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Conference Proceedings This Community features the proceedings of conferences hosted by the KNUST or other bodies but had staff from KNUST attending and making presentationsJournal of Science and Technology (JUST) Research Articles from the members of KNUST submitted to the JUSTKumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR) Lectures **Lectures** are structured presentations or talks delivered by an instructor, professor, or expert to convey knowledge on a specific subject.Research Articles
Recent Submissions
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Assessment of school-community relationship and its effects on the academic performance of Junior High Schools at Dunkwa-On- Offin Municipality.
(KNUST, 2018-11) ABOAGYE, ALEXANDER
In today‟s competitive global setting, students‟ performance is an important element of the school‟s achievement. This study looked at school-community relationship and its effects on the academic performance of Junior High Schools at Dunkwa-on-Offin. The objectives were to identify the relationship between Dunkwa Junior High School and the community and the factors that account for it, examine the relationship between students‟ academic performance and community-school co-existence and identify the prudent ways of ensuring peaceful coexistence between the community and the school. The study utilized survey design of 290 respondents in Dunkwa-on-Offin who were sampled using the simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The sample consisted all JHS 1, JHS 2, JHS 3, opinion leaders and members in the community in order to maintain reliability. Questionnaire was the main instrument used to collect the data from the students whilst interview was conducted with parents and school authorities. It was found that as part of good relationship between the schools and community, the community members participate in school programs any time the school invited them such as “my first day at school”, “speech and prize giving day”, “PTA meetings”, “school anniversaries”. The study further found that there was a positive relationship between students‟ academic performance and community-school co-existence. The study revealed that students are able to perform better when the schools and community co-exist peacefully. It was found that through school and community relations both teachers and students are motivated which leads to improvement in students‟ performance. There were some few factors that hindered peaceful co-existence between the school and community such as truancy/child absenteeism, sexual harassment of students by teachers and poor academic performance. The study therefore recommends that these factors could be addressed by involving parents and opinion leaders in decision making process of the schools to bring peaceful co-existence between the schools and community.
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Integrating pragmatic lessons of traditional initiation rites into Christian initiation rite for adults in the Roman Catholic Church: A case study of Akan puberty rites.
(KNUST, 2018-11) YALLEY, ROBERT KWEKU
Christianity in Africa seems to have denied many religio-cultural ritual practices, regardless of their values and lessons, which are integral part of indigenous African culture. This makes the African live an uncomfortable Christian life. But it is an undeniable fact that the nature and relevance of African Christianity can be understood if it is studied in its relation to African world-view and indigenous knowledge systems, which serve as resources for indigenous education and formation.
Puberty rites mark a moment of education to teach and learn the norms, values and lessons in the ritual moments for identity formation, and initiate a transitional period in the life of an Akan person. They serve to socialise and institutionalise the individual into the new stage of life attained in the community with rights and responsibilities.
Within the Roman Catholic domains, apart from the catechism, which teaches the
catechumen the basic tenets of Christianity, the doctrines and precepts of the church, there is no pattern of formation for young catechumen to mature into responsible adult Christian, who has both strong roots and understanding of the Christian faith and practices and yet firmly planted in authentic Akan religio-cultural beliefs and practices, which do not contradict the Christian faith. This prompts the quest of this research; to find out how the values and lessons of puberty rites could be integrated into the preparation and formation of young people for responsible adult Christian life in the Akan community.
The study revealed that there are great lessons that could be harnessed from this rite as an indigenous knowledge system, which will give a practical touch to the instructional sessions organised for the rite of Christian adult initiation, making the Christian young man and woman a person of his/her culture and tradition.
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Effect of rewards on employee performance in selected micro and small enterprises in Hohoe, Volta Region, Ghana.
(KNUST, 2018-11) USMAN, MUSTAPHA BIN
Rewards establish a balance between employee’s contribution to the business and the business’s contribution to employees. Academics and human resource practitioners agree that rewards are instruments employers use to attract, retain, and stimulate appropriate outputs from employees. Extant research on rewards has focused on large and public enterprises with little focus on micro and small enterprises (MSEs). However, these large and public enterprises have proven incapable of providing employment for the teeming graduates; hence an overwhelming majority of employees in Ghana work in MSEs. This research complements existing knowledge on employee rewards by primarily focusing on MSEs. The qualitative phenomenological design, which entails conducting interviews as research tool, was employed to evaluate the existing reward practices; the procedures for rewarding employees; and the nexus between rewards and employee performance in selected MSEs in Hohoe. This research revealed that rewards in MSEs are not only different from large and public enterprises; but also deficient. The rewards were simplistic and limited to the payment of salaries with little or no emphasis on non-monetary rewards. As a result, most employees believed they deserved more than they were offered and therefore had no plans of maintaining the present work. Employers were found to discriminate in rewarding employees since the rewards were arbitrarily determined without recourse to any law, regulation, or policy. The nexus between rewards and performance of employees was not direct. Factors other than rewards such as unemployment and economic situation, humanitarian considerations, desire to gain work experience, and so on attributed to employees’ performances. Employees demanded reward parity with counterparts in large and public enterprises. This study recommends an improvement in the working conditions of workers in MSEs in line with existing regulatory frameworks. It further suggests an enactment of unique regulations to guide the obligations of employers to employees and vice versa in terms of rewards in MSEs.
