UNIVERSITY OF GHANA ADMISSIONS FOR THE 2013 – 2014 ACADEMIC YEAR

The University of Ghana announces for the information of the general public that applications are open for the admission of prospective applicants into various undergraduate programmes for the 2013/2014 academic year. Applicants should take note of the following:

i) International Applicants (in Ghana and the West African sub-region) who will be writing WASSCE in May/June 2013 are eligible to apply.

ii) For all other international applicants, only results provided by applicants at the close of applications shall be considered.

iii) For the Bachelor of Arts programme, applicants are required to select subjects from the list of bouquets provided. Up to four (4) subject bouquets must be selected in order of preference. 

iv) There is direct admission of applicants into all programmes offered by the College of Health Sciences but as first choice only.

v) There is direct admission of applicants into the various Programmes available in the Faculty of Science. Applicants will be expected to select up to four (4) choices in order of preference.

vi) There is a direct admission of applicants into Level 100 of the LLB Programme at the Faculty of Law. 

vii) Holders of other qualifications including International Baccalaureate (IB), IGCSE, GCSE, American Grade 12 examinations which hitherto were admitted to Level 200, will be admitted to Level 100.

 

GHANAIAN APPLICANTS TO DEGREE AND DIPLOMA PROGRAMMES

University of Ghana on-line application E-VOUCHERS can be obtained by Ghanaian applicants for GH¢110.00 at the following banks: Ecobank, HFC Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank, Zenith Bank, Merchant Bank, UniBank and Fidelity Bank. Ghanaian applicants in the following categories are expected to apply using the E-VOUCHER:

o WASSCE/SSSCE Applicants
o Diploma Applicants
o Diploma to Degree Applicants
o HND Holders

At the Bank, applicants will be required to indicate their names, mobile phone numbers and e-mail addresses on the bank voucher before they are served. Those without e-mail addresses will however not be disadvantaged. A confirmation of their PIN will be sent to their mobile phones. Applicants should buy the University of Ghana application E-VOUCHER and CAREFULLY follow the instructions given. After the application has been submitted on-line, the PIN should be kept in a safe place as they may be required by applicants when assessing their admission status at a later date. They will also be required to present the e-vouchers to any of the Institute of Continuing and Distance (ICDE) Centres in the regions or to the Alumni Centre area (Legon Campus) for a copy of a prospectus and CD ROM from March 1, 2013.

After submission of the online application, Diploma to Degree and HND applicants are expected to submit the following documents to the address below.

i. Two (2) original copies of Diploma/HND transcripts 
ii. Where applicable, two (2) certified copies of ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level certificates/result slips.
The Director
Academic Affairs Directorate
University of Ghana
P. O. Box LG 25
Legon
Accra – Ghana

 

IMPORTANT NOTICES

i) All Applicants must take note that the process for admission to the University of Ghana is very transparent. Applicants should therefore beware of any persons who may approach them on the pretext of assisting them gain admission for a fee.

ii) Since the 2007/2008 academic year, the University of Ghana has ceased to admit applicants with the West African Examination Council’s Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates. 

iii) HELP DESK
Applicants needing any help can send their enquiries to admissions@ug.edu.gh.
Our Help Lines are:

0302 213820 ext 6018  0302 213820 ext 2637

            027-573-4299                   020-577-9222      

            026-095-0170                   024-398-5001      

 

The Help Lines can be reached between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm (Mondays to Fridays).

iv) ALL APPLICANTS MUST ENSURE THAT THEIR ON-LINE APPLICATIONS ARE CORRECTLY FILLED AND SUBMITTED. 

v) Mature Applicants for the Diploma in Adult Education and the Diploma in General Agriculture, are expected to report for the COMPETITIVE ENTRANCE EXAMINATION AT 8:00AM ON SATURDAY MARCH 23, 2013 at the ‘N’ Block.

