Electronic School Search Engine Outdoored

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19@gmail.com)

An Electronic School Search Engine, ‘EasySchoolFind’, has been launched in Accra by the Digital Education Group (DEG) to help improve the standard of education in Ghana.

The search engine, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DEG, George Sackey, disclosed at the launch last Friday, was designed to serve two purposes within the educational sector, which was “to give parents the chance to access schools of their choice for their wards, and also offer the schools the platform to promote their brand.”

The platform, Mr. Sackey said, was awesomely packaged, with a focus on providing easy, convenient, effective and useful electronic school search engine for parents, educators and students. Navigating the search engine, he added, is very easy, with the most basic technological skills and was well designed with outstanding and colourful layouts to make the search enjoyable and refreshing.

The search engine, the facilitators said, was made in such a way that it could be accessed on smartphones, iphones and ipads. It was “carefully designed out of good feedback, and a rigorous development and testing process to satisfy our parents, schools, as well as other educational stakeholders,” said Mr. Sackey.

“Such a unique platform would ultimately augment efforts of the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education in improving the standard of education in Ghana.” The Brand Manager of EasySchoolFind, Priscilla Adom Tawiah, said the search engine was meant to mitigate the difficulties parents and students go through in finding themselves schools of their choice.

After much research and consultations, they were certain that “Ghana needed such a technological platform to relieve parents and students of the stress associated with schools searches, and ultimately, to improve the standard of education in our dear nation,” said Ms Tawiah.

In order to ensure a very robust system, the platform has gone through rigorous testing she pronounced, adding that it would offer schools and educational stakeholders the advantage of reaching their target market at the click of a button.

A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, called for the efficient inculcation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in public schools across the country. There was an urgent need to ensure better outcomes from public schools through the effective deployment of ICT, he pointed out, stressing that “ICT is the gateway to quality education today.”

Philips Connects Black Star Monument To LED Lighting

By Mohammed Awal

Royal Philips , the global leader in lighting, has unveiled the spectacular illumination of Ghana’s iconic Black Star Monument with its latest LED lighting technology, boosting the beautification of the city of Accra and cutting energy consumption by 80% as compared to the existing conventional lighting.

Abdalla Hussein Khamis

Philips is showcasing its LED lighting solutions in Ghana as part of its fifth consecutive pan-African Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow. The new lighting solutions from Philips would highlight and enhance the architectural quality and aesthetic beauty of one of the most iconic structures in the city.

The General Manger of Philips Lighting, West Africa, Felix Darko, told journalists at a cocktail reception to unveil the lighting up of the monument in Accra. He said Philips was using lighting up of the iconic Black Star monument to educate consumers about the benefits of energy saving in the country.

“We are using this monument as a focus to educate all of us to the benefits of energy efficient lighting,” said Mr. Darko, adding that LED lighting wasn’t just about cutting down electricity cost, but “it is also really beautiful.” He, therefore, called on all, including policy makers, to join in the sensitisation effort to help cut down on energy consumption through the adoption energy efficient lighting sources.

The time he stated was due for the nation to depart from its conventional lighting sources to a more efficient and sustainable platform. “Let’s join this crusade in shifting from our current light sources to energy efficient sources…it’s beneficial to us and will sustain the economy of Ghana -the conventional lighting we have now is outmoded…Let’s all go for it the benefits are enormous” he urged.

“The spectacular lighting of the Black Star Monument in Accra demonstrates the incredible advances that are being made in the efficiency and beauty in lighting”, said Abdallah Hussein Khamis, CEO, Philips West Africa. “Philips is very proud to have placed its know-how and technology at the service of this iconic monument and contributing towards the preservation of Ghanaian heritage.

For us the challenge was to devise effective lighting while respecting the authenticity of this monument. The lighting really had to enhance the beauty of the site without at any time overwhelming it. We are very proud of the final result; this reflects how Philips’ lighting innovations provide completely new opportunities to policy makers and governments to enhance city beautification and at the same time contribute to energy saving”.

