Bece Past Questions & Answers – 2010 (SOCIAL STUDIES)

SOCIAL STUDIES 2

SOLUTIONS

ESSAY

PART I

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND STABILITY

1. (a) Cau
(i) ses of irresponsible adolescent behaviour
Lack of proper parental guidance
(ii) Broken homes
(iii) Poverty of both parent and child
(iv) Peer pressure
(v) Low self esteem of adolescent
(vi) Fallen standards of social morality
(vii) Lack of knowledge of dangers involved
(viii) Disrespect shown to adolescent by parents
(ix) Lack of self control of adolescents
(x) Irresponsible behaviours of parents, eg, smoking, womanizing, etc
(xi) Curiosity of adolescents
[any four]

(b) Benefits of adolescent chastity
(i) Honour to adolescent’s family
An adolescent who stays chaste brings honour to both him/herself and the famil, since it would mean that the family trained him/ her and brought him/ her up properly.

(ii) High social reputation (how society sees one)
Chastity is a virtue that society strongly upholds. Those who stay chaste are therefore held in high esteem. Everyone respects an adolescent who is chaste.

(iii) High self esteem / confidence (how one sees himself/herself)
A chaste adolescent has a high level of self esteem / confidence, knowing very well that others respect him/ her due to his/ her chastity.

(iv) Peace of mind (sound mind) to focus on education.

A chaste adolescent does not have to bother about the things that may bother his/ her unchaste friends. There are no worries by him/ her/ the family concerning whether she may be pregnant, may have acquired a sexually transmitted disease, or even what others think of him/ her. He/ she enjoys a sound mind in these regards and therefore can focus better on
his/ her education.

(v) Smooth progress of education of adolescent
Unlike unchaste adolescents who may have to suspend or even stop their education entirely due to problems related to pregnancy / STDs / social stigma, the chaste adolescent enjoys a smooth progress in his/ her education. He/ she does not have to stop school due to pregnancy, or STDs or stigma of being unchaste.

(vi) Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) can be gotten if only one has had any form of sexual contact. For that matter, it is practically impossible for a chaste adolescent to be infected with an STD (except he/ she obtained it through other means, which have very low probabilities)

(vii) Avoidance of teenage pregnancy and related problems
A female can get pregnant in the natural way only by having sexual intercourse. A chaste adolescent therefore avoids teenage pregnancy and its related problems as long as she stays so.

(viii) Greater trust and respect from spouse in marriage
An adolescent who stays chaste till marriage earns the trust and respect of his/ her spouse
in marriage. The thinking is that if he/ she stayed chaste all the while, then chances are that he/ she would continue to remain faithful in marriage.

(ix) Higher chance of attracting responsible partner for marriage
Most responsible people would want to marry people who have maintained their chastity. A chaste adolescent therefore has a higher prospect as regards attracting a responsible partner. (A widely held belief is that, we reap what we sow. If that is true, then, chaste people are most likely to marry equally chaste partners)
[any four]

2. (a) Causes of environmental degradation
(i) indiscriminate sand winning [land] (ii) indiscriminate mining [land] (iii) timber lumbering [land] (iv) heavy rainfall causing erosion [land] (v) overgrazing [land] (vi) indiscriminate dumping of refuse [land and water] (vii) Excessive use of fertilizers [land and water] (viii) Excessive use of pesticides [land and water]

(ix) oil spillage [water] (x) Dumping of industrial waste in water bodies [water] (xi) indiscriminate sewage disposal [water] (xii) toxic gases from industries [water] (xiii) Dumping of industrial waste in water bodies [water] (xiv) smoke from bush/refuse burning [air] (xv) Smoking of cigarettes, marijuana, etc [air] (xvi) Excessive dust from construction sites [air] (xvii) exhaust fumes from vehicles [air] (xviii) Excessive noise-making [noise] [any four]

(b) Ways by which the environment can be protected from degradation
(i) Reforestation – planting more trees to replace ones cut down
(ii) Afforestation – planting more trees to create a forest
(iii) Recycling of waste – Waste materials which are not biodegradable must be recycled. (iv) Legislation – Making and enforcing laws to prevent human activities that cause
environmental degradation
(v) Setting up government agencies to control the activities of miners and sand winners. (vi) Encouraging miners, farmers, fishermen, etc to use appropriate methods
(vii) Public education on protection of the environment by government and other organizations
(viii) Checking erosion by terracing, ridging, planting cover crops and wind brakes
(ix) Ensuring proper disposal of sewage and industrial waste – by governmental agencies
[any four]

PART II

OUR ENVIRONMENT

3. (a) Characteristics of a good law
(i) It must be reasonable
(ii) It must be human centred
(iii) It must be enforceable
(iv) It must be applicable to all
(v) It must be able to stand the test of time
(vi) It must be clear and specific, not vague
[any four] (b) Benefits of law in a society

(i) It protects life and property
– by preventing wicked from carrying out certain disastrous actions

(ii) It promotes peace and harmony
– by encouraging neighbourliness, tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution approaches

(iii) It encourages responsible behaviour of people
– by spelling out what is expected of citizens / inhabitants.