NB: All applications must be submitted online by the deadlines stated below:

 

Post First Degree LL.B                                             Friday March 29, 2013 (5:00pm)

International applicants & Ghanaians abroad           Monday April 15, 2013

Diploma applicants (Regular & Sandwich)              Friday April 19, 2013

Diploma to Degree (Nursing Top-up) applicants      Friday April 19, 2013

Graduate Applicants                                                  Tuesday April 30, 2013

All other applicants                                                    Sunday June 30, 2013

 

 

INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS AND GHANAIANS APPLYING FROM ABROAD

International applicants and Ghanaians applying from abroad should visit the University’s website at http://admission.ug.edu.gh and follow the instructions given.

After completing and submitting the form on-line, applicants are to print a proof of submission, add all relevant certificates and send to the address given below with a non-refundable fee of US$110.00 or its equivalent in International Money Order. Applicants in the West African sub-region should pay the application fee through Ecobank. The original copy of the pay-in slip should be added to the downloaded form and other documents. Completed documents are to be sent to the address given above.

 

GHANAIANS WITH FOREIGN BACKGROUND

Ghanaians who apply with foreign qualifications from schools which write the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the IGCSE such as Alpha Beta, Faith Montessori International School, Ghana International School, New Nation International School, SOS – Hermann GMEINER International College and Tema International School etc., should follow the application procedure for international students stated above. They should however pay the application fee of GH¢110.00 through any Ecobank branch and submit the original copy of the pay-in slip to the above given address together with a copy the other specified documents.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR ALL UNDERGRADUATE APPLICANTS

1. All applications must be submitted ONLINE at http://admission.ug.edu.gh on the purchase of the University of Ghana application e-voucher.
2. All applicants (Ghanaians and applicants in the West African sub-region) who will be writing WASSCE in May/June 2013 are eligible to apply.  Such applicants must indicate their WASSCE index numbers and the subjects they will be writing on their application forms.

1. For all other International applicants, only results provided by applicants at the time of submission of their applications shall be considered. However, applicants for the Certificate in English Proficiency Programme who are awaiting results are expected to apply before the deadline. 

4. The programmes at the College of Health Sciences, except those offered at the School of Allied Health Sciences, are offered as first choice programmes only. For second and third choices, applicants are strongly advised to choose courses from the Sciences.
5. Qualified Applicants to the Bachelor’s degree on the Legon Campus who are unable to meet the competitive cut-off points determined by the Admissions Board for admission to preferred programmes of study may opt for the Fee-paying Scheme.  Interested applicants must indicate this option on their application forms.
6. All applicants who have ever attended or graduated with Certificate/Diploma from the University of Ghana from 1996 to date should indicate their **STUDENT IDENTITY NUMBERS** on their application forms.  The same number will be used in the intended programme of study if admitted.
7. All applicants must indicate whether they wish to be considered for residential facilities or not. While the University of Ghana cannot guarantee residential facilities to all applicants, every effort will be made to assign students to facilities of their choice or suitable arrangements will be made to accommodate them in privately owned hostels.

In all cases, students admitted and assigned rooms must pay the relevant Residential Facility User Fee as part of the admission and registration processes. Students, who apply for residential facilities and are assigned rooms, are obliged to take up those rooms or forfeit their places at the University.

AKUFO-ADDO, JAKE O.L. & BAWUMIA vrs THE EC & JOHN MAHAMA DAY 3: SUPREME COURT’S JUDGEMENT

By: Oduro-Marfo

THE CASE: SHOULD THE NDC AS A PARTY BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE PETITION?

The Supreme Court in a 6-3 majority decision has accepted the NDC’s petition to join the case. The Justices who sided with the NDC’s arguments were Justices Atuguba, Jones Dotse, Rose Owusu, Sophia Adinyira, Vida Akoto Bamfo and N.S. Gbadegbe. Those who held an opposing view were Julius Ansah, Annin Yeboah and Baffoe Bonnie.

 

REASONS FOR UPHOLDING THE NDC’S PLEA

The majority of the Justices felt that allowing the NDC to be part of the case will only be in the interest of justice as the said party will directly be affected by the outcome of the case. They intimated that the fortunes of the NDC and Mahama are inextricably intertwined. The NDC’s inclusion will assist the court to completely and effectively determine the matter.

