UPSA Graduate students’ schooled on truth, character, and discipline at the 2019 practitioners forum-The uncommon worker

The graduate school of the University of Professional studies is organizing series of forums dubbed “The Practitioners Forum” to provide level 700 students the chance to interact with business leaders. The series of forums would go a long way to help bridge the gap between knowledge acquired in their various fields of learning and the world of work and provide them with cutting edge information, ideas as well as empower them before they graduate.

At one of such forums under the theme “The Uncommon worker” presented by Rev Bernard Arde-Acquah, founder of Powerhouse Ministries International was very thought-provoking and inspiring. It is aimed at challenging graduate students to become agents of change that Ghana and Africa needs.

The uncommon worker -Truth, Character and Discipline

Below are excerpts of the talk. This section is titled truth, character and discipline” three other parts of the talk on the uncommon worker will be published later.

He was of the view that Africa will not be changed by the number of prayers we say but a change in attitude. China, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia do not only pray but have integrated character into their national psyche and therefore can confidently say a Kilo of Gari is worth one Kilo, thus being truthful. This characters and truth pervades the systems and is a lifestyle of the people no matter their religion. He added that, in every nation, he that works righteousness is accepted by him. So you can pray and not have a good character, you can be in church or mosques every day, but unless we translate that church service into a national psyche that benefits human beings or else we must as well close down.

The uncommon worker -Truth

What is truth? Truth is a diligent pursuit of knowledge that by research investigates and establishes what you have been taught and so, you are no longer interested at this level just to come to hear some teaching you but rather, you investigate it and teach yourself so that based on what has been taught you, you can produce effectively with it.

This makes you proficient and allows you to utilize the knowledge to solve problems in an effective way. Secondly, the requirement of truth allows you to deal with society in a just and equitable way that builds trust. Truth creates trust, trust the glue that holds the people together and allows for the wellbeing and the health of the citizenry. We must all commit ourselves to institutionalize truth in our country. A gentleman told me he had an accident and lost his car, and he went to an insurance company and the first thing the insurance company asked was that he dropped a check before be pick the value of the car and as long as he did not do it, he was not going to get anything. How do we trust ourselves? If we exploit ourselves without any shame, it is called character.

The uncommon worker – Discipline

Another thing is discipline. Discipline refers to the observance of an appropriate behaviour and way of life and disciplined persons must learn to do away with destructive behaviour which stifles growth and such a person understands the repercussions of his conduct and therefore strives to do only the things which positive consequences.

Formal education can impact discipline into students by employing or creating reformative punishment systems which reward discipline and sanction indiscipline. There must be punitive measures to check unacceptable conducts such as indecent dressing, vulgar language, and absenteeism. This kind of education produces a breed of productive, punctual, trustworthy and loyal citizens that allow them to deliver in a disciplined manner with the welfare of their companies and countries at heart. A major aspect of discipline is self-discipline that is the ability to do what is necessary or sensible without needing to be edged or supervised by another person. Self-discipline is also defined as the ability to do what has to be done at the time it has to be done whether it is convenient or not.

The lack of discipline in many people educated people is the cause of their failure. It is Self-discipline which will make a government official reject a bribe or an athlete refuse to dupe. Sometimes, when you look at our policemen on the street, and they take GH5.00 you can imagine what will happen if someone gives them $10,000, they will sell the country. We all need to come to a point of discipline that what will make you decide that, I will not engage in wrongdoing. Discipline makes the people law-abiding, faithful and truly worthy. Education must produce disciplined people who will not steal, cheat, disobey rules, and disrespect authority. In his book “My vision, challenges in the mist of excellence” by Mohammed Bin Rashid he said, “if parents are serious about their wards future, they should be equally serious about how they deal them, they should edge them to study at the right time, teach the children to respect themselves, their family and others, help them develop the best behaviour at home, at school and elsewhere. If parents want to help their children successfully move from one stage of life to another, they need to excise an appropriate amount of firmness, I believe this is the way to go’.

It is the sole responsibility of the family to teach individuals the right and appropriate behaviour. The work place is not a place to teach people discipline, it is a place for production.