JOB OPPORTUNITY: Enterprises Lead WANTED.
WSUP-supported projects work with the low income communities to ensure service levels are adequate, affordable and reflect the needs and demands of the community as well as ensuring that their responsibilities as good consumers are met. In addition, WSUP works with both the service providers and the community to open dialogue between them. There are great benefits in this partnership approach for all stakeholders: consumers, local service providers, local NGOs, donors and the private sector. The most important stakeholders – the urban poor – gain access to lasting water and sanitation services and actively participate throughout the project.
Position title: Enterprises Lead Duty station: Kumasi, Ghana
Reports to: Manager (WSUP Enterprises) Direct reports: Project staff, Consultants
Position summary:
Over a billion people already live in low income urban communities globally, and Africa’s urban population is set to triple to 1.23 billion between 2010 and 2050. Understandably, the increasing urban population is stretching the resources of public service providers, with public investment failing to keep pace. Despite being underserved, the urban poor are paying many times more for essential services than wealthier populations in both health and economic terms. The private sector is naturally filling the gap in consumer demand, but with limited impact. WSUP Enterprises works to change that. WSUP Enterprises is a new dedicated business unit within WSUP bringing the requisite combination of skills and disciplines to strengthen private sector delivery of clean water and sanitation to consumers at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP). Initially focussing in four out of WSUP’s six countries, it focuses on three high impact areas: support SME growth by improving access to finance; building scalable and sustainable inclusive business models; and providing business consulting services to the most promising entrepreneurs. We are seeking a visionary leader with experience in both urban water/sanitation service delivery and social enterprise to lead our Enterprises programme in Ghana. They will demonstrate passion, entrepreneurial spirit and empathy with WSUP’s aims and values. This is a demanding role that requires a high calibre, dedicated leader with a deep commitment to tackling the issue of global poverty.
General accountability:
• Accountable for driving forward delivery of key project milestones and building relationships with national and local stakeholders through policy dialogue, strategic communications and capacity development activities.
Key job responsibilities:
• Lead the piloting and testing of private sector led, technology-inspired, market-based service delivery approaches to water and sanitation;
• Build strategic relationships in Ghana – wit policy makers, municipal staff, SMEs, development partners – with the aim of effecting systemic change in the provision of water and sanitation services by the private sector;
• Research the institutional landscape applying to the non-sewered sanitation sector, provide technical assistance and policy support in the development and strengthening of private sector participation;
• Manage activities in the achievement of project milestones and manage an annual budget, ensuring expenditures are within approved budgets and according to local laws;
• Facilitate links to financing sources for private sector players to increase their reach to the BoP;
• Identify and manage short term assignments of visiting engineering and MBA students from WSUP partner universities;
• Capture and share key learning’s/insights from Ghana and WSUP programmes that influence key stakeholders, with support from the
WSUP M&E Manager;
• Represent WSUP Enterprises at relevant domestic and international conferences;
• Recruit and develop project staff as and when required, providing mentorship and guidance, ensuring clarity in their key responsibilities;
• Ensure good communications at all times between all internal and external contacts.
Internal contacts:
• WSUP Enterprises Manager
• Other WSUP Enterprises staff
c/o CARE Gulf of Guinea
Kumasi Sub Office
P.O. Box AS 18
Asawase, Kumasi
t: (+233) 051-61886/7
www.wsup.com
Company Limited by Guarantee No. 5419428 registered in England & Wales. Registered address: 2-6 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6YH
• WSUP support staff
• WSUP Ghana Country Programme Manager
External contacts:
• Government officials
• Local government staff
• Local businesses / entrepreneurs
• Universities
Person specification:
Educational/technical skills and qualifications:
• University degree in a field relevant to WSUP Enterprises such as water/sanitation, social sciences, business, institutional development, economics, finance, or engineering;
• At least 8 years of professional full-time experience in a similar field, either in private sector delivered water and sanitation services, private equity, general business management or similar private sector participation in basic services;
• Strong business experience including marketing, operations or consulting;
• Demonstrable experience in working independently as well as building, managing and motivating teams;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, ability to present arguments and analysis in a clear and concise manner;
General/personal skills and qualifications:
• Entrepreneurial mind-set, able to come up with fresh, innovative ideas and act on them;
• Experience of working with small and medium enterprises
• Possesses strong skills in diplomacy, negotiation and patience
• Experience of working with human-centred design is beneficial.
