News
Let passion drive your career choices …Girls advised
Prof Elsie Effah Kaufmann,
Professor Elsie Effah Kaufmann, Dean, School of Engineering, Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, has encouraged young girls to choose their career courses based on passion and not external influences.
She said when the child was passionate about a course, it made it easier for him or her to dedicate and commit time to study, excel, and unleash their potential.
Prof. Kaufmann gave the advice on Tuesday at a mentorship session for young girls to mark National Girls in ICT Day in Accra.
It was on the theme ‘Girls in ICT, Leadership.’
“I normally ask my students to choose a course that will enable them to contribute meaningfully to problem-solving,” she said.
She acknowledged that parents meant well when choosing a career path for their children, but they must be mindful of the passion of the child.
“Parents must understand that the world is changing. We need students who are creative and ready to address a problem,” she said.
The Professor advised the students to be assertive, focused on the courses they were interested in, and never be discouraged by people’s ideas.
“There is nothing you cannot do; if you have an interest in something, do not be distracted but work hard and pursue what you are passionate about.”
The Professor said the generation of young girls would need STEM to be better prepared to use and develop artificial intelligence to enhance their future careers.
She encouraged development partners and non-governmental organisations to partner with the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation to continue to support girls in ICT to be relevant in the emerging world.
Dr Nanayaa Tina Owusu-Prempeh, Board Chair, Ghana Domain Name Registry, underscored the importance of girls in ICT to bridge the digital divide and build their competencies for the job market.
She said, “ICT is the future, and it is important for the country to optimise technology in all sectors, especially agriculture, to improve food security.”
Dr Owusu-Prempeh advised the students to use technology to advance their development and not for negative things like watching pornographic materials and unhealthy practices.
“You have to use social media for research and development and not for promiscuity,” she said. —GNA
News
Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage
The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.
It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.
Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.
Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.
Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.
She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.
The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”
A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.
It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.
encroaching waters along Keta’s coast
The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.
Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.
Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.
“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.
“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.
Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.
That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.
Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.
From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region
News
Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities
Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.
With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.
Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.
velleyball competition
at the Laboma Beach
Church in Tema Community 8 engaged
in a number of activities including the
popular draught competition
At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.
one of the picnic venues
Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.
The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.
Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton
