TOPIC: PRIORITISING ICT EDUCATION IN GHANA.In 2014, government began the implementation of the ICT for Accelerated Development policy in the education sector, and ICT syllabus for the Basic and Second cycle institutions were developed by the GES and teaching also commenced. While this is commendable, there still remains very serious concerns with the teaching and learning of the subject at all sectors of the educational structure.In reality, ICT is not given much priority in our schools. The first concern is the fact that the Colleges of Education are not producing teachers who are specialized in the teaching of ICT at the Basic level. Furthermore, many ICT teachers from the universities lack the necessary technical and practical training to be able to teach ICT effectively at the senior high schools. It is common knowledge that majority of our schools do not have the needed infrastructure for ICT teaching and learning.Recently, a video showing some pupils practicing how to click a computer mouse with stones during an ICT class went viral on social media. It was simply because the school did not have a single computer and the teacher had to improvise. Interestingly, the ICT tutor of the Assin Asamankese D/A Primary School in the Assin South District of the Central Region incurred the wrath of the District Director of Education who claimed his conduct was a disgrace to the school and the district as a whole. It may be true that government has made efforts to provide some facilities, but ironically these go to mainly the well-endowed schools to the neglect of the deprived ones which need them most.Another concern has to do with the syllabi for the teaching of ICT. It appears that the content is either so vague or shallow that it will require the ingenuity of a teacher to make something out of it. It is not surprising therefore that some students complain that questions asked in BECE have no bearing on what they were taught in school.As a way forward, there must be a deliberate effort to revolutionize the teaching of ICT in our schools. As the first step, only ICT or Computer Science and Engineering professionals should be made to teach the subject. ICT is a purely technical subject and those who teach it must equally have the technical know-how. There is a notion that when the student is able to make some use of the ICT tool as in computers and mobile devices that is enough indication that ICT education is going on well. That is problematic. The focus should be training the students to actually make productive use of these devices which can make them even employable after school.There is also the need to improve on the time allotted for the teaching of the subject. The situation where some schools allot the subject, one period of 45 minutes is disturbing. Efforts should be made to allot a minimum of three periods a week to the subject. The problem is, granted the schools have the requisite facilities, what can be achieved in 45 minutes in a week?Going forward, the National Council for Tertiary Education should introduce ICT education in all Colleges of Education. Institutions of higher learning should offer the much needed practical ICT technical training. Government should ensure equitable distribution of ICT infrastructure. The focus should shift from the provision of laptops to students to the provision of durable desktop computers to schools. There is also the need for a review of the ICT syllabi for both basic and second cycle institutions.In order to make students pay greater attention to the subject, ICT should be made examinable at the senior high level just as it is in the basic level. If we want to compare Ghanaian students to their counterparts in USA, Britain, China, Japan among others who are able to develop serious ICT projects, then we need to pay better attention to the teaching and learning of the subject. We cannot offer them half-baked education and expect them to be highly productive.BY CHARLES MENSAH, AN ICT TUTOR , KONADU YIADOM CATHOLIC SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL.
Gov’t to launch universal QR code to make Ghana cashless society
The government will in December 2019 launch a Universal QR code in a bid to make Ghana a cashless society, Vice President, Dr. Mahammudu Bawumia has announced. He says with the code which leverages on existing technologies, traders and businesses will be able receive payments without a point of sale device. Dr. Bawumia who was speaking at the third Chamber Business Awards, indicated that the successful implementation of the system, will make it the first of its kind in Africa. “We will introduce what we call the Universal QR code. It leverages the technologies that we have built. Once we launch the Universal QR code, all businesses and traders will essentially no longer need point of sale devices. Mobile phones will be sufficient to receive payment wherever, and will go directly into your account that you have received payment. This is going to start next month. Singapore, China and the UK have all launched the QR code so Ghana is going to be the first in Africa. We are going to launch it next month so we move on to be a cashless society to make e-commerce enhancing.” Paperless Hospitals Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia also reiterated that the government will in the next two years complete the paperless system for all hospitals and CHPS compounds in the country. According to the Vice President, this forms