‘It will not be proper to say a party cannot join when its candidate is being challenged. The NDC played a pivotal role in the nomination and election of President Mahama and it will certainly be in the interest of justice that the NDC be allowed to join… The purpose of a joinder is to allow all matters to be handled once and for all.’ (Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo)

Justice Atuguba also espoused that the NDC had a very real interest to be joined to the petition as they constitutionally presented the President to the electorate and that it was better equipped with the facts in the matter than the President and was in a better position to assist the court to unravel the issue in dispute.

REASONS FOR THE MINORITY’S DISSENTING VIEW

The 3 Justices who ruled against the NDC’s plea stressed that even after reading the majority ruling they were still not convinced that the NDC was a necessary party that had to be joined to the petition and debunked their application as unmeritorious.

Justice Baffoe-Bonnie believed that the NDC is only an interested party and no more. There was nothing that made the NDC a necessary party and wondered what it was that the NDC was bringing to the table that the President did not know. He concluded that this case according to the law was a straight fight between human beings and not political parties thus including the NDC will be discriminatory.

Justices Julius Ansah and Annin Yeboah also held the view that the case can be fully contested and adjudicated without the presence of the NDC.

 

FALLOUTS

The court has instructed the NPP to amend its petition to include the NDC as a defending party. After the NDC has been served with the amended petition, it will have to respond to the court formally within 7 days.

The court sits again on 29^th of this month and this time around it will be a new motion i.e. the EC’s request that the NPP serves the court with more detailed particulars of polling stations the alleged irregularities took place. Already, the NPP’s Nana Akuffo-Addo has pleaded with the court to quash this demand by the Electoral Commission as this will compel his side to disclose the nature of evidence they intend to bring to the trial proper. He added that the EC already has in its possession originals of the declaration forms which should be enough for them.

MY OBSERVATIONS

Both verdicts by the Justices make sense. The layman’s argument has been that the NDC and Mahama are ultimately one-in-the-same. Notwithstanding, legally they are not. The NDC is a distinct entity from the person of John Mahama. Thus it is not the court’s duty to ignore this legal distinction although the reality on the ground is that they are one and will bring the same witnesses, evidence and arguments in front of the court.

The NDC is rejoicing that they have won the first round but actually, have they? The NPP loses nothing now that the NDC has become a party as their legal efforts will be the same as they would have put in to fight the EC and Candidate Mahama. The NPP’s real fear was that the NDC’s inclusion will cause a delay in adjudication but even upon this supposed first round defeat, the NPP has chopped a somewhat pyrrhic victory as Justice Atuguba in pronouncing the verdict, assured all that the court will not be intimidated by the number of witnesses to be called by the President.

At a personal level, I seem to feel uncomfortable when some of the Justices refer to John Mahama as the President. I think in this case, JM is being sued as a candidate. I am far away from being a legal luminary but I think the court isn’t the room for courtesies and it will be appropriate for JM to be referred to throughout this case as Candidate John Mahama.

 

 

What do you think about the case so far especially this first verdict? Let’s get talking.

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IS GOD OUR KILLER?

Figuratively, in announcing the demise of a person, the Ashantis say, ‘he/she has been invited by God’. Interestingly, the same folks have a proverb which goes like; ‘Saying that when a father dies, another lives; is just used to deceive the mourning child’.             I call this Ashanti saying interesting because its honesty unveils a deception which is equivocal to the very popular saying upon death that; ‘God gives and God takes’.

