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OLPP starts in Central Ghana

The one laptop per pupil pilot project, which was initiated by the late Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, a former Education Minister, on Friday commenced in the Central Region, with the distribution of 90 mini laptop computers to some selected basic schools. The schools came from the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA), Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira and Mfantseman districts. Presenting the items on behalf of Elizabeth Amoah Tetteh, Deputy Minister of Education in charge of pre-Tertiary, the Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa Doe, told that the project was considered by both present and past governments to ensure that primary schools in the country were equipped with ICT training.

Tetteh told that the world was fast changing in the socio-cultural, economic, educational and political scenes therefore, there was the need to inculcate ICT training in basic education. She told that the level of every country's development, was dependent on technology and the quality of educational system that embraces ICT programmes, hence the policy of a computer for every child. Receiving the items on behalf of the schools, Simeon Obotan-Larbi, Acting Regional Director of Education, thanked the government for fulfilling its promise of continuing the every child per laptop project, explaining that the computer had become very essential in modern education.

IIM-C’s Post Graduate Programme for Executives 2nd Batch find it hard to get placements

Not a single student of the IIM-C's Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPEX), 2nd Batch, 2007-08 has got overseas placement this year, thanks to the adverse economic condition prevailing worldwide. 'The global nature of the downturn got reflected and there were no foreign placements this year,' explained a statement from the IIM-C. Last year, six students accepted international jobs that averaged an annual pay of US$ 120,750, while the highest offer came at US$ 200,000 a year. The average salary dropped 10 % this year to INR 18 lakh from INR 20 lakh last year. 'The highest domestic salary saw a steeper drop – falling to INR 35 lakh from INR 45 lakh last year,' reported the statement. Last year about 53 % of the jobs on offer were in the IT and IT enabled services (ITeS) sector. In 2009, the IT and ITeS sector accounted for only 22% job offers, while the sales and marketing industry accounted for 22 %. Among the companies that visited the IIM-C campus for placement were: McKinsey and Co, Deloitte and IBM Consulting in the consultancy sector, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tech Mahindra from the IT industry and Avaya and Tata Teleservices from the telecom sphere.

IIIT-B lines up six-month course for SC/ST students

Taking forward the mantra of many educational institutes and companies training people to make them industry-ready, the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B) plans to introduce a six-month course next month. The major difference is that the programme is targeted at the scheduled caste/scheduled tribe (SC/ST) students alone, something that has not been done before. It plans to train 100 SC/ST students to make them industry-ready talent.

The six-month course will not be an academic one but will touch on technical education, counselling, lifestyle, communications and soft skills. It will help in placements for these candidates after they finish the course. With the eligibility criteria being B Tech graduates, about 168 candidates have taken the entrance test for this programme and selection interviews will begin soon. The course is scheduled to begin in the later half of August this year with all students being sponsored by city-based tech major, Infosys. The company will give IIIT-B INR1.36 crore for this course. While INR1crore is towards the fees of the 100 students, INR36 lakh will be given to the students as allowances (about INR6,000 per month).

Call for review of distance education

Inaugurating a two days Seminar on 'Distance Education

Disabled Children to get Free Education says Ghana Finance Minister

The Government's numerous policies on investing in people is to pursue a pro-poor agenda that will protect the vulnerable and disadvantage in the society and give them equal opportunities to enhance their standard of living. As a result, the government in the beginning of the fiscal year of 2010 will provide free education to all disable children of school going age. This was revealed by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Kwabena Duffuor when, he unveiled the 2010 Fiscal Year Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament. Duffuor noted that the government's policy, in investing in people, is to develop the human resource needs of the nation.

In this direction, the government is to begin a massive construction of classrooms and schools in the rural areas to improve teaching and learning. Duffuor observed that the government will continue to pursue measures that will upgrade and improve the lives of teachers in the country. He hinted that in fulfillment of the president's pledge to Ghanaians, modalities for rewarding teachers who accept posting in the rural areas is being considered for implementation in 2010 budget. Duffuor intimated that government will develop an Oil and Gas Industrialisation Plan, to enhance activities of the manufacturing sectors of the economy in creating the needed opportunities in reducing poverty.


