The Honorable Minister of Education
Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast Representative of APCEIU
Secretary-General of Ghana National Commission for UNESCO
Representative of the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, IEPA
Deans, Registrars, Heads of Departments and Staff of University of Cape Coast NCCE, UNESCO & IEPA
Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to address this audience.
Global Citizenship Education aims at engendering an equitable global society ( a key objective of the SDGs) through actions of citizens of nations whose identity transcends national borders in today’s global setting.
According to UNESCO, Global Citizenship Education aims to be “transformative building knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to enable learners to contribute to a more inclusive, just and peaceful world.
The National Commission for Civic Education was established to educate and instill in
Ghanaians a culture of civic mindedness and appreciation of their rights and duties as a people. It is instructive to note that in 2017, NCCE organized a National Dialogue on values to begin a national discourse on values that reverberate with us as a nation. We hold the view that the values we share as a nation resonate with global values.
The essence of global Citizenship Education is to deliberately and purposefully impart knowledge and skills contextualised locally in order for learners of all ages to acquire the ‘know-how’ as key players in the social construct of humanity.
Our global village, largely attributable to modern technological advances in information and communications, allows for a more cohesive world, where the commonalities of experiences provide a platform for the convergence and sharing of ideas and values on cross-cutting issues.
Technology has enabled humanity now more than ever to connect and we must leverage on this connectedness for the sustainability of our human race.
As part of an international community, Ghana cannot afford to fail to teach our youth the skills and values that build a sustainable world community. These values include human rights, environmental protection and sustainability, religious pluralism and tolerance, gender equity, poverty alleviation, and economic empowerment, peacebuilding, and the safeguarding of cultural diversity.
We need a forward-thinking or visionary leadership in our youth who contribute constructively at the global level in finding solutions to humanity’s challenges. As the constitutionally mandated body to educate on civics, NCCE would adopt strategies to create awareness of the values of global citizenship.
Needless to say, we do have Ghanaian role models who are global citizens. Our late Kofi Annan was the essence of a global citizen. Other young Ghanaian global citizens include Anne Amuzu, CEO of Nandimobile leveraging on mobile penetration rates in Africa to create mobile customer service technology in Africa enabling businesses to connect with customers on mobile platforms. In 2013, she was selected among 27 emerging women leaders in the world by the Annual Fortune/ US State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership Program.
I urge participants of this workshop to imbibe knowledge and resources made available at this workshop as they enhance their capacity in various roles as teachers, educators, counselors, parents in raising a new generation of leaders who contribute meaningfully to the resilience of humanity.
I take this opportunity to express gratitude to the GH National Commission for UNESCO, Asia -Pacific Center of Education for International Understanding, and the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration under the UCC.
God bless us all as we strive to make our nation great and strong.
THANK YOU.
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