Working conditions (e.g., travel, overtime, hours of operation):
• International travel at least once a year is required.
Compensation
• WSUP offers compensation and benefits commensurate with experience.
Application requirements
Please download the application form and equal opportunities form from www.wsup.com/vacancies.
Please send all completed documents to personnel@wsup.com by 17:00 (GMT) on 24th May 2013.
IQ4News Expands to Nigeria and South Africa
IQ4News Expands to Nigeria and South Africa
IQ4News, Africa’s innovative online journalism organisation, has expanded its news and analysis offerings to Nigeria and South Africa.
“For the past year or so we have focused primarily on the East African market, especially Kenya,” said Dr Yemisi Akinbobola, founder and editor-in-chief of IQ4News. “We recognise the pivotal role that Nigeria and South Africa play on the African continent, and we have responded to this by recruiting exceptionally talented online journalists in both countries”. Covering news from Nigeria, Iliya Kure is a seasoned radio journalist with experience with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), as well as freelance work with the Voice of America (VOA). He has also previously worked with the Nigerian Television Authority(NTA), and is a mass communication graduate of the University of Maiduguri. Kure was a 2009 Ford Foundation/Devcomms Fellow, and was the recipient of the 2008 Health Performance Award for a series of reports on polio and other health reports. “I am delighted to join the growing team at IQ4News,” said Kure. “I believe the company has the potential to initiate much needed innovation in the news media industry in Nigeria and across the continent”. Media consultant and TV producer, Dan Akinlolu, will be leading IQ4NewsTV content from South Africa. Dan’s productions have enjoyed national and international broadcast, and alongside his film making achievements, he is also an award-winning creative writer. ”I am very excited about the video projects we have at IQ4News,” said Dan. “IQ4News is a growing organisation and I believe that gives it room to try out new and innovative formats for the web”. Africa has seen a rise in the emergence of online news organisations in the past decade, and this has facilitated greater access to news, not just in relation to the medium through which news is consumed, but also in terms of the kind of news that is made available to the public. “This is an exciting period for journalism in Africa,” said Joab Apollo, IQ4News journalist, Kenya. “IQ4News has a big role to play in ensuring that the momentum is not lost”. Recognising the important role that social media and user participation plays in the industry, social media and contributor management manager, Kofi Yeboah, will be advancing IQ4News’ presence on social networking sites, as well as managing how IQ4News interacts with its contributors. ”User generated content was part of the original business model for IQ4News, and we do not want to lose sight of our interaction with our users and contributors,” said Kofi, who is also a final year student at Cape Coast University, Ghana.
Visit IQ4News at www.iq4news.com.
NOTES
IQ4News is an online journalism organisation that produces news and analysis on Africa with a team of reporters and contributors, IQ4News provides key insights of news from across the continent. IQ4News is the first African news website to use a hyper-local delivery mechanism to organise a large information portal. IQ4News combines a wide range of media types which include articles, videos, audio, photojournalism and editorial cartoons.
Company History
IQ4News is a website that was established as a media blog in 2007, and later re-branded as an info-columnist blog of Africa in 2008. It was registered as a company in 2010, and subsequent launched its new website in January 2011 with a tagline of “Ubuntu through New Media”. Our business philosophy, “Ubuntu through New Media”, refers to the creative combination of ‘Ubuntu’ – the African philosophy promoting community – with the new information age, to create a collaborative platform. The vision for IQ4News is to deliver investigative and incisive analysis on current affairs in Africa; exploring the ‘why’ and ‘how’, NOT the ‘what’ and ‘when’. IQ4News wants to make a lasting difference to online journalism in Africa. We cherish our role in the society as journalists and are committed to strict ethical guidelines needed to better inform our audience.