part of the government’s digitization agenda to eliminate the human interface that is fraught with corruption tendencies. He added that, a paperless healthcare delivery system will bring down the cost of accessing medical care. “Some hospitals have gone paperless. Others are going paperless and so for us, we want to complete the process right down to the CHPS compounds. That will help us in the delivery of quality health services and bring down the cost of healthcare There is so much fraud in the system. Once we have the paperless system, we can move patients from one hospital to another and they will not have to carry their folders along”, he added. Government’s paperless systems agenda Since the assumption of the New Patriotic Party, the government continues to express its resolve to automate all transactions to reduce human interaction. The move aims at reducing turnaround time for businesses and eliminating corruption. As a result, government began the implementation of the paperless clearing system on September 1, 2017, to speed up the process of clearing goods from two weeks to four hours, and ensure order at the port, whilst blocking loopholes. According to the Vice President revenue increased from GH₵130 million in the first week of September 2016, to GH₵213 million in the same period for 2017. Source: https://www.graphic.com.gh/
Sex for Grades: Gyampo, Butakor were our targets — BBC
BBC Africa Eye has revealed that two lecturers at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Butakor, were the main focus of the sex for grades docummentary. The BBC said it had numerous received reports that the two lecturers were allegedly harassing students on campus. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Ghanaweb, BBC Africa Eye explained that the team only resorted to using secret filming of the targets after substantive evidence was gathered. Publicist for BBC World Service Group Communications. Marina Forsythe revealed that the BBC had been served with first-hand testimonies of harassment, text message screenshots, or recordings from students serving as enough evidence for the research to be conducted. She added that contrary to reports that there were other lecturers captured in the sex for grades eposé, the focus of the documentary was to provide evidence for the earlier reports from students. According to her, although secret filming was the last resort in providing evidence for the documentary – because of strict editorial guidelines – it became necessary to adopt it. Prof. Ransford Gyampo and Dr Paul Butakor are among three lecturers who were captured in the BBC documentary “Sex for Grades” intended to expose lecturers who allegedly sexually harass students in exchange for better grades. They have been interdicted and are waiting to appear before the University of Ghana’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee where further investigations will be conducted into the matter. <iframe width=”650″ height=”450″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/we-F0Gi0Lqs” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe> Source: https://www.myjoyonline.com
Stop filing ‘disheartening’ stories about Ghana – Botchwey to journalists
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has challenged the leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to sensitise media practitioners across the country to be accurate in their reportage Ms Botchwey said this when the leadership of the GJA, as part of activities leading to its 70th-anniversary celebration, paid a courtesy call on her on Wednesday, 16 October 2019. “The media have a role to play to ensure that we are all made aware of what we have. Sometimes, as I said, you read some reports and it’s disheartening, especially when you have, in some cases, taken pains to walk people through a certain process to where you are and then the reports come and it’s totally different. A small part [of all you said] is taken and that’s what is highlighted and sometimes it’s not the best,” she stated. The minister also congratulated the GJA for their 70th-anniversary adding that there is no justification for to be attacked in their line of duty. For his part, GJA President Roland Affail Monney commended the minister for her role in uplifting Ghana’s image and expressed the need to give more education to journalists to have the national interest at heart when reporting for international media. “Our elders teach us that it is wrong, culturally, it is even demeaning to point to your family house with your left hand, and some journalists, either out of mischief or whatever, will do stories which denigrate our image as a country. I know some of these stories are rooted in ignorance and others in mischief. But in all these, we need education on the implications of the stories we do but before the education or training programmes come, we have a duty, as professionals, indeed, every journalist worth his or her salt ought to weigh the implications, think through the consequences of whatever story we do relative to the national interest,” he noted. Source: https://www.ghanaweb.com/
Aggrieved Gold Coast Customers trying to destabilise operations of Groupe Nduom – Managment
