Bece Past Questions & Answers – 2011 (SOCIAL STUDIES)

SOCIAL STUDIES 2

SOLUTIONS

ESSAY

PART I

GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND STABILITY

1. (a) Vegetation types
I – Tropical Rain Forest
II – Semi-deciduous forest
III – Coastal scrub and grassland
IV – Guinea savanna
V – Sudan savanna

(b) Benefits of water bodies in Ghana

(i) Means of Transportation – Canoes, boats, ferries, etc are used to transport persons and goods on certain rivers, lakes and the sea.

(ii) Source of Water for Domestic Purposes – People fetch water from streams, rivers, ponds, etc, for domestic uses, such as bathing, cooking, washing, and drinking. The
Ghana Water Company also gets water from our rivers and lakes for treatment and supply as potable water

(iii) Source of Water for Industrial Purposes – Certain industries rely on water from water bodies for some of their industrial operations

(iv) Source of Food (Fish / Protein) – Fishermen in Ghana obtain fish from our streams, rivers, lakes, lagoons, ponds and the sea.

(v) Source of Employment – Water bodies provide employment and therefore income both directly and indirectly to people such as fishermen, tour guides, Volta River Authority workers, farmers, etc.

(vi) Generation of Hydroelectric Power – The Akosombo dam generates electricity for the entire country using water from the Volta River. The Bui dam, also for generation of hydroelectric power is still under construction.

(vii) Tourist Attraction Sites – Certain rivers and lakes serve as tourist attractions, which help to generate income and foreign exchange for the country.

(viii) Salt Production from Sea Water – Salt can be obtained from sea water through evaporation

(ix) Irrigation of Farmlands – In areas where there is little or no rainfall, farmers rely on water bodies to grow their crops

(x) Drainage System to Prevent Flooding – When rain falls, the water runs into gutters / drains, which carry them into water bodies. This prevents flooding of communities, which could have caused destruction of life and property.

(xi) Habitat for Aquatic Organisms – Several organisms and micro organisms in the ecosystem live in various water bodies

(xii) Source of Minerals – Certain rivers have mineral deposits in them, eg, alluvial gold in Rivers Birim, Pra and Offin, alluvial diamond in the Birim River . Currently, crude oil is drilled from beneath the sea (off shore Western Region)

(xiii) Helps in Rain Formation – Large amounts of water vapour in the atmosphere come from water evaporation from the surface of water bodies. The water vapour rises higher, becomes cooler, condenses and falls as rain.
[any five]

2. (a) Cultural change
The gradual alteration or adaptations that occur in the way people live.
It includes changes in dressing, language, food, clothing, music, religion, beliefs, values, festivities and other expressions of culture

(b) Factors responsible for cultural change in Ghana

(i) Migration
Migration refers to movement of persons or groups of people from a place to settle in another place, either temporarily or permanently. When this happens it may affect the way they do things due to the difference in culture / natural environment of the new place. Eg a person who moves from a warm climatic region to a colder one may be compelled to change his/her dressing from light and scanty clothes to heavier body covering ones.

(ii) Education
Both formal and informal education is aimed at changing one‟s way of doing things as a result of acquired knowledge, skills and attitudes. As people learn, they acquire new knowledge, which tends to change the way they think / perceive things, which usually leads to a change in the way they live and therefore a change in culture. Eg, change in one‟s diet due to knowledge of importance of taking balanced diet.

(iii) Religion
One‟s religion usually defines what is acceptable or unacceptable. Different religions have different belief systems which impact on the way the followers live. For instance, people who change their religions may be compelled to also change the way they dress, the songs they can sing or listen to, the way they pray, sometimes the food they can eat or even the language they speak.

(iv) Urbanisation
People who move from rural areas to urban areas experience drastic changes in the way things are done. As time goes on, they forget about their old belief systems, values and traditional ethics. They now adopt the city lifestyle, which could mean changes in how they dress, how they dance, the songs they sing, the food they eat and even the good manners
and polite behaviour they used to have.

(v) New technology and innovation
Swift changes in current technologies and innovative ideas have brought about rapid changes in culture. These changes happen because most of these modern technologies are more interesting, less tiresome, much faster and more user-friendly. Eg, these days, spending days and weeks to clear / plough a piece of land with a hoe / cutlass can now be done in a much better way by a tractor within a few minutes or hours. Children would rather surf the internet, play computer or video games rather than enjoying storytelling. Letter writing has now been replaced by emails, phone calls, text messaging, chatting on social internet networks.

(vi) Inter-marriages
When people marry they usually change some of the way they do things, out of compulsion, mutual understanding or the love they have for their spouses. Eg, they learn how to prepare and eat different kinds of food. There may also be changes in the way they talk, dress, work, worship God, relate with others, etc.