Contact us for more information:
General: info@iq4news.com
Editor: editor@iq4news.com
Contributors: contributors@iq4news.com
Advertising: advertise@iq4news.com
Charity of the Month: cotm@iq4news.com
THE POWER OF NETWORKING: A LESSON FOR GRADUATES.
Picture by: Kofi Yeboah
Networking is when like-minded people meet and discuss about mutual opportunities that will benefit them. It involves sharing ideas with people of similar interest. Many graduates complete school without having any network of friends who will be of great help to them. Many of these graduates sit in lecture rooms and do not even bother to greet or say hello to the next person sitting next to them. Networking with friends has been one of the tools for success confirmed by many successful people.
Networking is an essential part of building wealth. Andrewws Williams
Your opportunity might be sitting next to you and all you need to grab it is to say hello or greet, lets put away our pride and do what we will one day benefit from. Make friends with people who are even not reading the same programme with you. These are some of the essentials things that winners do. In this our 21st century, its all about recommendation and this will be done by the very people we meet daily.
Robert Kiyosaki says, “The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.”
If graduates are going to take over the world then they need to master the skill of networking, ability to communicate with people from every part of the world. I have seen the power of networking in so many ways and how it has worked in my favour. In this world, people recommend who they know for contracts. My young mentor, Ato Ulzen Appiah once said,
it is not about who you know that can get you the job or contract, but it is who knows what you know that gets you the job.
In other words, people will recommend you only if they know you are good for it. It can also mean that people will not recommend you even if you are an expert because they do not know you. Have friends across all sectors especially my dear students, do not look at other students who are studying other programmes as inferior. The tables will one day turn around. In my search for answers and confirmation of the power of networking, I reached out to some outstanding young people in the world who are effecting positive change to share their thoughts on the essence of Networking.
“Networking helps to increase an individual’ human resource assets. you’re able to have a pool of people to call for help in your career development. Networking helps to increase your opportunities as each network is capable of informing you of any available opportunity.” Emmanuel Woyome, Career Coach, & Destiny Pathfinder. He helps people to find their place in life for effectiveness & fulfillment He writes, speaks, coaches and trains on Career & Personal Development. He is the author of two books.
“How far you go in life is directly proportionate to who you know. It sounds like a cliche, but there is a lot of luck involved in business, financial success, career climbing, however, the more people you know, the luckier you get. Networking is the vehicle for luck.” Simon Dixon, has worked with venture capitalists and helped companies go public, raised angel finance for his first business, he has helped businesses raise alternative finance, written two books on the future of banking, Simon Dixon has the passion to work with entrepreneurs and do something a bit disruptive in the banking sector. CEO BankToTheFuture.com
”The essence of networking is to provide a strategic (personal advertising) outlook to an external audience. It activates deep entrenched knowledge, capability and competence. The youth must embrace the culture of networking to encapsulate the mechanism of success and unimpeded breakthrough.” Daniel Bonsu, Chief Consultant/Co-Founder, Golden Africa Group · London, United Kingdom.
“Your success Quotient = 2(connectivity quotient) + 3(quality of connections)”. Charles Kofi Fekpe, Chartered certified accountant, I am also the Managing Consultant of CFEKPE Consulting Ltd and also a Published Writer.
“One of the most essential skills you need to have in order to grow in your career is networking skills. I have worked with and been helped by many people that I have met through networking. And it should always be reciprocal. Working alone is not an option in today’s world”. Dr. Yemisi Akinbobola, visiting lecturer at Birmingham City University, founder and editor-in-chief of IQ4News.
“It’s not about “who you know” but about “who knows what you know”. Networking allows you to expand your knowledge base, increase the number of people who can deliver skills and resources you might need as well. By making people know what you know, they are able to find and recommend you for opportunities.” Ato Ulzen-Appiah, co-founder Museke.com, an African music website. Initiator of BarcampGhana.
