His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic, delivering the keynote address for the occasion
The University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) has awarded forty-two (42) students with a laptop each during a Laptop Award Ceremony held on the theme, “Supporting the needy student in the new virtual learning environment”.
This awards ceremony was organised to honour deserving students who participated in an essay competition initiated by the School to document student experiences with respect to teaching and learning during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. UGBS also seized the opportunity to launch a One-Student-One-Laptop Initiative for students of the School.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, who chaired the awards ceremony was full of praise for the exemplary leadership of Prof. Justice Bawole, Dean of UGBS and his team. She expressed delight to be starting off the year on a benevolent note of giving back to less-privileged members of the University community through the University of Ghana Business School with support from its generous sponsors.
While commending UGBS for the timeliness of the initiative, the Vice-Chancellor also lauded the efforts of the School in supporting her vision of increasing access to online teaching and learning resources. Prof. Amfo reminded the audience of the constitution of a Committee to spearhead the agenda of providing more laptops to students to facilitate their academic work.
“This launch will serve as a major springboard to the realization of the vision of the One-Student-One-Laptop initiative and motivate corporate institutions and individuals to support this worthy course”, the Vice-Chancellor noted.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo
Performing the official launch of the One-Student-One-Laptop Initiative, His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic, delivered the keynote address for the occasion. He paid UGBS an enormous compliment for pursuing the digital revolution which will help bridge the digital divide among students. “I am very proud and very glad to see that the University of Ghana is making efforts to modernize its teaching and learning environment. Indeed, this is essential for keeping pace with global trends and remaining relevant and competitive in the academic arena”, the Vice President said. He further promised to support the School’s One-Student-One-Laptop initiative with 100 laptops.
Earlier, Prof. Justice Bawole in his welcome address, presented a background to the Laptop Award Ceremony & Launch of the One-Student-One-Laptop Initiative. He reiterated how the pandemic has highlighted the need to make significant transformations in the training of the youth with relevant knowledge for the various sectors of the economy. Prof. Bawole expressed appreciation to the UGBS team including faculty, staff, past Deans and all the corporate organisations who donated the laptops or had pledged to assist the School in one way or the other. He also announced the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation’s decision to build a new lecture complex for the School’s undergraduate students. Again, he mentioned that Dr. Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodee, Group Chairman of Phoenix Insurance Ltd. and member of UGBS School Management Committee had donated a cheque of GHC160,000 to be used to provide offices for 14 newly appointed faculty.
Prof. Justice Bawole
In brief remarks, the Guest Speaker, Dr. Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodee, lauded UGBS Management for their maintenance culture. He encouraged other individuals and companies to adopt the attitude of charity and assured UGBS and the University community of Phoenix Insurance Ltd.’s continuous support.
Prof. Ernest Tweneboah-Koduah, member of the University of Ghana One-Student-One-Laptop (UG 1S1L) Committee, speaking on behalf of the Committee’s Chairman, Prof. Peter Quartey, congratulated UGBS on taking a bold step to address the technology challenges of needy students. He reiterated that this was in line with the broader UG 1S1L programme and also aligned with government's digitalisation agenda. Prof. Tweneboah-Koduah appealed to individuals and institutions to support the UG 1S1L initiative.
Two students, Ms. Racheal Ntow and Ms. Nadia Bilson, were invited to read their award-winning essays on the challenges they experienced while studying online during the peak of the Covid-19 period.
Ms. Racheal Ntow and Ms. Nadia Bilson
Delivering the closing remarks, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Gordon Awandare, expressed sincere gratitude to H.E. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for making time for the ceremony and for pledging to donate 100 laptops. Prof. Awandare affirmed that “technology drives education and the University of Ghana is poised to position itself as a 21st Century university, working to ensure that faculty-student engagement is enhanced”. He congratulated the winners of the day and expressed hope that other students would receive their laptops soon.
The event was interspersed with musical interludes by the Ghana Dance Ensemble and was well attended by faculty, staff, students of UGBS and other members of the University community.