Melcom Deepens Corporate Social Responsibility

Melcom Deepens Corporate Social Responsibility …Refurbishes 37 Military Hospital Ward

By Mohammed Awal

Melcom Care Foundation, the social and charity wing of the Melcom Group of Companies, has handed over to 37 Military Hospital, a newly refurbished Maternity ward worth GH¢30,000.

Addressing Journalists at the handing over ceremony, the Director of Communication of the Melcom Group of Companies, Godwin Avenorgbo, said the initiative was part the company’s give-back-to-society agenda.

The project, he said, would go a long way to ensure “effective and sustainable” health delivery among nursing mothers. “Why maternity ward,” he asked rhetorically, “when you fill a form they ask you your place of birth. There is another place of birth which is the maternity ward. That is where we all begin our lives from, whether in a hamlet, village, town or city.”

Accepting the gesture on behalf of the Hospital, the Commanding Officer of 37 Military Hospital, Colonel Dr. Samuel Adjei thanked Melcom for the kind gesture expressing optimism that there would be more partnership between the two to metamorphose the hospital into a world class health facility.

“We extend our gratitude to Melcom for the kind gesture and we are looking forward to more of such help,” said Dr. Adjei. The Melcom Care Foundation was established to enable the Group of Companies give back to society in a more focused way than before and to re-invest the company’s profits into humanity and create a sense of belonging among the members of the communities in which the company operate.

Kwasi Appiah stays despite World Cup howler

Kwasi Appiah stays despite World Cup howler

By Mohammed Awal (awalm19gmail.com)

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) says beleaguered Coach Kwasi Appiah is staying as Head Coach of the senior national team, the Black Stars, despite a chaotic World Cup campaign in Brazil.

Kwasi Appiah

According to the GFA President, Kwasi Nyantakyi, the decision to maintain Coach Kwasi Appiah was arrived at the GFA’s Executive Committee Meeting yesterday.

The committee, he told journalists at a press briefing, “expressed its confidence in the continuity in office of the Black Stars’ head coach."

 The committee, he said, was satisfied with the coach’s performance in Brazil, hence, the decision to extend his stay as Head Coach, and that discussions about his contract extension was in the pipeline.

However, soccer pundits think otherwise. According to them, the coach showed that tactically he is incapable of handling the job.

Money row

The GFA President said the biggest challenge they encountered during the tournament in Brazil was a monetary issue, where the players’ appearance fees were not paid in time.

The Black Stars, prior to their last group game against Portugal, threatened to boycott the game due unsettled appearance fees, forcing the Government of Ghana to intervene by flying $3 million, via a chartered airplane from Accra to Brasilia.

The move, the government has since defended, even though it admitted it was “unconventional.”

The reasons for the delay in the payment of the appearance fees were as a result of the players rejecting the FA’s proposal to pay them $82,500, and also the mode of payment.

Mr. Nyantakyi said they offered to pay the Black Stars players $82,500 as appearance fee, but they repudiated that amount out rightly demanding a $100,000.

Another challenge was the mode of payment. The players, he added, rejected the idea of the money being wired to them, rather demanding that it was paid in cash.

The management and government officials, he explained, sought to explain the basis of the budget to the players, which ended up in a deadlock. "While the players were demanding $100,000 appearance fee, we offered $82,500.”

Players to sign contract

The World Cup in Brazil, Nyantakyi said, taught the country “bitter lesson”, adding that henceforth, emphasis would be placed on discipline.

The current code of conduct of the Black Stars players, he noted, would be transformed into a contract with detailed terms and conditions as the basis for future call up.

This contract, he explained, will include bonuses, appearance fee, and the mode of payment of this largesse.

In Brazil Kwasi Appiah had to axe two of his senior players from camp due to disciplinary issues - Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng.

The decision to remove them from camp, the GFA said in a statement, was a result of the display of gross indiscipline.

Sulley Muntari, the statement said, was sacked due to an unprovoked physical attack he heaved on Moses Parker, whilst Kevin’s was a result of a vitriolic verbal attack he spewed on Coach Kwasi Appiah.