Management of BlackShield Fund Management, formerly, Gold Coast Fund Management has accused members of the Aggrieved Gold Coast Customers of trying to disrupt the operations of affiliate companies of Groupe Nduom. The management in a statement said members of the group had convinced other customers not to answer phone calls from the company. “We are currently calling our customers with balances under 2,000 to confirm their mobile money or bank details and make arrangements to pay them. We are aware that members of the group have encouraged those receiving calls not to answer the phone and not to come for their money, arguing that these payments are a tactic to reduce their strength as a unified group. We wish to assure our customers that our phone calls are genuine and urge them to come for their money when contacted.” “Members of this group have made it their agenda to try and destabilize the operations of Groupe Nduom member companies such as the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel.” It added. Management of BlackShield further noted that all attempts to meet with the leadership of the group have proved futile. Read the full statement below <iframe src=”https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DmXQ4S-ZQtR68If5nzVbn05r2tTiPi4T/preview” width=”640″ height=”480″></iframe> Source: https://www.ghanaweb.com
PPD Warns John Mahama Over Unsubstantiated Comments
The Patrons for Peace and Democracy, (PPD), is warning former President, John Dramani Mahama to desist from making comments which are untrue and likely to trigger mayhem in the country. “What we are saying is that we need peace and for that matter the ex President John Mahama should stop spreading falsehood into the minds of the populace. We have weighed his utterances carefully for some time and we would like to say that his mudus operandi is to put fear in Ghanaians,” the statement said. Former President John Mahama had alleged that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is training thugs in batches at Asutuare to cause mayhem during the 2020 polls. “We remember what happened in Ayawaso West Wuogon. I pray that, God forbid, nothing like that ever happens again. But you know the issue of vigilantes, especially one party is training vigilantes,” former President Mahama said. In a statement issued by PPD, in Accra and signed by the group leader Dr Richard Danso, the PPD urged the Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), ex President Jerry John Rawlings to counsel his party and also advise former President John Mahama on the implications of his utterances which go against the credibility of his party. The PPD, in July 2016 predicted that the NDC party would get 44percent of the total vote cast during the general elections, and it turned out to be so. “Our concern is, what should be a concern to every Ghanaian is that, even with the 44 percent that the NDC and John Mahama had in the 2016 general elections, it has to take the intervention of His Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the king of the Ashanti Region to advise John Mahama and his party to relinquish power”. “Our major fear for next year election is that would John Mahama accept defeat, especially when we are predicting 41 percent of the total votes for the 2020 general elections for him and the NDC party. What John Mahama is doing now is to prepare the minds of Ghanaians for mayhem, in case the 2020 election results don’t favour him.” According to PPD, “what we would like to hear from John Mahama is, what are his alternative policies and programs for the country, of which he is seeking a comeback. It is not about criticizing, it is not about making unsubstantiated allegations, it is about what you want to offer for the country”. The focus of PPD is to promote a knowledgeable society which promotes democracy and productivity. Source:https://www.peacefmonline.com
Re-register your SIM numbers or lose them by end of June next year-Communications Minister
All mobile phone users are required to re-register their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) numbers effective January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020, failure of which subscribers would lose their numbers completely. The move is to aid the National Communications Authority (NCA) to crackdown the use of mobile phones for various criminal activities in the country. Besides, some unscrupulous persons sell pre-registered SIM cards to subscribers, which enabled subscribers to use the numbers to commit various crimes without tracing their identities. The re-registration exercise would therefore help the law enforcement agencies to identify the SIM card owners, track criminals who use phones for illegal activities, curb phone theft, and hate text messages, mobile fraud activities, inciting violence, and combat crime like SIM Box fraud. Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, the Minister of Communications, announced this when she took her turn of the Meet-the-Press series in Accra on Monday, to update the public on the activities, achievements and challenges of the Ministry over the past two years and solicit feedback to improve government’s policies and programmes. Ghana enacted the Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations, 2011, L.I (2006) primarily to reduce mobile phone related crimes such as prank calls, cybercrime, mobile money fraud and its related issues and general security of the nation. The current SIM card registration regime, she said was deficient and fraught with many challenges, thereby defeating the purpose of the SIM Registration Regulations. The Minister noted that some Network Operators hired illiterate or semi illiterate agents to do the SIM