2012 HARMATTAN SCHOOL

 

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THEME:
LITERACY, EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT – KEY STRATEGIES TO ATTAINING THE MDGS

DATE: 6TH – 8TH February 2012
VENUE: GILLBT Conference Hall, Kanville, Tamale

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I) THE HARMATTAN SCHOOL   
The Centre for Continuing Education and Interdisciplinary Research (CCEIR) of the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), in collaboration with other institutions, hereby invite government agencies, academia, interest groups and civil society organisations to participate in the 2012 Harmattan School.  The Harmattan School concept was instituted in 2007 by University for Development Studies (UDS) to provide a platform for policy makers, researchers and development practitioners to interact on an annual basis to brainstorm on pertinent development issues. Organised by CCEIR, it is usually held in February (i.e. in the middle of the Harmattan season which runs from December to March each year). For 2012, the School is jointly organised by the CCEIR-UDS and GILLBT, and seeks to create a platform   to bring together academia, civil society and the people of Northern Ghana as well as other interest groups to discuss issues bordering on Literacy, Education, and Development.

II) OBJECTVES OF THE 2012 HARMATTAN SCHOOL 
The main objective of the 2012 Harmattan School is to bring together stakeholders; academia, policy makers and implementers, state authorities and civil society organisations and other interest groups to discuss the role of Literacy and Education to the socio- economic development of Ghana, and the MDGs in general. More specifically the 2012 School has the following objectives:

  • Analytically explore the linkages between Literacy, Education and Development;
  • Empirically assess the contributions of different organisations----multilateral organisations; state institutions; NGOs, CSOs, CBOs---to the triple imperatives of Literacy, Education and Development
  • Outline and discuss a set of strategies to address the enduring challenge of Literacy, Education and Development in the attainment of the MDGs.

The Harmattan School will be organised around a number of keynotes, plenary, panel and    individual papers presentations. Some of the confirmed keynote and plenary speakers include:

  • Prof Haruna Yakubu; Vice Chancellor, UDS, Tamale
  • Prof. Esther Goody; University of Cambridge, UK
  • Dr. Barbara Trudell; Director of Research and Advocacy, SIL Africa Area, KENYA.
  • Dr Abdoul Wahab Coulibaly, Education Specialist, UNESCO, Accra, GHANA (tbc)
  • Dr. Paul Frank; CEO, SIL Literacy Education and Development (LEAD), USA.
  • Prof. Emmanuel Abakah; University of Education, Winneba,  GHANA (tbc)
  • Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah, Executive Director, GILLBT

A Highlight of the 2012 Harmattan School would be presentations highlighting 50 years of contributions to Adult Literacy by the GILLBT, an organisation whose work in Adult Literacy in Ghana has won UNESCO’s NESSIM HABIF PRIZE.  

The results of the conference would also be fed into a National Literacy Policy Conference which takes place at the same venue on February 9-10, 2012.

III) CALL FOR PAPERS
Researchers, members of civil society organisations and development practitioners are invited to submit papers on but not limited to the following sub-themes:

  1. Literacy, Education and the MDGs
  2. Literacy and Multi- Lingual Education
  3. Literacy and Formal Education
  4. Literacy and Child Education
  5. Development Driven Literacy
  6. Community based Literacy
  7. Development Strategies/ Case Studies
  8. Education and health for human capital development
  9. Gender, Literacy and Development
  10. The Institutional and Policy Context of Literacy
  11. Comparative Perspectives

 
IV) GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION 
Interested participants should submit an abstract of not more than 250 words outlining purpose, methodology, major findings, conclusions and recommendations and full papers by e-mail in MS Word by December 16, 2011.

 

V) CONTACT INFORMATION 
All submissions should be sent as MS Word attachments to the following email addresses:
E-mail: cceirtamale@yahoo.com; Judithbawa@gmail.com , peter_wangara@gillbt.org        

For further information, please call the following numbers:

 0372022080; 03720223175/9; 0244521463; 02446416653

Details of the School will be sent later to all persons responding to this advertisement.