God gives us life but I really doubt that he takes our lives. The Bible says that;

• It is appointed unto man, once to die.
• A blessed man will live for three scores and a ten. (70 years)

The first statement is about the inevitability of death and its finality. The second statement is not a curse suggesting that many will die before or upon attaining age 70. I think it is physiological and scientific. Man is born feeble, grows to become stronger then declines into weakness and frailty. How well you manage your body and your ways determines how long you will live. The three scores and a ten is that point of the onset of a natural relative weakness in a man. Thus a person who dies before age 70 didn’t die because he/she wasn’t blessed but died out of other reasons.                                          Life expectancy in Ghana is 63 years. Life expectancy in Japan is 83 years and 78 years in the USA although these countries have the highest suicide and homicide cases in the world, respectively. So when somebody dies and we say ‘God has invited him’ or ‘God has taken his life’ then are we suggesting boldly, that God likes inviting Ghanaians to his side and not Japanese? Why would that be? What is special about Ghanaians? What about Swaziland which has a life expectancy of 48 years? The Swazis must be really special. God creates them and tells them; ‘I will send you to Swaziland as I cannot wait to have you back’. If it is so then why do people also tag many deaths as ‘untimely’?

Ghana recorded 2,249 deaths through road accidents in 2012 only. We have too many coffins on wheels parading as commercial vehicles. We have too many bad roads but even when we make good roads, we abuse it. Within two weeks after the first-class George Bush Highway was opened, 12-15 people lost their lives on that road.

The Doctor-Patient ratio in Ghana is 1:13,000 but for the three northern regions it is 1:66,000. Malaysia has a similar population as Ghana and their ratio is 1:800 and the interesting thing is that these days they are even complaining of producing too many doctors; 3,500 per year as against our production of 200 doctors. The point is that our doctors cannot have the time and space to thoroughly care for all of us. Consequently, in their rush, they have wrongly diagnosed many patients to be having malaria when they didn’t. We have been forced by the circumstance to not visit the hospital for a checkup until we are very sick. We in making up for this, seek the services of pharmacies only to face the risk of having our health conditions worsened because many fake drugs have been imported into this country despite the existence of a Food and Drugs Board.   

This piece is to draw our minds as a people to the worrying fact that many amongst us are dying early and unnecessarily because of our carelessness and inaction as a society. God has not killed anybody; we should not discredit Him for nothing. We are our own murderers. Let us exercise, watch what we eat and drink, watch where we go, when we go, how we go and what we do when we get there. We can’t totally protect our lives but it is safer to be careful.

Why are many Ghanaians dying young? Post your comments below.

TOO MANY

Too many questions than answers

Yet these libraries have too many bouncers

Ignorance is rife like cancers

Annihilating discoveries by Earth’s only thinking dwellers

 

Too many truths than seekers

Too many classrooms with accidental teachers

Turning pupils into mere rote learners

Spewing definitions but don’t know Pocahontas

 

Too many academic Hafizes

System-approved but can’t defend their theses

They shun innovation like it is some faeces

Graduates with brains rigid like prosthesis

 

Too many avoiding Mathematics

Philosophy, Classics or Astrophysics

When the mind is weak, knowledge is the therapist

But how can we know when there are no sophists…

AKUFO-ADDO, JAKE O.L. & BAWUMIA vrs THE EC & JOHN MAHAMA DAY 2 COURT PROCEEDINGS & FALLOUTS

THE CASE: SHOULD THE NDC AS A PARTY BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE PETITION?

JUSTICES ON PANEL 
Sophia A.B. Akuffo, Julius Ansah, Annin Yeboah, Baffoe Bonnie, Jones Dotse, Rose Owusu, O.S. Adinyira, Vida Akoto Bamfo led by William Atuguba

NPP LEGAL TEAM
Dr. Philip Addison, Prof. Ken Attafuah, Gloria Akuffo, Fred Davis, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Kwame Akuffo, Akoto Ampem, Godfred Dame and Egbert Faible

NDC LEGAL TEAM
Tsatsu Tsikata, Sam Kudjoe, Barbara Asamoah

JOHN MAHAMA LEGAL TEAM
Tony Lithur, Marita Brew and Dr. Abdul Basit Bamba

EC LEGAL TEAM
James Idun Quashie and Stanley Amarteifio

REPORTS FROM THE COURTROOM
The NPP before the day had written to the court to discontinue their objection to the panel’s reconstitution. The first sticky point was when Tsatsu Tsikata demanded that the NPP also formally withdrew their objection to the panel’s reconstitution in open court. Dr. Philip Addison argued that because they didn’t object to the panel’s constitution in open court but in chambers, it wasn’t appropriate for Tsatsu to make such a demand. Ultimately, the NPP heeded to the demand to clear all doubts.