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Electoral violence and democratic consolidation in the fourth republic of Ghana, 1993-2016.
(KNUST, 2018-11) AFRANE, MICHAEL
The study seeks to explain the growing development of electoral violence and democratic consolidation in the Fourth Republic of Ghana: 1993-2016.What are the motivating factors which generate electoral violence when the democratic process is expected to be consolidating in Ghana? What is the trend of electoral violence in a democratic process which demonstrates dynamics of stability and continuity? How does electoral violence militate against the ability of democratization in Ghana’s Fourth Republic and what could be done to mitigate electoral violence in the countries democratic processes when the political elites appear to use this violence instrumentally to win political power?
The study used mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) as a research design. The study collected data from multiple sources and SPSS (verssion 20) and MS Excel (2010) were used to analyze the responses collected.
The study therefore makes contribution to existing knowledge on democratic processes in Ghana by emphasizing the link between electoral violence and democratic consolidation.
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Factors affecting implementation of school feeding programme in Ho municipal assembly, Volta Region.
(KNUST, 2018-11) AKOTO, NICHOLAS
Social policies are lunched in education sector in Ghana in other to boost educational status of the country. In other to make the dream of providing Free Universal Basic Education a reality, Government of Ghana has introduced the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) in 2005 to increase enrolment, retention and nutrition status of public primary school pupils from disadvantaged areas in the country. The study sought to examine factors affecting the implementation of the SFP in Ho Municipal Assembly. The study was directed by research questions on impacts of SFP on pupils, monitoring and supervision of SFP, community participation in SFP, funding of SFP, challenges and solutions to the implementation of the SFP.
Descriptive research design was used by the researcher for the study and both probability and non-probability methods of sampling were used for selecting sixty-nine (69) respondents for this research. Qualitative data was gathered by using interview guide which was edited by the University supervisor for its validity and pre-tested for reliability. Data gathered were classified by the researcher into categories or themes and sub-themes and thorough discussions and analysis of the content was done and presented. The findings of the study established that, there are positive impacts of SFP on pupils, government funds the SFP in beneficiary schools, there is lack of supportive infrastructure and materials for the implementation of the SFP. The study highlighted that, there is low community participation, poor linkages between farmers and the SFP. The study recommended that, SIC should be formed in schools to ensure mobilization of support and community participation in beneficiary schools. Municipals/ District Assemblies, donors and beneficiary communities should help the government in implementation of the SFP.
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The impact of democracy and good governance on rural poverty reduction: The case of Nkoranza North District.
(KNUST, 2018-08) APPIAH, PAUL CLINSTON
Poverty has been and may continue to be one of the main challenges to confront global civilization and continues to plague many developing countries around the globe. Poverty is the lack of capacity to do things, lack of power, exclusion, and deprivation of basic necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education, and good drinking water. Poverty is regarded as more predominant in rural areas than urban areas. Rural communities in Ghana including Nkoranza North District are wallowing in the quagmire of poverty. One of the main issues in development debates is how to tackle the issue of rural poverty. Good governance is a critical policy requirement for a successful poverty reduction strategy and is seen as the panacea to poverty as it offers the platform for the participation of the poor in decisions that affect them and empowers them to get their views on the policy agenda. It also promotes and sustains growth, development and socio-economic transformation. The main objective of this study was to examine the role democracy and good governance plays in promoting rural poverty reduction. In order to attain the main objective of the study, the case study approach was employed whilst questionnaires and interview guide were used to elicit data. In all, 150 respondents provided information for the study. The study revealed that, there is poverty in the district in all its dimensions and so efforts are being marshaled to reduce poverty through the effective implementation of national poverty reduction policies and programmes, capacity building, job creation, job-skills training and infrastructural development. However, there are the challenges of delay in the release of statutory funds to facilitate quick execution of programmes in the district and lack of commitment from stakeholders. The study recommends a shift from the over concentration on the provision of social services and infrastructure to employment generation, improving the basic needs of the poor, access to credit facilities, and women empowerment.
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An investigation into the use of personal pronouns in political discourse – a study of inaugural addresses of two Ghanaian presidents.
(KNUST, 2018-06) MENSAH, DORAH
This study examined personal pronoun choices in the inaugural addresses of two presidents in Ghana. The main focus of the study was to determine the references of personal pronouns used in the speeches as well as to determine relationships that were established in the speeches by the use of personal pronouns. The theory of indexicality as explained by Kaplan (1989a) was the main framework used to support this study. The qualitative research design was the main approach used in the study. The results suggest that politicians create various identities of themselves and others through the exploitation of personal pronouns. Personal pronouns were contextually exploited in terms of genericness, definiteness and specificity suggesting both inclusive and exclusive use of the pronouns. The study then explored social meanings and attitudes such as political ideologies, power, identity and statesmanship in the speeches. This research is expected to be useful in universities and international educational organizations to generate better insights into grammar and semantics in other fields of study.