Services growing for Online college admissions

A wide range of web sites are aimed at helping high school seniors looking for an upper hand in the ultra-competitive college application process. Go4College.com, for example, uses analytics that incorporate a student's GPA, SAT score, and a host of other factors to quantify the student's chances to win admittance at various schools. The site produces a percentage that shows how likely the student is to be accepted. Other web sites, such as Accepted.com, sell products such as 'Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips.'

iAdmissions.com, a California-based site launched in September, is straying from the automated advice model and bringing current and former applications officials to students whose families can't afford a high-priced personal advisor. Students pay between $129 and $399 for college counseling, depending on the level of application help they want–compared to thousands of dollars for a private counselor. iAdmissions counselors include admissions officials from Harvard, Brown, and Stanford universities. Van Niekerk said admissions advice companies have had to establish an online presence in recent years as their target audience has become more reliant on the Internet for everything from homework to social networking to shopping.

CANARIE announces funding for the World’s first wind and solar powered Internet network

An announcement was made by CANARIE, Canada's Advanced Research and Innovation Network, for providing funds worth $2.4 million for four ground-breaking Green IT projects aimed at reducing ICT's carbon footprint and measuring the impact of ICT and cyber-infrastructure on university electric consumption. CANARIE's biggest Green IT funding recipient is the GreenStar Network, an alliance of Canada's leading IT companies, universities and international partners, led by Quebec's

Tech Application allows texting by students in classrooms

At Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, where some professors, especially those who teach in large lecture halls, have come to embrace social networking as an instructional aid. Using an application developed on campus, the educators who enrolled in the program have come to think of social networking via texting and online portals as a tool, rather than a distraction. Known as Hotseat, the application allows students to comment on the class and then enables other participants, including professors, students, and teaching assistants, to view those messages. Students either use their Twitter, Facebook or MySpace accounts to post the messages or log in to the Hotseat Web site to send text messages. The application resides on the Web; there is no software for professors or students to install.

Created by a team of developers that includes Kyle Bowen, Purdue's director of informatics, Hotseat was intended as a way to manage the logistics of teaching a classroom of 100-plus students. Bowen told the team's first stop was at online portals like Twitter and Facebook, both of which have proven themselves as effective social networking tools for people worldwide. The problem is that such tools allow anyone and everyone to 'connect' in a way that isn't always productive in the educational environment.

LLB course might turn into a One Year Course

After a Round Table on Legal Education, the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has decided to shorten the two-year LL.M course to half. The proposal gained the consensus of all the legal luminaries who said that the two-year programme served no purpose and the final decision rested upon that of all the stake-holders. In addition to this, the Round Table, through the 'Professional-Public-Private-Partnership' model, has decided to set up a national-level research institution over the next three years.

The proposal is yet to get the nod of the Planning Commission which is why it is still at the nascent stage even after the suggestion of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC). The Round Table has further decided to revive the proposal to work towards a model research institution, allowing a comprehensive study in the emerging area of legal jurisprudence and subjects which need research like environment law, patent law and competition law. This brief could well be handed over to the proposed institution since India has no mechanism for impact analysis of judgments. The plan also mentions about introducing a new course for para-legals for an year duration.

Appeal for computers at school by PTA

The Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) of Kaasi M/A Basic School in Kumasi has appealed to timber firms and organizations operating in the area to help provide the school with computers to strengthen the teaching of Information Communication Technology (ICT). The Member of Parliament for Asokwa, Maxwell Kofi Jumah has, through his share of the Common Fund, built a computer laboratory for the school but it has not been functional. Issah Sarpong, the PTA Chairman, said the association had provided two computers and accessories for the school and that given the population of pupils, this is woefully inadequate.

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