“Find and/or make a peer network of passionate doers as your core base (80% of your focus), and then continue to interact with all of kinds of people (20%), understanding what others are looking for and helping them out (60%), while sharing what you are passionate about (40%), and a powerful flow will rapidly develop and grow” Todd Porter Co-founder IMPACT Foundation Japan / TEDxTokyo.
Networking is one powerful element that aids in achieving ones goal in their area of interest. Though people underestimate it, one ought to take it seriously to build a personal ecosystem. In Ghana, we build our first level and lifetime networks from Secondary School. However in my opinion, every time you meet someone, you ought to move from trying to be the only island with one route to being an island that has many routes to other islands. It’s about making an impression and a connection in a matter of second. How do we achieve this? Being polite, open and maintaining integrity. Nehemiah Kwesi TT Senyo Yelu Attigah, an experienced software engineer, project manager, business analyst,Microsoft Dynamics specialist ,a blogger, and entrepreneur. He is a member of the Ghana Think (BarCamp Ghana) and BloggingGhana’s BlogCamp Teams.
“The thing about networking is that it has ‘exponential effects’. Take the old idea of ‘six degrees of separation’, that is the notion that everyone can connect to anyone on the globe through a maximum of six intermediate contacts. It follows that the greater the diversity of one’s network, the higher the relevance of contacts to one’s likely goals and ambitions, since contacts are more likely to be ‘connections’ rather than mere acquaintances. To my mind, young people can do nothing better than diversifying the networks to which they belong.” B. Simons is the Director of Development Research at IMANI, and the Coordinator of the mPedigree Network. He performs a range of functions for IMANI related to social marketing, research and coordinating alliances.
How We Raised $1200 to support My Dream To Become A Global Leader(We made It !!!!).
I always believed that one of the most important remedy to Africa’s development is Good Leadership. I agree with Prof. Stephen Adei’s statement that, “Leadership is cause, all else is effect” . This propelled me to learn more about leadership and how different I can act as a young leader, but a leader needs to think globally if he or she wants to assist in the development of his or her nation. Due to this goal, I started participating in the BarcampGhana ”unconferences” which is a product of GhanaThink Foundation. These events helped me to think globally and address challenges from a global perspective. This drive urged me to search more for Global Leadership Training opportunities for young people. Through my search I came across the prestigious Preparing Global Leaders Academy (PGLA) training programme in Amman, Jordan. PGLA is a premiere international educational program for the best students and young professionals in the world. The program seeks to prepare aspiring global scholar-leaders with the tools that are necessary for effective leadership in an increasingly complex world. I was part of the over 300 outstanding applicants that submitted their applications from around the world, I got selected to be part of the 50 fellow young leaders from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South East Asia and the United States. My first challenge as a prospective global leader was to raise $1200 to support my trip and with that I will be able to finance the rest even though it was difficult. Is it possible to raise that amount? How am i going to raise that amount? and who will i talk to about this? These were some of the questions i was asking myself.
HOW WE RAISED $1200
GhanaThink Foundation, an Africa-focused think-tank based in Ghana that aims to serve as a source and reservoir of ideas for the advancement of all humanity, beginning from the society and culture that has most influenced our way of thinking about the world ”our cultural neighborhood” Ghana; organize the mass of brilliant Ghanaian talent around the world in the service of their cultural neighborhood. I was as assisted by this foundation as they created an online fundraising platform with the caption “Support My Dream To Become A Global Leader” for my campaign to become a global leader. We used about 75% of social media (online) as our fundraising strategy and 25% offline strategy. I must say that GhanaThink Foundation has been very supportive in this fundraising. We posted the link to donate online on every social media platform – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Blogs, etc. We started to make some progress as people started to donate to support the dream, and the credibility of GhanaThink Foundation was also a factor that convinced donors. Some bloggers wrote posts to help spread the news to their audience, there were posts by www.acertainblog.com, www.thisweekinucc.com and www.mightyafrican.blogspot.com, thank you guys. Some online news website also wrote post on their platform to show their support for my dream, www.iq4news.com, www.totalshowbiz.com and www.konknaijamedia.com.
My family on all social media especially platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ shared the link to donate on their timelines and BarcampGhana, and other social groups were the power behind the spread of the message. One of the amazing things that happened was when one of my respected mentors Bright Simons wrote a very well crafted post about the fundraising to support my dream. This post had a very significant impact on the fundraising. You can read the post here. I learnt one thing from that incidence – its good to be credible than to sounder louder without credibility. So we did our best to raise $830 through our online fundraising (which is now $850).
THE UNEXPECTED PART ONE
We were left with $370 to hit the target of $1200. On Thursday, 4:25pm, 21 March,2013, I had a message in my inbox from an unknown to me indicating that I should call him for a little support to add up to my fundraising. I called him on phone and as the phone rang he answered, this is the conversation that we had:
Me: Hello sir (you know if someone is willing to give you money, you need to call him sir no matter his age), my name is Kofi Yeboah and i received your message through my inbox on Facebook.
Unknown: Oh ok, you are Kofi Yeboah eehhh!!
Me: Yes sir!
Unknown: Ok, stop the fundraising now!!
(I was getting confused at what he said)
Me: Ok sir (I unconsciously said ok)
Unknown: How much have you raised now?
Me: Sir (still behaving politely), we have been able to raise $830 out $1200.
Unknown: So how much do you need now?
(I was getting more confused and alarmed)
Me: Sir, I need $370 in addition.
Unknown: Ok, stop the fundraising and come to my office tomorrow for the $370.
(I got totally confused, I thought I was dreaming).
Me: Thank you sir. I will be there in the morning at 9am.
Unknown: Ok, no problem, take this number and call for direction to my office and tell the secretary that you have a meeting with me.
(I took the number and we ended the conversation).
UNEXPECTED PART TWO
Mr. Unknown 2, also sent me an inbox through my Facebook account and wrote that, he has called the organisation (PGLA) and they have confirmed my participation and my partial scholarship. He stated that he will pay the rest of the tuition so i should consider it sponsored.
I had never believed that we had such people in Ghana, but this men who don’t want their names to be known challenged my preconceived thought of Ghanaian donors. I can confidently say that, we have achieved our target of $1200.
APPRECIATION
I am very grateful to God and everybody who believed in my dream and supported me in anyway. I was amazed when my colleague students were asking for my account numbers and donating to support me. That is a sign of genuine generosity and love to support something that is worth it. I am very grateful for your support and the hope some of you gave me when i was very frustrated about how to raise this money. A very big thank you to all those who contributed in various ways such as money, posts, tweets, re-tweets, etc.
Note: If you want to start an idea, don’t let money be a hindrance. Just start it!!!
Advice From A Former Business Student Turned Googler
Editor's note: Aditya Mahesh is an associate product marketing manager at Google where he works on the Get Your Business Online program. Follow him on Twitter @amahesh22.
I always knew I should have gotten a CS degree. It’s challenging to be a nontechnical person at a technical company. Last month marked my one year anniversary at Google. While I’ve learned a ton over the past year, I’ve realized that the foundations of the skills I’ve picked up could have easily been learned beforehand.
An exciting article that every student should read.
GHANA: RESTRUCTURING THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM CAMPAIGN (THE GRADE “A” DISEASE)
Has the education system failed our students and the nation at large? The answer is yes, perhaps it is how our education system is structured that needs to be questioned. Students especially those in the tertiary get disappointed when they graduate with all the best grades they have when they do not get all the glorious life and happiness education promised them. Other students in the so called developed countries do enjoy that promise because of the different educational structure they have. Parents pay huge sums of money and still get no reward for doing that, they have to even continue to feed their child until he/she finds a job to do. The number of graduates that complete the university increase every year, but unemployment rate is rising and never declining.
