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Low profiling of science in national
culture is a shortcoming -
Dr. Letitia Obeng
Accra, Nov. 26, Ghanadot/GNA Dr. Letitia Obeng, President
of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences on Monday
described as grave national shortcoming how low the nation
rated science in the assessment of things.
She said the country really has no excuse for not having a
vigorous science presence in its culture mainly because
various aspects and elements of the nation's culture were
firmly rooted in principles of science.
In her Presidential Address to open the Academy's Founders
Week Celebration in Accra, Dr. Obeng said: "...It appears in
Ghana, science has such a low rating in the assessment of
things that there is only a lukewarm interest in, and at
best, adequate public involvement in issues related to
science.
"It seems that science and technology are definitely not
seen as priorities in Ghana," she said and explained that
the involvement with science in the educational system,
science and technology research institutions and a few
standard regulatory bodies was far from showing national
consciousness of the subject.
Dr. Obeng, a renowned scientist said it was of crucial
importance that the apparent rating of science in the
affairs of the nation, be elevated so that the essence of
the discipline might find a firm acceptable and recognition
at the highest levels of governance.
"That way, the awareness and importance attached to science
at that level may trickle down to the general public and
community," she said.
She said, it was unfortunate that even though science forms
part of our daily lives, the subject has been made out to be
such a difficult and hyper-technical discipline that even
its mention raised immediate visions and "bombs" among non-
scientists.
Dr. Obeng said to give science an integral part of national
planning; there was the need to establish a specific body
which to solely build linkages between research institutions
and those who would use the results of their research for
national development.
This, according to her, would relieve the scientists of
marketing their products to contribute to their upkeep and
help them concentrate fully on innovative technologies.
"In this age with complex daily life activities, all
citizens of any country which is desirous of improvement
through national development must become science literate,"
Dr Obeng noted.
For the non-scientists and non-literate public, she said
there was the need to demystify science and laid it bare for
them to know that the subject was not something that was
acquired in the classroom alone but that it lived within the
human spirit.
Dr Obeng painted a beautiful picture of what Ghana could
have been if Ghanaians achieved a suitable level of
awareness of the importance of science and technology and
said among other things: "I imagine a Ghana where trees
stand tall and handsome in the countryside without fear of
being butchered indiscriminately and dragged down to
Takoradi for export."
In a poetic fashion she concluded: "I imagine a Ghana where
streams and rivers provide homes for healthy fish and birds
flying from tree to tree; and ants busily hunt for food and
butterflies flit to lovely flowers which perfumes our days
and nights.
Dr Obeng said that was a dream of possibility and Ghana must
make the decision and choice now.
GNA
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