Canadian University Projects in International Development Database (CUPID)

Africa

Ghana

• Ghana Community Development Management Training
• Enhancing agribusiness development capacity in Ghana
• Reducing HIV Stigma by Education - Ghana
• Graduate Nursing Education in Ghana
• Ghana Distance Education Development Project

Ghana Community Development Management Training

Project purpose:
The purpose of the project is to enhance the ability of the University for Development Studies to meet its mandate to service the community development needs of Ghana by working collaboratively to develop and deliver a certificate program in community development management training.

Key results to date:
At project end, 18 faculty members and staff from the University of Development Studies (UDS) have been exposed to or trained in curriculum design, review and delivery, and 12 faculty members have been trained to deliver community development management training. Two other faculty members have successfully completed a management certificate. Five modules of the community development training program have been completed and three had been piloted. The community development management training office is housed in the faculty of integrated development studies at the Wa campus. The program is a regular part of UDS offering and contributes to the university being better able to provide innovative development education to all sectors of the Ghanaian society, including district assemblies and other community development organization staff. There are plans to use the materials produced as the basis for a certificate course and for the future development of a master's level program.

Reducing HIV Stigma by Education - Ghana

Project purpose:
The purpose of the project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the three Ghanaian universities to design, develop and deliver quality HIV/AIDS education programs for teachers and community workers, thus increasing knowledge and application of processes to reduce stigma and transmission among school children and out-of-school youth.

Key results to date:
Over 70 tutors have been trained and have offered a new 3-credit teacher-training course to 18,603 school teachers in 43 study centres across Ghana. The credit course is now a required part of the teacher education diploma and degree programs at the three partner universities. The new youth-worker course was completed and delivered to over 500 youth. It will continue to be offered after project closure, for example reaching 1,350 youth workers by the end of 2011. Close to 20,000 pictorial brochures targeting rural families, including out-of-school youth, were produced to support youth workers¿ action. Nine faculty increased their knowledge through the curriculum development process. Three research teams from each partner institution completed and reported on HIV and AIDS stigmatization related-projects in their communities. A survey of 20 communities, including 840 teachers and 134 youth workers established a baseline of knowledge about HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes. Teachers then reached out to educate a total of 8,282 families, including 33,068 family members. Growing interest has been expressed from various African countries including possible translation of the courses to French and other languages in the region.

Enhancing agribusiness development capacity in Ghana

Project purpose:
The purpose of the project is to enhance the capacity of the University of Ghana and its partner universities, in collaboration with government, agribusiness development organizations and agribusiness entrepreneurs, to meet the demands of national agribusiness development in a constantly changing economic and social environment.

Key results to date:
The development of a continuing education program of training has been launched in collaboration with the Ghanaian National Board for Small Scale Industry (NBSSI). A total of 141 officials at agribusiness development organizations and 982 agribusiness entrepreneurs have received this training to date. The NBSSI continues to provide training using the resources developed by the project. The library and a seminar room at the University of Ghana have also been upgraded with 300 new books, furniture and computer software. Support for the upgrading of library facilities was extended to the University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and University of Development Studies, the other partner institutions. Thirty-five faculty from the four academic institutions have been involved in agribusiness development research, education and training. They especially collaborated in research on micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the Ghanaian agribusiness sector including background research, preparation of training materials, supervision of 25 master¿s students, and exchange program. Additional support from IDRC and the World Bank allowed the project to conduct research on linking smallholders to higher-value export markets and deliver seminars in agribusiness development.

Ghana Distance Education Development Project

Project purpose:
The project aimed to expand opportunities for and access to tertiary education in Ghana by building institutional capacity for establishing and maintaining distance education programs at four Ghanaian universities and by establishing a cooperative system for the development and provision of distance education at the tertiary level.

Key results to date:
The project contributed to the acceptance by Ghana's Ministry of Education of distance education and to the increased institutional capacity to provide distance education at the University of Ghana, the University of Cape Coast, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University College of Education of Winneba. Each institution now has a permanent distance education unit, funded by the Ministry of Education and staffed by project-trained faculty members. The government included the use of distance education in its five-year development plan and, subsequently, included in-service professional development with distance education as a priority. The institutional capacity at the University College of Education of Winneba and at the University of Cape Coast to design and provide distance education for in-service teachers was an important factor in the government's decision to use distance learning to upgrade teachers' education.

Graduate Nursing Education in Ghana

Project purpose:
The project aimed at increasing Ghana's capacity to educate and train the nurses required to meet priority needs in the health sector in a sustainable manner.

Key results to date:
The new master's program in nursing has been operational since September 2000 and has enrolled 27 students (23 females and 4 males) in five cohorts. All capital equipment to support the program and library resources to support the courses are in place and journals and other resources needed for thesis preparation have been acquired. The first- and second-semester courses have been taught three times by Ghanaian faculty members. Thesis seminars are currently being co-taught for the fourth time to second-year students. Students in the first cohort have convocated in 2004. Furthermore, the project provided opportunities for faculty and student exchanges. As a spinoff of the project, a clinic has been opened at the school of nursing to provide counseling for university students and faculty and to train peer educators in health-related subjects, including reproductive health.