In the year 2011, the rate of jobless graduates hit 44.8%. 44.8 percent of graduates from the universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions are said to be jobless, a data has revealed. These graduates are believed to be in the age bracket of 22 and 25, a study conducted by Dr. William Baah-Boateng, a labour economist and senior lecturer at the Department of Economics, the University of Ghana has disclosed. The study was based on 2006 findings, but the number of jobless graduates is said to have gone up following the implementation of the fiscal stabilization programme, spanning 2008 to 2012. However, most of the jobs created during the period are vulnerable with limited or no social protection, the study indicated. Vulnerable employment has declined but still remains high. Yearly, several graduates from the country’s tertiary institutions estimated to be in the region of 50,000 come out of school searching for jobs. This excludes those from the senior high school and the junior high schools, who number over 300,000……….. He was optimistic that these graduates will find jobs after four years, noting some of these graduates do not even know where to go and find jobs. In 2006, about 2.6 million Ghanaians were not working or jobless with some deciding not to work. Nana Owusu Afari, President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), who also made a presentation, noted that industries do not need second and third degrees, urging young graduates to acquire skills and experience before doing so. He urged government to support the training of graduates, adding that industry can only offer short courses and not the entire training programmes. (GhanatoGhana.com)
I believe education is supposed to bring change and make students creative. Why do majority of Ghanaian graduates look for jobs after they complete school? Could this be one of the reasons for the rising unemployed graduates? Did formal education teach us to be dependent on the government for jobs?
People enter the tertiary institutions and become less creative; their ingenuity gets shuttered for life. It is as if the formal education covers the eyes of our imagination with an unseen blanket. Students do not even think beyond the walls of the tertiary environment, their minds tend to be closed from the outside world. They do not even know the trending opportunities that easily put money into ones pocket. All they think of is how they are going to pass their quizzes, how to get past questions and get an “A” in every course. “Getting an “A” in the formal education does not make you an A student in life”. Students in the tertiary do not even bother to know what is happening outside them (current affairs). Business students study about marketing, but will never sell anything on campus, they are good sales people with respect to grades, but not in the real life. Selling is even seen as a job for illiterates. Every graduate wants to work at a place where his study of interest is. We are limited in life due to the courses we read, we read nothing else in school apart from the books and notes given us. We are being prepared to take the seat as future leaders, but we all know that our colleagues who schooled in the foreign countries will take these seats first and leave the unimportant ones to us because they have a better education than we do. For example in some countries like Singapore which has per capita GDP higher than USA, Japan and other so called developed countries, changed their educational system from the traditional way of learning to innovative, less classroom and more creativity.
Getting excellent grades does not equate to getting higher income in life, if it was so teachers would have been the richest people in the world. In Ghana, about 90% of teachers are poor, why! Why do we keep on deceiving our generation that this kind of formal education is the key to our progress? All a child knows in Ghana is to go to school, get a job, marry, go on retirement and spend your pension salary and wait to die. Let us wake up from our sleep, nobody will come and change what we need to change for us. The current educational system is not helping and is the cause of our consistent poverty as a nation. Students are so concerned about their grades that even if they do not get good grades they assume that they have failed in life. They equate higher grades to higher income and it’s not true. Ask yourself why Ghanaians start business and they fail, but a foreigner comes to start the same business and they succeed and they will intend employ us. Many graduates are employed in businesses that they barely apply what they learnt in school. We come out of school and we don’t even know how to do common power point presentation, we do not even find time to assess ourselves to see how well we are ready for the market, instead we are busy thinking of how we can excel in out quizzes and exams. One thing graduates forget is that there is a vast difference between schooling and education, the former is a want and the latter is a necessity. Ninety percent of education is learnt in the real life and not in the classroom that is why some graduates get surprised when they come out of school and they do not get jobs to do. Universities award best business student and these students have not even come out with any business idea or have not been running any practical business while on campus, no award is given to the best entrepreneurial student. We praise students who excel in grades and condemn those who excel in real life. If we really want our students to be at par globally, then we need to change our method of teaching from kindergarten to tertiary.