Justice Jones Dotse used the opportunity to make a statement disassociating himself from the rumour that he was once an NPP member and even a Volta Regional NPP chairman. He said that he heard the allegation with his own ears on radio and that if anybody could prove it, he will quickly recuse himself from the panel. He concluded that the court and himself will not be intimidated by falsehood. Justice Atuguba joined in to say that he had similar concerns and even wished he wouldn’t be sitting on the case but had not that option.

On the substantive case, Tsatsu argued that the NDC has a vested interest in the case and had to be allowed to be a party to it. His argument was that John Mahama stood for the election on the ticket of the NDC and that if his legitimacy as President is questioned; the party that sponsored him is greatly affected. 

The NPP’s Dr. Philip Addison rebutted Tsatus Tsikata’s argument by describing it as completely unmeritorious. He said that the stated goal of the suit was to seek an expeditious determination of the petition. Thus making the NDC a party will only open the floodgates for far too many witnesses which will unduly prolong the adjudication. He further stated that CI 74 defines who and who can be party to an election petition and doesn’t mention a political party. This is because the EC in our Presidential Elections deals with individual candidates not political parties.

John Mahama’s lawyer, Tony Lithur’s attempt to respond to the NPP was objected to but after a 6-3 decision by the Justices, his response was heard which buttressed Tsatsu’s argument. The EC’s lead lawyer chose not to make an input when given the opportunity.

Justice Atuguba after hearing all sides adjourned proceedings to January 22, 2013 for ruling. 

INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS
Outside the court house, NDC and NPP supporters had amassed to a point of near confrontation. Some were holding canes and the NPP accuse those as NDC cadres while the NDC claims that the cane-wielders were rather NPP foot soldiers in a planned drama to give the NDC negative publicity. 
The police employed pepper-spray to ensure order. Despite the chaos and heavy security presence no one was arrested which doesn’t send the right signals.

To be continued…………
marfo.oduro@gmail.com
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AKUFO-ADDO, JAKE O.L. & BAWUMIA vrs THE EC & JOHN MAHAMA… DAY 1 COURT PROCEEDINGS & FALLOUTS

THE CASE: SHOULD THE NDC AS A PARTY BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE PETITION?

JUSTICES ON PANEL 
Sophia A.B. Akuffo, Julius Ansah, Annin Yeboah, Baffoe Bonnie, Jones Dotse, Rose Owusu, O.S. Adinyira, Vida Akoto Bamfo led by William Atuguba

NPP LEGAL TEAM
Dr. Philip Addison, Prof. Ken Attafuah, Gloria Akuffo, Fred Davis, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Kwame Akuffo, Akoto Ampem, Godfred Dame and Egbert Faible

NDC LEGAL TEAM
Tsatsu Tsikata, Sam Kudjoe, Barbara Asamoah

JOHN MAHAMA LEGAL TEAM
Tony Lithur, Marita Brew and Dr. Abdul Basit Bamba

EC LEGAL TEAM
James Idun Quashie and Stanley Amarteifio

REPORTS FROM THE COURTROOM

The above substantive case itself was not heard as the NPP asked that the panel of justices first had to be reconstituted. They suggested that they will be comfortable giving their reasons for such a request in a closed door meeting with the lead justice. In court, the NPP never named the Justice they didn’t want to have on the panel but earlier on radio, the impression from their camp was that the Justice they were uncomfortable with is William Atuguba who happens to be a relation of Dr. Raymond Atuguba, President John Mahama’s newly-appointed Executive Secretary at the Presidency.

The NDC raised the concern that the laws prescribe that hearings in relation to electoral disputes should be held in the open. Moreover, it was the NPP who had even asked for proceedings to be beamed live on national television.

The Justices asked that the various legal teams come to a conclusion on the matter but they couldn’t. The Justices however heard the NPP’s objection in chambers before ordering the NPP to come back to court with a formal motion with reasons asking for a panel reconstitution. Proceedings were adjourned sine die, ‘without again’ or indefinitely.

INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS

• There were 17 lawyers on duty yesterday and this is not even the substantive case.
• There were 4 Akuffo’s involved in yesterday’s hearing; 1 is a petitioner, 2 are lawyers and 1 is a justice. Just as maybe the Ghanaian Presidency is to John, is Ghanaian Law; to Akuffo?
• Sincerely, if Justice Atuguba ends up as the one the NPP wants out of the panel because he is the uncle of the President’s secretary then I think the merits of the main case will not be explored anytime soon because certainly the NDC will also raise objections against other Justices on the panel. Naturally, at least one of the Justices will have a connection to the NPP or its tradition or its legal history or its member.

MEMORABLE QUOTES

‘Any idiot can go to court in a democracy but the onus lies on the judge to determine whether the case has merit.’ (Asiedu Nketiah, NDC General Secretary)

‘The organization of elections approved by thousands of national and international observers is the testimony of political maturity of the people of Ghana and the expression of peace to consolidate democratic values.’(Yayi Boni, AU President)

‘What the AU President came to say does not hold water, we will ignore it… By the grace of God, it is not his speech that will influence the court… Yayi Boni came calling for peace but I told him that as for me, I will not condone fraud…’ (J.A. Kufuor)

‘All must remember that the inauguration of Mahama is not a point of no return… Once in office, Akufo-Addo will respect whatever laws may have been enacted by Mahama no matter how short the duration of the invalidated mandate.’ (Jake O. Lamptey, NPP Chairman)

‘The country is solid but it is breaking down because principles are being chopped down to pedestrian levels. The Court must be strong and truly independent. The health of our country depends on us.’ (Justice W.A. Atuguba)

‘The people of this country are entitled to know everything about this trial. Isn’t it interesting that our friends on the other side had earlier advocated that television should be brought into the court room, strangely enough this time they wanted the matter to be heard in chambers outside the purview of everybody else?’ (Nana Ato Dadzie, NDC Lawyer)

To be continued…………
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BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE UNIVERSITY…

Undoubtedly, Ghana’s university system gives to us lesser than what we need to survive and excel in this global village of a world. Unfortunately, no smart efforts are being made to quickly rectify the problem to bridge the gap between say, University of Ghana and the Yales and Princetons of this world. The world will not wait for us. Eventually, we may catch up with today’s best standards but will still lag behind because the likelihood is colossal that tomorrow, today’s best standards will only belong to history. This is because everywhere else apart from Africa, nations seek continuous changes and advancement by the day. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t make provisions to accommodate the mediocre. Take it or leave it, any international organization will only fill its employment vacancies with the best who have survived global competition. Therefore, you and I have no choice. If we want to make it big in the world in any profession, it is about time we started thinking of ourselves as global students and not merely some students of the University of Ghana. If you start realizing that sometime soon you will start competing for scanty job opportunities with graduates of Harvard then you will start thinking hard about you and your quality. There is no coincidence that Bill Gates of Microsoft, Zuckerberg of Facebook, Obama and 7 other American Presidents before him plus 62 former winners of the Nobel Prize attended Harvard University. Harvard has a financial resource base of around $32bn dollars, almost equal to Ghana’s annual GDP. We can’t wait till things are put right God knows when. Thus we must push ourselves a bit more to on our own, get more out of our 4 year stay in the University. We can start from trying to make the following our goals and trying to achieve them before we leave school;
1. GET A GOOD DEGREE
This is not done by learning every time. Rather it is achieved by being strategic. Don’t miss any lecture. Learn whatever you are given in a semester before the exam day but find time to do other things. Personally, I do a lot of group studies with the right people i.e. a team of people who know and some who don’t know. I use more of the first half of the semester to do things that relate to human development like attending good programs on campus and reading books. I use the last quarter of the semester to concentrate more on my notes and handouts. Don’t pretend to learn for 24 hours for no one does.