registration on commission basis, therefore the agents cut corners and even pre-registered several SIMs with different IDs for sale to unsuspecting clients, which compromised the sanctity of the registration process. She said the NCA would establish a platform to verify all the valid national identity cards that would be presented for registration by prospective applicants. The Minister said all applicants were required to present valid ID cards, including the National Identification Card (Ghana Card), Voter ID, Driver’s Licence and Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Card. Mrs Owusu Ekuful noted that it would enable subscribers to be identified and be used for mobile banking, mobile money, and electronic payment services. She charged the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to ensure that SIM cards were registered before activation on their networks to prevent inconsistencies and fake subscriber identity. The Minister entreated all Ghanaians to comply with the directive to ensure its success. Source: http://www.ghana.gov.gh
Five Ghana Police Officers killed in last 30 days
Five police officers have been killed in the past 30 days, the deadliest in recent times. Myjoyonline.com recaps the tragedies that have hit the country within the Ghana Police Service. July 30, 2019: Corporal Agatha Nana Nabin with the Northern Regional Police Command was shot dead at a police checkpoint on the Tamale-Kumbungu road in the Sagnarigu District. The report is that armed and masked men in a grey saloon car discharged their weapons after being stopped at the check-point. The 30-year-old officer was shot at the back of the head with the bullet passing through the mouth and killing her instantly, media reports say. Her last words as she ran were ‘Jesus, Jesus’, media outlets have reported. Another female officer escaped death as she ran and stumbled. The killers took away two rifles belonging to the deceased and her colleague who escaped. August 19, 2019: Corporal Bernard Antwi, 37, was attached to Manso Nkwanta Divisional Command in the Ashanti region. He was found dead after working hours at Manso Abodom in the Amansie West District of the region. Photo: Corporal Bernard Antwi There are conflicting reports over how he was killed. Initial reports said he was shot but police sources say he may have been bludgeoned with a metal. He was reportedly seen with his suspected killers in a white pickup vehicle, registered AS 9116-15. The vehicle has been impounded. August 20, 2019: General Lance Corporal Alhassan Asare, 35yrs, was attached to the Akyem Swedru Police Station in the Eastern region. He was found dead at the Dukes fuel filling station Monday dawn while on duty. His rifle between his thighs while he sat in a chair with bullet wounds to his head which was slumped backward. Police have not ruled out suicide or that his weapon discharged accidentally while he slept. L/Cpl. Alhassan Asare is survived by a wife and two children who live at Akyem Swedru Police Barracks. August 28, 2019: Sergeant Michael Dzamesi and Lance Corporal Mohammed Awal were with the Kasoa Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD). During usual checks on the Buduburam stretch of the Accra-Winneba road, the team flagged a driver of an unregistered vehicle to stop. The driver set off a chase after refusing to stop. Armed men in the saloon car opened fire, hitting Sgt Micheal Dzamesi in the head. He took cover in a provision shop close by but collapsed in there and was rushed to the hospital. Lance Corporal Mohammed Awal was also hit in his lower pelvis and the left side of his back, Daily Graphic has reported. He died at the Police Hospital in Accra where he was receiving emergency care. Three suspects have been arrested.
Armed men kill 2 police officers at Buduburam
Two police officers are confirmed dead in a shooting incident that occurred Wednesday afternoon between the police and some unknown assailants around Buduburam, near Kasoa in the Central Region. The Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Irene Oppong who confirmed the incident to Graphic Online said the incident happened around the Buduburam stretch of the Accra-Winneba road. She said it happened during the usual checks by the Kasoa Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) and that the police signalled an unregistered vehicle to stop but the driver refused to stop. She said the police gave the vehicle a chase but the occupants at a point began shooting at occupants of the police vehicle. One of the police officers was hit and died immediately while the other was rushed to the police hospital in critical condition but died later. Ms Oppong said the police mounted a search for the vehicle and its occupants. Killed officer identified Meanwhile, Graphic Online has gathered that one of the officers confirmed dead has been identified as Sergeant Michael Dzamesi. Sgt Dzamesi and his team are said to have stopped the vehicle but the driver failed to stop. They chased the recalcitrant driver, not knowing the said occupants of the vehicle were armed. They opened fire on the police vehicle and Sgt Dzamesi lost his life in the process with the other officer in critical condition. Sgt Dzamesi after he was hit in the head, is said to have run into a near provision shop, ostensibly to take cover, but collapsed on entering the facility. The other officer died later at the police hospital. The police have since arrested three suspects.
