Features
Ghana: Time now for ‘democratic education’?
Ghana’s democratic dispensation in the 4th Republic is teaching us so many relevant lessons, as a nation.
And for our “new” democratic journey to “endure” , many Ghanaians strongly believe that our country must invest in the teaching and application of “democratic culture and education” at all levels of our educational ladder.
Education Minister
NCCE boss
Such Ghanaians hold the view that, even a lot of our current educated parliamentarians are “illiterates” in the subject of “democratic culture and education”; besides their “huge” deficiency in grasping the tenets of the 1992 Constitution.
Consequently, they insist that, for our evolving democratic culture to stand the test of time, Ghana must adequately invest in “democratic culture and education”.
Education is a vital component of any society, but especially of a democracy.
Indeed, the object of “democratic education” is to produce citizens who are independent, questioning and analytical in their outlook, yet deeply familiar with the precepts and practices of democracy and democratic culture.
Readers, democratic culture, in this sense, does not refer to art, literature or music, but the behaviours, practices and norms that define the ability of a people to govern themselves.
According to a renowned American scholar, Professor Chester E. Finn: “People may be born with an appetite for personal freedom, but they are not born with knowledge about the social and political arrangements that make freedom possible over time, for themselves and their children.
“Such things must be acquired. They must be learned.”
Professor Chester Finn says:”Education plays a singular role in free societies.
“While the education systems of other regimes are tools of those regimes; in a democracy, the regime is the servant of the people; people whose capacity to create , sustain and improve that regime, depends in a large measure, on the quality and effectiveness of the educational arrangements through which they pass.”
According to the 3rd President of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson:”If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was , and never shall be.”
Democracy is said to be a process, a way of living and working together. It is evolutionary, not static. It requires cooperation; compromise and tolerance among all citizens. Making it work is hard, not easy.
Democracy does not demand that citizens be universally virtuous; only that they will be responsible.
Political competitors do not necessarily have to like one another, but they must tolerate one another and acknowledge that each has a legitimate and important role to play. Moreover, the ground rules of society must encourage tolerance and civility in public debates.
Indeed, it is important to recognise that many conflicts in a democratic society are not between clear-cut “right” and “wrong”, but between differing interpretations of democratic rights and social priorities.
Really, individuals and groups must be willing, at a minimum, to tolerate each other’s differences, recognising that the other side has valid rights and legitimate point of view.
The various sides to a dispute, whether in a local neighbourhood or national Parliament, can then meet in a spirit of compromise and seek a specific solution that builds on the general principle of majority rule and minority rights.
Readers, some Ghanaians contend that there are many “democratic educators” in our tertiary institutions in the country and that if they are linked up with institutions like the National Commission for Civic Education; the Ghana Education Service and some non-governmental “democracy institutions”, a lot can be done in cultivating “democratic education” and culture across the mass of the people of Ghana.
Others are also calling for the establishment of a National Commission for Democracy; with the mandate to “conscientise” the mass of the people of Ghana about democratic education and culture and their practical application towards our national democratic development efforts.
So, readers, the ball is now kicked into the court of our national policy makers, to reflect and initiate a national conversation towards practical development of democratic education and culture and its actualisation in the Republic of Ghana.
Contact email/ WhatsApp of author:
asmahfrankg@gmail.com (0505556179)
BY G. FRANK ASMAH
This week I have a very strong desire to put on my Apostolic Cap and talk about the power available to children of God which we can utilise to generate positive outcomes, in our lives.
There is a phrase in the Bible that if Christians meditate on, can immensely transform their lives. In Matthew 28:6 there is a phrase “… as he said…” according to the King James Version.
Thus phrase forms part of a statement declared by an angel of God to two women who were disciples of Jesus who had gone to his tomb early in the morning on the third day after his death.
According to the Biblical account, the stone covering the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away and an Angel was sitting on it and he made the statement to the effect that the Jesus they are seeking is not there and that he had risen, as he said before his death.
His resurrection affirmed the authenticity and dependability of the word of Jesus and therefore the word of God.
Christianity has to do with faith in the word of God. Pastor Mensa Otabil said if we view Christianity as an inside out view, you would go inside to operate the power that is in you.
As a Christian, the spirit of God and therefore the power of God, dwells in you. Anyone who is aware of this truth, does not go around seeking to have a so called powerful person resolve his or her spiritual issues.
