Jailed Mustapha Yussif in military uniform Five of the six-member armed syndicate who robbed a car from its owner at gunpoint in Tamale last Sunday have been sentenced to a total of 75 years imprisonment by a Tamale Circuit Court. Yussif Mustapha, 23; Ibrahim Issah, 27; Seram Addo, 34; Adjei Benjamin, 23, and Vivor Christopher, 27 — were yesterday sentenced after they were convicted on their own pleas. The Jailed car snatchers  They were convicted on four counts of conspiracy to rob, robbery, and possession of police and military accoutrements. Sentences The court, presided over by Mr Alexander Oware, slapped the convicts with a 15-year jail term each. The sentences, however, did not include the count of possession of arms and ammunition without lawful authority because it was outside the jurisdiction of the court. A sixth suspect, Alhassan Mohammed, a 29-year-old teacher, who is said to be an informant to the convicts who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, is currently on pris...

Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa - Director-General, Ghana Education Service The Director-General D-G of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, says only 293 staff resigned from the service in 2021. According to him, the total attrition from the payroll of the GES is 8,209, made up of 6,834 teaching staff and 1,375 non-teaching staff. Prof. Opoku-Amankwa gave the explanation as an official response to figures released by the Member of Parliament for the Builsa South Constituency, Dr Clement Apaak, that 44,000 out of the 284,000 teachers left the teaching profession in 2021. In response, the Ministry of Education issued a statement, basing its statistics on the Education Management Information Service (EMIS), a source Dr Apaak quoted in his submission, stated that the figure was rather 34,424 instead of the 44,000. Clarification In an interview with the Daily Graphic Thursday, January 27, however, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said in determining staff attrition in the ser...

A Mother and her daughter have been arrested by police in Tamale for allegedly producing and selling toffees suspected to be produced from cannabis. The suspects; Aisha Tahiru, 45, and Amina Mutarla, 27, were arrested at Sakasaka, a suburb of Tamale by the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the Northern Regional Police Command. The suspects are said to have been selling the ‘Wee Toffees’ to pupils in various schools and a section of the general public in the Tamale metropolis. Confirmation The Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Superintendent Bernard Baba Ananga who confirmed the arrest to Graphic Online indicated that the suspects have been charged with possession of narcotics drugs, prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs and the supply of narcotic drugs. He explained that the suspects were picked up while they were mixing the coconut toffee with substances suspected to be cannabis, adding that 400 pieces of the laced toffee were retrieved after a search was conducted at their ...

The Ministry of Education has directed Kindergarten to Junior High Schools to revert to the Trimester system school calendar for the current academic year, instead of the proposed Semester system. Consequently, new dates have been announced for the various school terms for Kindergarten to Junior High Schools as follows: DATE DURATION VACATION 1st Term 18th January - 14th April 12 weeks 15th April - 9th May 2nd Term 10th May - 18th August 14  weeks 19th August - 12th September 3rd Term 13th September - 22nd December 14  weeks A statement issued by the Ministry of Education said the reversion to the trimester system follows representation from a section of the public and key educational stakeholders to re-instate the trimester system, as well as further consultation on the issue. Earlier, a meeting between the GES, and the leadership of some teacher unions, namely,  GNAT, NAGRAT,  CCT, and TEWU over the implementation of the semester-based academic ...

A meeting between the Ghana Education Service, GES, and the leadership of some teacher unions over the implementation of the semester-based academic calendar for public pre-tertiary schools has ended inconclusively. The meeting followed an accusation by the teacher unions, namely,  GNAT, NAGRAT,  CCT, and TEWU that the Ghana Education Service failed to engage broadly before coming out with the calendar. The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, who spoke to Citi News on the latest said “we met the teacher unions, we presented our argument before them, just like they did. They insisted that we go back to the trimester system. We were not able to reach a resolution.” She indicated that GES will reach out to the teacher unions for another meeting in the coming weeks “so we can finally settle the issue.” Meanwhile, the leaders of the teacher unions say they will not relent in their efforts to push for their demands. The unions, GNAT, NAGRA...