Innocent man jailed for 82 days and loses jobs for bringing three jars of honey back to US
Leon Haughton likes honey in his tea. Which is why during his Christmas visit to relatives in Jamaica, he made his regular stop and bought three bottles from a favourite roadside stand before heading home to Maryland. It was a routine purchase for him until he landed at the airport in Baltimore. US customs officers detained Mr Haughton and police arrested him, accusing him of smuggling in not honey, but liquid methamphetamine. Leon Haughton, pictured, was jailed for 82 days after customs officials alleged that three jars of honey he had brought to the United States from Jamaica contained liquid methamphetamine: Evelyn Hockstein/Washington Post Mr Haughton spent nearly three months in jail before all charges were dropped and two rounds of law enforcement lab tests showed no controlled substances in the bottles. By then, Mr Haughton, who according to his lawyer had no criminal record, had lost both of his jobs as a cleaner and a construction worker. “They messed up my life,” Mr Haughton said. “I want the world to know that the system is not right. If I didn’t have strong people around me, they would probably leave me in jail. You’re lost in the system.” Months after his release, he is only now fully rebuilding his life after the setback devastated him and his family of six children. Mr Haughton’s status as a legal permanent resident with a green card complicated his case. Because he was arrested at an airport for alleged drug felonies, his case triggered a federal detention order that extended his time in jail, court testimony shows. Twenty days after his arrest, a state police lab test looking for drugs in the bottles came up negative. Yet the 45-year-old father sat behind bars for two more months before the last of the charges were dropped after a second all-clear in a federal lab test. “Someone dropped the ball somewhere,” Mr Haughton’s lawyer Terry Morris said. “An innocent man spent 82 days in jail for bringing honey into the United States.” After landing at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on 29 December at around 10pm, US Customs and Border Protection detained Mr Haughton for more than two hours before Maryland Transportation Authority Police put him in handcuffs, according to charging documents. The bottles with gold-coloured screw tops labelled “honey” in his bag, they told him, had tested positive in a drug field test for methamphetamine. Mr Haughton fainted. Police took him to a hospital. Then they took him to jail. ‘When he tweets about infestation, it’s about black and brown people’ CNN anchor gets upset over Trump’s latest Tweets Every year for the nearly 10 years since Mr Haughton has been living in Prince George’s County, the native of Jamaica travels to the island in December to visit his mother. The green card holder never had any problem returning to Maryland until last year, when a police dog unit started sniffing around his bag. Mr Haughton thought the dog was interested in his leftover chicken. But Mr Haughton said he quickly noticed agents and officers whispering to one another before disappearing behind a screen. When they returned, a man took Mr Haughton away. His bag didn’t come with him. Police in charging documents said a dog named Beny conducted a “random scan” and alerted to possible drugs. “Inside the bag were three large plastic bottles labelled as ‘honey’ of suspected liquid methamphetamine,” charging documents said. Mr Haughton and Mr Morris contend he was stereotyped because of his race. Authorities, Mr Haughton’s lawyer said, questioned him about “a big Jamaican gang and drug-dealing conspiracy”. “I’m 100 per cent sure I don’t have drugs,” Mr Haughton recalled telling the agents. “I only have honey.” Mr Haughton had given up sugar years ago but drinks honey with his tea. He prefers honey from a particular bee farm in Jamaica because it is cheaper and “more pure” and always asks friends visiting the island to bring him back some. Carey Phillips, Mr Haughton’s girlfriend, said that when he didn’t come home from his Jamaica trip, she assumed he had extended his stay as he had done in the past and couldn’t get in touch with her. But days later she got a letter from the Anne Arundel County detention centre from Mr Haughton. Democrat senator Kamala Harris faces backlash after ‘comparing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the KKK’ “I was shocked,” Ms Phillips said. “It seems unreal to me. If someone does a crime, you understand, but if there’s nothing, that time is wasted.” Mr Haughton – facing at least 25 years in jail – appeared in court for a bail review two days after his arrest. A public defender at the hearing said Mr Haughton had no prior convictions and had lived in the area for the past nine years. A judge agreed to let him go on work release, court files and recordings of the hearing show. But more than three weeks later, Mr Haughton was still behind bars. The drug charges triggered detention orders from customs officials, Mr Haughton’s lawyer said. Although the Maryland State Police lab returned test results on the bottles that indicated “No CDS detected” on 17 January, and although prosecutors had dropped the three felony drug counts on 23 January, Mr Haughton was still facing a misdemeanour charge for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, or CDS. Mike Pence visits migrant detention centres at the US-Mexico border Mr Haughton asked to be released on 24 January at his second bail review, but Anne Arundel County District Court judge Laura Robinson worried he would not appear for trial. “The problem is I can’t let him go to ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] because he would be deported potentially,” the judge said, according to a recording of the hearing. “Even if I released you, you still wouldn’t necessarily be released. You would go into federal detention.” Mr Haughton was sent back to jail, appearing in court for a third bail review on 5 February. Mr Morris, Mr Haughton’s lawyer,