2. READ OUTSIDE YOUR COURSEWORK
Most university students are empty because they only read their handouts. The thing about reading is that; the more you read, the more you realize that you don’t know anything. As nobody wants to feel like an idiot, you are then motivated to read more. As you read, your brain expands and you sow the seeds of greatness in yourself. Most of us won’t be great not because of some witch but because we have become fixated on knowing everything about something. To be great, you have to rather know something about everything. Read books, magazines, websites, newspapers etc. As a citizen of the world, how can you go a day without knowing what happened in the world? Every morning, I read from the BBC to know about world issues. Then I read myjoyonline.com to know about Ghana issues and Forbes.com to know the new innovations around and who is making money and how. This semester I have read 3 books and reviewed/discussed them with other students at the American Corner, LECIAD on campus. Knowledge is power and reading makes a man.
3. ICT SKILLS
Please, at least use every vacation to learn one of the following; TYPING, EXCEL and POWERPOINT. The world is getting digitized by the minute. In Taiwan, even 6 year old pupils use tablet computers to learn. They use no pen and no paper. That is the competition we have.
4. FIND YOUR TALENT AND DEVELOP IT
Every man was born with a gift. That gift is what economist will call our ‘comparative advantage’. If you can find yours, it is more likely that you will become a millionaire than if you do not. Why do you think Michael Essien gets paid more than the UK prime Minister? Essien wasn’t ever in a university. Sarkodie gets paid at least 10,000 Cedis per show. Is he a professor? How many degrees does he have? What do you think you can do that people will pay money for because you can really do it? That is the first question and one that can make you happy forever. Imagine doing what you like and getting paid for it. Agya Koo comes to mind.

5. JOIN A CLUB ON CAMPUS & NETWORK
It helps you to know, relate with and organize people. It also helps to hone your public speaking skills. The ability to do these is one of the best gifts a man can ever give to himself. Learn to do it whether you are an introvert or extrovert. Using a second to say hello won’t make you HIV positive or less beautiful. Rather, it makes you come across as a nice person even if you are not. The University is a factory for churning out leaders. The people you see today; nice or ugly, rich or poor are surely the future leaders but as to which one of them will be Ghana’s President, we can’t tell. That is why you must be nice to all. Your smile today can earn you an unrestricted access to the UN Secretary General’s office in a decade’s time. When we discriminate and act cold to people, we foolishly act like we know that their future won’t be better than their present. Who are you to judge?
6. GET A LIFE PLAN
Know what you will use every vacation for apart from resting. Know what exactly you want to do in the 4 months after school and before National Service. Know what other goal you will pursue during National Service. Know where you will be 2 years after service. Write all these down. They will help you take a lot of decisions. By the way, have one internship before you leave school.
7. THINK AS IF THERE WILL BE NO JOB FOR YOU AFTER SCHOOL
With that mindset, you will realize that in such a circumstance you can only get to work and earn by starting your own business. Why do you want to be interviewed for a job when you can be the one doing the interview? It is easy to start your own business, every time you see a problem in society, write it down. Whenever you are not writing down a problem, think about how any of your listed problems can be solved. Every business is a solution to a problem.
8. SOCIAL MEDIA
The internet is much for fun as it is for serious business. Use FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE etc properly. Did you know that Justin Bieber was discovered on Youtube? I once got invited to the office of a very successful person in Ghana through Facebook. Be careful what you post online for you never know who might be reading. Do fun stuff but also come across as a serious mind. Find intelligent people online and interact with them. You can even have a blog so that the whole world will know what and how you think about critical issues.

CONCLUSION
Unfortunately for you and me, we were born into a Third world country with a myriad of problems but every problem is an opportunity. I am a final year Political Science student. It took me a while to know all these. I feel the earlier you know the TRUTH, the better. Take your destiny into your own hands and refine yourself. Feel free to interact with me if you need help with doing any of the above; whether you want to get good books, know about great programs or even want to be linked to some intelligent students to think with on campus. Who knows; by helping you, I may be helping the next Kofi Annan. That is why I have time and space for everybody. If you are inspired, please make copies and distribute to your friends. Sharing is caring. Thank you.