(iv) It protects one’s fundamental human rights
– by indicating the human rights that people are entitled to.

(v) It promotes good governance
– by outlining the responsibilities of various arms/organs of government

(vi) It promotes stability and security
– by highlighting the roles of the security services

(vii) It facilitates higher productivity
– by spelling out the modes of operations of both public and private enterprises

(viii) It promotes the development of the nation
– by addressing conditions that could hinder development
[any four]

4. (a) Citizenship
Membership of a country
Or:
The legal right to belong to a particular country

(b)
Ways by which one could become a citizen of Ghana

(i) By place of birth
(ii) By naturalization
(iii) By registration and marriage
(iv) By adoption
(v) By conferment
(vi) By presumption
(vii) By parentage/or ancestry [any four]

(i) By birth
– Any person, except children of diplomats, born in the country is considered a citizen of
Ghana

(ii) By ancestry
– A person who was born anywhere, after the present constitution came into force, who has either parent or grandparent being Ghanaian, is considered a citizen of Ghana.

(iii) By Presumption
– A child of seven years or less found in Ghana whose parents are not known is presumed to be a citizen of Ghana

(iv) By Adoption
– A child sixteen years or less, who has been adopted by a citizen of Ghana is also considered to be a citizen of Ghana

(v) By Marriage
– A person, married to or was married to a citizen of Ghana, who applies for registration as a citizen of Ghana could be granted Ghanaian citizenship

(vi) By Naturalization
– a person who has lived in Ghana for a number of years and satisfies certain specified legal requirements may be granted citizenship of Ghana.

(vii) By Conferment
– The president of Ghana may confer honorary citizenship on a foreigner in order to appreciate or honour him / her.

(c) Duties of a citizen of Ghana
(i) Obeying the laws of the land
(ii) Paying rates and taxes
(iii) Protecting state property and the environment
(iv) Defending the constitution of the nation
(v) Being faithful and loyal to the state
(vi) Participating in national events such as census, general elections
(vii) Respecting the rights of other citizens
(viii) Being productive and hardworking
(ix) Preventing and helping to stop criminal acts.
[any three]

PART III

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

5. (a) Secondary production

Converting raw material into finished and semi-finished products

Examples of secondary production
(i) Baking bread
(ii) Making ornaments (jewellery) (iii) Textile production
(iv) Brewing beer
(v) Constructing buildings and roads
(vi) Producing chocolates
(vii) Processing gari
(viii) Manufacturing cars, etc
[any two]

(b) Reasons why the secondary production sector is important in Ghana

(i) Helps the country to earn and conserve foreign exchange
– by exporting the secondary products

(ii) It reduces the nation’s over-reliance on foreign goods
– by producing the goods that the nation would have otherwise imported from other countries

(iii) It adds value to the basic / raw materials
– which helps to generates more income for both the sector industries and the government.

(iv) Helps in the development of infrastructure
– as part of their social responsibility programmes, the sector industries may help to provide various forms of infrastructure

(v) Creates job opportunities for the people
– by employing people with the right skills and training to work in the sector industries.

(vi) It reduces the rural-urban migration
– in the cases where production centres or branches or agencies are located in the rural areas.

(vii) It increases the sources of income to the government
– by the payments of taxes and other levies.

(viii) Reduces the margins of post harvest loss
– as raw materials are processed into finished and semi-finished products.
[any four]

6. (a) Ways of improving the health needs of Ghanaians
(i) Building more hospitals and other health facilities
(ii) Taking steps to maintaining, expanding and improving existing health facilities
(iii) Training and retraining more health workers, such as doctors and nurses
(iv) Instituting health insurance schemes
(v) Improving the conditions of service of health workers to encourage them to stay and work in Ghana
(vi) Using modern equipment at our health centres
(vii) Educating Ghanaians to adopt healthier lifestyles, such as eating balanced diets, drinking lots of water, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep
(viii) Improving upon sanitation in our communities
(ix) Providing potable water
(x) Encouraging Ghanaians to maintain good personal hygiene.
[any four]

(b) Ways by which improved health of the people can contribute to national development

(i) Higher efficiency at work
– A sound mind in a sound body works more efficiently than one in a sick body. Good health is therefore crucial for higher work efficiency (more and excellent work done in a relatively short time).

(ii) Greater work regularity / consistency
– More work would be done, when people go to work regularly when in good health.

(iii) Greater punctuality
– Both workers and students can be more punctual at work, if they are in good health. This should increase the work output for national development.

(iv) Higher creativity and effectiveness
– Improved health of people would make them more creative and innovative in finding solutions to problems, and hence promote national development.

(v) Ready supply of labour
– There would be a ready supply of people who can always be called upon to render a particular service, only when they are in good health

(vi) Increased financial income for the nation
– The healthier people are, the better they work, and hence, the higher the productivity.
Higher productivity produces higher financial incomes both for the people and the state.

(vii) Better Socialization

– People who are healthier are able to socialize better. Better socialization leads to greater cohesion, tolerance, cooperation, communal spirit and patriotism, all ofwhich contributes to national development
[any four]