Most Christians who move from prophet to prophet, do not believe that the spirit of God which operates in a Pastor or Prophet, is the same spirit that dwells in him or her.
In fact , that Christian may be more ‘powerful’ than the Prophet or Pastor he is going to for prayers because he is living a holy life, which is pleasing to God, for God is no respecter of persons according to Acts 10:34-35.
God does not give out his spirit in different measures to indwell believers. The spirit of God that dwells in a new convert, is the same spirit that dwells in a Bishop or a Prophet or an Evangelist or an Elder or a Deacon.
All you need to do as a child of God is to believe in the word of God and know that it works and that according to 1 John 4:4 we, Christians, that the Spirit of God dwells in us have overcome the world and Jesus in us, is greater than the Devil who is out in the world, wrecking havoc all around.
If we realise that we have overcome the Devil and everything he controls, then we can believe and act in faith and make declarations and just as Christ declared that he will die and on the third day, he will rise from the dead and it manifested as he said, there shall be a manifestation of our declarations also.
The problem of modern day Christians is that, a lot of them, do not study and meditate on the word of God, so they do not witness the manifestation of the power of God, in their lives.
Such an experience over time, give them the impression that the spirit of God dwells in different dimensions in believers. This then leads them to seek solutions to their challenges from so called powerful men of God.
Some Pastors also fall into this misconception of the measure of the spirit of God in believers. When the size of a Pastor’s church for instance, is not increasing the way he had been praying for self-doubt sometimes begin to set in.
Especially, if he begins to compare his church with that of say a colleague from the same Bible School, then he begins to wonder if there is not a spiritual secret he is not aware of.
This is when, if care is not taken, fellow Pastors who appears to be very successful in the ministry but are using occultic powers, could sway them from the narrow path and get them trapped in the Devil’s clutches and eventually and inevitably, destroy their lives. God bless.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
Introduction
You have been there. Twenty tabs open comparing laptops. A blank page for an email you’ve been “thinking about” for three days. A menu with 30 options and you leave hungry.
This is decision paralysis: the state where the volume of information, options, or perceived stakes prevents you from making a decision at all. It’s not laziness. It’s a cognitive overload response.
In a data-rich environment, it’s becoming the default mode for both individuals and organisations.
This article breaks down why it happens, how it shows up, what it costs, and how to break it.
1. What decision paralysis actually is?
Decision paralysis is a failure of the decision-making system to convert information into action. Psychologists call it ‘analysis paralysis’ or ‘choice overload.’
It has three components:
1. Cognitive overload: Working memory can hold between four to seven chunks of information at once. When you try to track 20 variables, the system freezes.
2. Anticipatory regret: You overestimate the pain of making the wrong choice. The brain avoids the emotional cost by avoiding the choice.
3. Ambiguity aversion: Humans prefer known risks over unknown ones. When outcomes are uncertain, we stall.
The result is not neutral. Not deciding is a decision. It costs time, momentum, and opportunity
2. Why it’s getting worse now
2.1 Infinite options
Amazon has 350 million products. Netflix has 6000+ titles. Dating apps have unlimited profiles. The paradox of choice: more options increase initial satisfaction but decrease final satisfaction and increase regret.
2.2 Information abundance without synthesis
You can find 50 studies on sleep. Each one has caveats, conflicting results, and different methodologies. Without a framework to integrate them, more data creates more confusion, not clarity. This connects directly to the “data-rich, wisdom-poor” problem.
2.3 Reversibility anxiety
In the digital age, most decisions feel permanent. A bad post goes viral. A bad hire is public on LinkedIn. A bad career move is visible. The fear of irreversible error makes people delay.
2.4 Algorithmic mirroring
Platforms show you what you already engage with. This creates an illusion that there’s one ‘best’ option you are missing. You keep searching, convinced the optimal choice is one more scroll away.
3. How it shows up
Personal Level
Cannot pick a career path after six months of ‘research’
Spend two hours choosing a movie and watch nothing
Delay sending an email because it ‘isn’t perfect’
3.1 Organisational level
Teams spend 80 per cent of time in meetings gathering data, 20 per cent deciding
Product teams delay launch waiting for “one more data point”
KPIs multiply but no strategic choice is made
3.2 Common cognitive tells:
Endless comparison tables
Asking for one more opinion
Reframing the problem instead of solving it
Feeling drained after thinking but not acting
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
