allAfrica.com: Ghana: The New Education Reform (Page 1 of 2)

The President's State of the Nation Address points out the achievement of macro-economic stability in 2001-2007 to provide the platform for accelerated growth.

The country is also noted to be solvent with the economy strong and resilient to take the country into industrialization, with attendant employment opportunities and value addition to the country raw materials, especially agricultural produce to attain middle income status with a per capita income of at least U.S.$1,000 by the year 2015.

Reflecting on the information flow after the State of the Nation Address

Reflecting on the information flow among the populace in Ghana after the President's State of the Nation Address compelled me to reflect and further research for the real test of success in the implementation of the New Education Reform in Ghana. The real test of success now appears to point to how the New Education Reform will succeed to build the analytical minds of Ghanaians by the year 2020 to impact on the personal development and employability of the populace; and create opportunities for further advancement so that a new image and acceptance of the Educational System in Ghana, both locally and internationally will be carved.

The Birth of a New Nation

The birth of any New Nation such as Ghana begins with building the relevant analytical capacity and skills. Analytical minds will enhance data transparency and information flow. Analytical minds will help people to draw a distinction between true information and noise; rhetoric and realities on the ground. Timely released false information is a noise and no country in anywhere in the world can develop with mere noise. The fundamental challenge in our education system will be how to build analytical minds among Ghanaians to so that Ghanaians could easily distinguish false information (noise) from true information to move country forward to the next level of development.

Analytical Minds The inflation-fighting credibility of the Central Bank of Ghana is much higher now than it was in the past but how many Ghanaians will understand this statement when they do not have money in their pockets. One of International Monetary Fund rule of thumb points out that a US$ 5 annual increase in oil prices could results in a 0.3 percent dip in global growth. Empirical evidence further suggests that I percent expansion of domestic debt (relative to broad money) could cause the ratio of lending to the private sector (again as a ratio to broad money) to decline by 0.15 percent. If President Kuffuor takes all these empirical evidences and research findings and the global oil prices that affected our economy and where we are now into consideration and says; "Ghana is now solvent and the economy is strong and resilient", it takes people with analytical minds to understand the President and accept this statements and think of how we can move forward as the next step. The shocks in the economy due to the increase in the oil prices and other factors under normal circumstances should have increased inflation in Ghana to abnormal levels. So how will the man on the street understand and believe in the figures of the government when inflation is not increasing to that expected level and the Ghana currency appears to be still stable.

The Use of Research Findings

In 2000, for instance, people like me happened to have similar problems and used the opportunity offered by the Department For International Development (DFID), British Government to pursue Master of Science in Finance to work on "The Impact of the Ghana Cedis Exchange Rates on the Economy of Ghana", just to understand the systems in the economy of Ghana and, perhaps, their spiral effects on the education delivery in the country.

My understading in the research work in simple language was that when there is shock in the Ghanaian economy due to mismanagement or increases in oil prices to cause a crack in the economy it is not inflation that moves to absorb the shock but the nominal exchange rate (i.e. the currency of Ghana), like a petrol has to move instantly to absorb the shocks and these movement creates variation in the domestic cash markets of Ghana to affect or push inflation to move and the movement of inflation further creates variations in the economy to affect the currency to further accelerate. If this movement is not controlled becomes a vicious cycle and planning in the country for any business becomes very difficult and could break the economy.

This was what we experienced in Ghana in the Year 2000 and compelled some of us to research into this itchy experience in Ghana in the Year 2000. Consequently, the research findings suggested that if the country does not want inflation to go up when there is a shock in the economy the exchange rate of the Ghana Cedis should be anchored. Inflation on its own by that study is motionless. Inflation only moves by the spiral effects of the movement of the nominal exchange rate to absorb the shocks or cracks in the economy.

Consequently, inflation in Ghana in the Year 2000 was 40.5 percent. In the Year 2000 the volatility of the Ghana Cedis among the 65 countries randomly selected for the study was calculated to be 2.53 percent using a statistical tool such as the coefficient of variation. In the Year 2000 the Ghana Cedi was heading towards Sierra Leone Leone at that time, with a volatility of 14 percent, Sierra Leone, then a worn-torn country. Iragi Dinar volatility in the Year 2000 was 0 percent and the North Korean Won volatility was also 0 percent.

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