Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has reported a considerable increase in revenue collection at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), citing government-led digitization measures.

The company’s monthly income increased from GH¢450 million to over a billion, demonstrating the usefulness of digital technologies in improving operational efficiency.

Dr. Bawumia addressed guests at the 14th Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa, emphasising the necessity of using digital technologies in the fight against corruption and urging other member nations to follow Ghana’s lead.

The NPP flagbearer also discussed the difficulties encountered throughout the digitalization process, citing instances of sabotage by ECG employees who inserted malware into the system.

Dr Bawumia described how national security actions were required to resolve the situation, eventually resulting in the arrest of the perpetrators.

“Can you believe that system staff sabotaged it? They installed ransomware across the system. The system effectively disintegrated.

“We had to send in national security to eventually find that it was some of the staff at the IT department who were culpable,” he stated.

Recalling the malware’s interruption, he emphasised the government’s prompt reaction in repairing and digitising the system.

Dr Bawumia underlined the shift away from cash payments for power, with mobile money and electronic bank transfers becoming the preferred methods of payment.

He expressed surprise at the tremendous increase in revenue collection, highlighting the change from GH¢450 million to over a billion cedis each month as proof of the effectiveness of digitalization initiatives.

Final-year junior high school (JHS) students throughout the country will take three new courses on this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for School Candidates.

Career Technology, Creative Art & Design, and Arabic are new disciplines. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has announced that all candidates would write Career Technology and Creative Art and Design based on the old Basic Design and Technology (BDT).

On the other hand, candidates at Islamic basic schools will have the option of studying Arabic.

Days Extended

Because of the extra courses, the 2024 examination will last six days rather than the previous five days (Monday through Friday). The test will begin on Monday, July 8, 2024, and conclude the following Monday, July 15, 2024.

To shed more light on the 2024 examination, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, told the Daily Graphic that new subjects could be introduced at any time because it was a Ghanaian-only examination, and so it was up to the government to decide what it wanted to teach and students to be tested on.

Mr Kapi stated that the council had completed the candidate registration process and was currently dividing the candidates into groups based on their topics. WAEC, he claimed, was prepared for the examination since all necessary meetings had been completed, and sample questions had been delivered to schools and placed on the council’s website.

“The printing exercise will start very soon, and so we are on course,” he said. In the instance of Arabic, he stated that it was the subject’s first examination at the BECE.

He said the topic was best defined as an elective, and that it could also be written by those who thought they were good at it and wanted a certificate to prove it.
Timetable

According to WAEC’s official agenda, applicants will take English Language and Religious and Moral Education exams on Monday, July 8, 2024. On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, candidates will write Science and Computing, which was previously Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), and then write Social Studies and Creative Art and Design on Wednesday.

Candidates will write Mathematics and Ghanaian Language on Thursday, July 11, 2024, and French and Career Technology on Friday, July 12, 2024.

Arabic will be written on Monday, July 15, 2024.

Prior to enrollment for the BECE for School Candidates, the Ghana Education Service said that the obligatory courses were English Language, Mathematics, General Science, Social Studies, Religious and Moral Education, Career Technology, and Creative Art and Design.

Ghanaian languages, it added, were designated as elective studies, while French, Arabic, and computing were optional.

Curriculum

This year’s BECE applicants will be the first to take the test using the Common Core Curriculum. In light of this, WAEC stated that the adoption of the curriculum will result in distinct examinations for school and private applicants.

The curriculum seeks to address quality via enhanced learning experiences. The new curriculum aims to push students away from rote learning and towards critical learning abilities.

An overspeeding car killed a man and his two-year-old kid near Jukwa on the Twifu Praso-Cape Coast Highway.

The two were riding their motorcycles when the truck drove over them, killing them on the spot.

According to an eyewitness, the minibus driver lost control while attempting to overtake another vehicle, crashing with a motorbike and veering off into the jungle.

About 14 people on board the commercial truck with registration number CR-553-16 were injured to varying degrees and were brought to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) for treatment.

The remains have been sent to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital mortuary for autopsy and preservation.

The Jukwa Police Command has also opened an inquiry into the accident.