  I have resisted the urge to react to the lackluster petition put forward by the 11 “concerned” doctors to the president of Ghana asking the first gentleman of the land to stop the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out.  However, as a doctor and public health researcher, I am perturbed by the damaging effect and the likely consequences of the misrepresentation and the selective use of data by these “concerned” doctors.   Their write-up is full of inaccurate data reporting. Most of their sources do not pass the litmus test of full scientific rigor. The issue of COVID-19 and vaccinations are easily tied to people's doctrines and moralistic views.   Psychologists define "motivated reasoning" as the potential for people to accept evidence that aligns with their existing beliefs. Even renowned scientists are not immune from falling into the pitfalls of faith vs. science.    This apparent conflict is demonstrated in the write-up by my colleagues. However...

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced that all public basic schools will begin the 2022 academic year on January 18, 2022. The first semester from KG to JHS will begin from January 18 until June 9, 2022, with a mid-semester break from April 12 to 18, 2022, while the second semester will begin from July 26, 2022, to December 16, 2022, to end the academic year. However, there will be a mid-semester break from September 30 to October 9, 2022. Also, all SHS Two and One students who are currently in school to write the end-of-second-semester examinations are expected to come home on January 28 and return to school on February 7 to begin the new academic year in new forms – SHS Three and Two, respectively. Additionally, prospective SHS One students who are awaiting the release of their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) are expected to begin their first semester of the academic year on April 4, 2022. Briefing Brief...

The Hon. Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, on Thursday, January 13, 2022, inaugurated the Governing Council of the Ghana Education Service at a short swearing- in ceremony. He congratulated the Council members for their appointment onto the GES Council and called on them to bring their wide knowledge and expertise to bear on Pre-tertiary Education in order to help the President and the Government train young Ghanaians to become relevant in the fourth revolution job space---the digital age. The GES Council has a core function of advising the Minister of Education on policy formulation and the coordination of approved national policies, programmes and standards relating to Basic and Senior High Education delivery. Governing body of the Education Service has its membership drawn from various Institutions including, the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA), the National Teaching Council (NTC), the National Council for Curr...

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is scheduled to cut sod for the first of many schools aimed at rigorously pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Ghana. The ceremony will take place in Accra on Wednesday, January 12. It will be the Accra STEM Academy. According to reports, this is to reposition education anchored on STEM. It is expected to be one of the lasting legacies of the Akufo-Addo administration in the area of education. It appears to be the implementation of some of the policies in the 2022 budget. In the budget presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to Parliament in November, 2021, government is planned to build 35 STEM Senior High Schools and five STEM universities across the country. The Project Comprises: 4-Storey Classroom Block.           28 Science Laboratory.                      14 Sickbay.                ...

This task will let you take screenshots from the Quick Setting Tile on the Status Bar . The Quick Setting Tile has been set on the 1st Toggle (Unset) Quick Setting Tile option. You need to install Tasker app first before downloading the task below. Get Tasker on PlayStore .  Tasker app Download Tasker app Download Screenshot Here IMPORTANT: Accessibility is a must. So, Please, enable accessibility and even re-enable the accessibility service if screenshot stops working. NOTE : Tried and works on Samsung Phones.  TUTORIAL : Check out a demo below:

The President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced plans to construct some ten thousand housing units for teachers across the country. The facility which will be given on mortgage and rental basis is expected to ease the accommodation challenge of teachers nationwide. Speaking at the Sixth Quadrennial National Delegates Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT’ in Kumasi on Tuesday, ( 4 January) said government remains committed to improving the conditions of teachers. “The Ministry of Works and Housing is in discussion with teacher unions including your own to provide more housing opportunities for teachers,” Akufo-Addo said. “Within the next two years, it is supposed that ten thousand housing units in affordable terms will be developed for teachers across the country.” He added “This will all know is the tip of the ice-berg but it is a good beginning, am glad to hear how much you welcome the supply of laptops , I promise you that the other related issues of...

Bought yourself a shiny new Samsung Galaxy phone? You might need some help familiarizing yourself with the interface or a few tips that will help you make the best out of your new purchase.   That’s exactly what you’re going to find in this article! Whether you’re new to Samsung’s phones or just upgrading from an older model, we’ll tell you the first 10 things you should do with a new Galaxy phone to ensure you have the best experience. So, grab your phone, sit back, and follow these simple steps to customize the device to its full potential! 1. Disable Ads/Promotions during Setup Process The first thing you do when you get a new phone, apart from inserting your SIM card into it, of course, is going through the initial setup process. This is quite straightforward as the instructions are displayed on the screen as you navigate through the entire process. However, there are a few options during setup, that if selected, may not result in an ideal experience while using the phone. For ...