(vii) The Media
Both the print and electronic media play very significant roles in changing cultures of people. The more people see and hear a particular thing / behaviour, the more accustomed they get to that thing / behaviour. With time, these viewers and listeners gradually change from their old cultural ways of doing things to what they have been seeing / hearing. Many times, such changes are actually unconscious – ie, they don‟t intentionally decide to

change, however they suddenly find themselves doing it. Eg, using a swear word (profane language) or unconsciously humming a song one heard on radio / TV. [any four]

PART II

OUR ENVIRONMENT

3. (a) Contribution of Ghana to the United Nations Organization
(i) Peace-keeping operations in war-torn countries
(ii) Payment of dues – financial contribution
(iii) Human resource contribution – eminent Ghanaians serving at the UNO in various capacities
(iv) Sheltering refugees fleeing from their countries
(v) Participating in deliberations programmes at the UNO general assembly and other organs
(vi) Assisting and facilitating the operations and campaigns of UN specialised agencies such as
FAO, WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, etc
[any four]

(b) Ways in which Ghana has benefited from the United Nations Organization
(i) Loans and grants from the IMF and the World Bank to support development projects
(ii) Health delivery services provided by the WHO
(iii) International recognition as a result of our membership of the UNO (iv) Rural developmental projects by the UNDP
(v) Food and Agricultural developmental programmes by the FAO
(vi) Employment of Ghanaians at the UNO and its specialised agencies.
(vii) Support for Ghana‟s democracy by supply of international observers during general
elections
[any four]

4. (a) Separation of powers
The practice where each of the three arms of government work independently of the others
(The three arms are the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary)

(b) Advantages of separation of powers
(i) It prevents dictatorial tendencies of any arm of government, since absolute power is not given to any one governmental organ

(ii) It ensures the rule of law in the governance of the country
(iii) It protects the rights and freedoms of the people
(iv) It supports specialization of duties, which promotes efficiency
(v) It gives room for checks and balances of one arm from the other arms and therefore enhances effectiveness of governance.
(vi) It reduces corruption and abuse of power.
[any four]

PART III

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

5. Ways by which Ghana can reduce her dependency on foreign support
(i) Supporting local industries to produce more local („made-in-Ghana‟) goods
(ii) Encouraging industries to add value to primary goods for both local consumption and export
(iii) Encouraging Ghanaians to patronise „made-in-Ghana‟ goods
(iv) Increasing locally generated income by widening the tax net
(v) Fighting corruption in order to conserve locally generated funds
(vi) Increasing the production of export goods in order to earn more foreign exchange
(vii) Investing more in the education of Ghanaians in order to provide higher skilled labour / expertise
(viii) Giving indigenous experts and companies that chance to work on specialised projects, which would have been given to expatriates
(ix) Granting scholarships to Ghanaians to train in highly specialised fields
(x) Providing attractive incentives for local experts to stay and work in Ghana
[any five]

6. (a) Ways through which human resource can be developed in Ghana
(i) Training and retraining
– Staff of institutions and other bodies must be given in-service training on a continuous basis in order to update their knowledge, sharpen their skills and positively improved their work attitudes. This would promote efficiency and higher productivity.

(ii) High quality and specialized education
– Students must be educated in specialized areas that are relevant to the current economic environment, rather than being given mere classical and theoretical lessons/lectures, which may not be beneficial enough to them nor to the nation.

(iii) Improved working condition
– The conditions under which employees work should be significantly improved in order to bring out the best in them. These conditions include the physical, social and political (work policies) environments

(iv) Opportunities for further studies

Organization must create opportunities, scholarship schemes and sponsorships for further studies for their staff based on specified criteria. These would greatly motivate workers to work harder in order to meet the criteria for sponsorship or scholarship awards.

(v) Availability of job opportunities
There is the need for the government and other bodies to create more job opportunities for school leavers. This will enable them to practice what they have learnt, in order to gain experience and perfect their skills.

(vi) Effective monitoring and supervision
Managements of institutions must ensure effective and regular supervision, monitoring, assessment and evaluation. This would keep workers on their toes and motivate them to work more diligently.

(vii) Equitable wages and salaries
It is vital for workers to be paid fair wages and salaries. In this regard, managements should consider paying workers based on performance, rather than on a general basis. If done, this will surely encourage hardworking staff to work even harder and the lazy ones to sit up and work more efficiently.

(viii) Security and welfare services
Every worker desires a certain level of both job and financial security. It is important therefore that worker be given security and welfare services, such as social security scheme, life / fire / motor insurance, staff welfare packages, etc. This helps to put workers‟ minds at ease, and therefore the peace of mind to focus on their work.

(ix) Award Schemes
As social beings, we all want to be given the recognition where it is due. Institutions in order to further motivate their staff, should consider setting up various award and reward schemes. The selection of winners must be done in the most transparent and objective manner possible, in order to maintain the credibility of the scheme. This should help to inspire workers to put in more for higher productivity.

(x) Use of efficient working tools
In recent times, there has been an emphasis that for greater productivity, there is the need to work smarter, rather than working harder. This simply stresses the need for using efficient modern tools / technology to produce more in less time. Workers using efficient working tools would do more work, as they would enjoy putting in relatively less effort and having
greater output.
[any four]

(b) Reasons why labour is not fully used in Ghana
 Insufficient job opportunities
 Inadequate training
 Lack of effective supervision

 Low quality of education
 Poor working conditions
 Lack of opportunities for further studies
 Unfair wages and salaries
 Lack of award schemes
 Lack of efficient working tools
 Inadequate security and welfare schemes [any two]