 3. The students were beset with several problems which could affect their academic performance. 4. The majority of the students desired the services of professional counselors to help address student problems at the polytechnic. 5. Counselling services provided for Marketing students showed improvement in the students’ attitude towards their academic work, reduction in the students’ ranking of their concern for studies and relations to people, and improvement in the examination results of the students. Based on the above findings some useful recommendations and suggestions for further studies were made. Prominent among them are: 1. Lecturers must be provided with separate offices. 2. A counselling centre must be provided 3. Financial reward must be given to lecturers for engaging in counselling 4. Professional counselors must be employed to man the counselling centre

Source: KNUST
In vitro antimicrobial activity of ethanolic fractions of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta

Background: Following claims that some plants have antimicrobial activities against infectious microbes, the in vitro antimicrobial activities of different solvent fractions of ethanolic extract of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta were evaluated against eight standard bacteria and clinical isolates. Methods: The solvent partitioning protocol involving ethanol, petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water, was used to extract various fractions of dried pulverized Cryptolepis sanguinolenta roots. Qualitative phyto-constituents screening was performed on the ethanol extract, chloroform fraction and the water fraction. The Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method was employed to ascertain the antibiogram of the test organisms while the agar diffusion method was used to investigate the antimicrobial properties of the crude plant extracts. The microplate dilution method aided in finding the MICs while the MBCs were obtained by the method of Nester and friends. The SPSS 16.0 version was used to analyze the percentages of inhibitions and bactericidal activities. Results: The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, reducing sugars, polyuronides, anthocyanosides and triterpenes. The ethanol extract inhibited 5 out of 8 (62.5%) of the standard organisms and 6 out of 8 (75%) clinical isolates. The petroleum ether fraction inhibited 4 out of 8 (50%) of the standard microbes and 1 out of 8 (12.5%) clinical isolates. It was also observed that the chloroform fraction inhibited the growth of all the organisms (100%). Average inhibition zones of 14.0 ± 1.0 mm to 24.67 ± 0.58 mm was seen in the ethyl acetate fraction which halted the growth of 3 (37.5%) of the standard organisms. Inhibition of 7 (87.5%) of standard strains and 6 (75%) of clinical isolates were observed in the water fraction. The chloroform fraction exhibited bactericidal activity against all the test organisms while the remaining fractions showed varying degrees of bacteriostatic activity. Conclusion: The study confirmed that fractions of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta have antimicrobial activity. The chloroform fraction had the highest activity, followed by water, ethanol, petroleum ether and ethyl acetate respectively. Only the chloroform fraction exhibited bactericidal activity and further investigations are needed to ascertain its safety and prospects of drug development.

Source: KNUST
Imroving water resources management through integration of community based actions: The case of black Volta Basin

Community based water resource management focuses on the use of collective actions to manage water resources to improve livelihood of the community. It aims to develop authority of water management to the local community by encouraging and empowering communities to adopt actions of their own to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner with some form of external supports be it local government support or foreign donor supports. The study assessed local level water development and management strategies that exist in rural communities and its effectiveness in complementing water..................................................................

Source: KNUST