Computer science students do coding on papers, study programmes that are outmoded and does not meet the current standards. We have students who are reading courses that are literally irrelevant to their programme and one sad thing is that they are sacked from the institution if they fail that course. For example, a student reading Biological Science will be given an African Studies course which is supposed to help the student have a fair knowledge about Africa, but if he should fail that course and he even get A’s in all his main courses, he will be sacked, how? Student are seen as intelligent based on their ability to solve past questions so if a student is not fortunate to get these past questions then he is not a brilliant student. Anybody, who is very good at memorizing without being a student, can get A’s in most of the courses in our tertiary institutions.
MENTAL SLAVERY
My greatest concern has been for those who write exams and fail especially entry exams to tertiary institutions. Those who fail assume they are failures in life and that they will not amount to anything in society and they begin to act as such. We have made them to believe that their contribution outside the classroom is worthless. Their self- esteem is killed and they assume they are incompetent, some struggle writing the particular subject they failed numerous times with the hope that they will pass one day. Mentally, they cannot think beyond passing their exams. I believe that it is not everybody that will be okay with the classroom style, instead there should be another alternative. Imagine someone who read Visual Arts in the High School and did extremely well in his electives and had to stay in the house for close to four years because he failed Mathematics. There should be a different grading system for every programme in the SHS. We are wasting human resources if we allow all these brilliant people to stay in the house for these number of years. Young people with creative ideas are in the house re-writing courses they failed in SHS of which they will not be using in the real world and teachers and society make them believe that they are not intelligent. In the university we read courses which have nothing in relation to our main programme of study and a student who fails will be sacked and labeled a failure in life. This mental harm will make the person not function to his maximum because he has also come to the realization that he is a failure. The fact that a student failed to remember the solution to a past question does not make him a failure. If you are first or second class student in academics it should reflect in the real world as well.
ALTERNATIVE METHOD
Technology (Bill Gates’ view): This is a conversation that Jeffrey R. Young had with Bill Gates about the Future of Higher Education, which was originally published by The Chronicle of Higher Education, USA. He shared a very effective method of learning and teaching with technology. You can get the full conversation on www.thegatesnotes.com
It is not every student who is comfortable with the classroom or lecture room setting and so this online education should be encouraged to reduce the number of youth who are in the house doing nothing.
I will share a few strategies that can help our educational system to be better:
- There should be less focus on grading or passing of “paper exams” and refocus on passing practical service. Students should be made to take field work relating to their study and much of the grading should be based on this. This will minimize cheating in exams and quizzes as students will know that their grading is not based on the written exams.
- We should bring experts in the working field to come and lecture students about the changes in the market, to help student adapt to current trends.
- Universities should allow companies and organisations to mount courses and bring their own people to teach them.
- Students should be taught to create their own businesses than to wait on government to be employed. Entrepreneurship should be practically taught. Business students should set up businesses on campus and run it for profit. This is should be part of their grading system.
- Students should be given exams questions (some programmes) before they sit for the exams, this will make them become expects in that area.
- We should do away with traditional structure and replaced it with a more flexible approach that encourages creativity and problem solving, individualized learning, and a wider range of academic and vocational options. This is one of the decisions Finland made and today, its students rank among the top on global assessments of student learning, http://www.oecd.org/pisa/.
- There should be an assessment system or team to consistently check the progress of the education system and effect changes where necessary.
These are my own views on Ghana’s educational system, there might be mistakes to the approaches i suggested above, please do well to comment or share your views.
2012 in review- My Blog
Guys, a big thank you to all of you, i will not have achieved this without you.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.
CHRISTMAS BREAK
Hello guys and our entire readers of this blog, we wish to inform you that we will be on break from December 2, 2012 will be resuming on the January 10, 2013. During this period there will be no new posts on this blog.
We will be bringing you exciting and and mind blowing interviews with our African heroes. You might be the one we will be talking to soon. We will be adding videos and other features to this blog. Sorry for any inconvenience. We are therefore asking our readers and everyone to post their suggestions about this blog and what we can do to make it more exciting and presentable. Please you can email- emeritus2011@gmail.com and tell us your suggestions.
Thanks
