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Communications Assistant @ Ministry of Education, Ghana
Date
Jul 28th to Aug 01st
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About Akorfa Ama Akoto
As a young girl who lived with various guardians, I found solace in the kindness and counseling of my teachers. Growing up, the school was my safe place and now, I am building SUGN to make other children like me enjoy conducive learning environments. After graduating with a first class in Sociology and Chinese, my interest in education saw me teach Mandarin Chinese at the tertiary, primary and pre-school levels. I transitioned and worked as a Chinese translator in various Chinese-owned companies in Ghana. As my interest in education increased, in 2019, I founded Spring-UP Global Network (SUGN) and have connected 42 Tertiary students and Business Professionals who have provided mentorship and career counseling for primary and Junior High School students in hard-to-reach communities. In addition to launching SUGN in 2019, I created www.littlebigissues.com, my first blog and a space where I published rarely shared stories that caused Big societal challenges. In 2020, the SUGN team pioneered the iRead iLead campaign, a 10-year strategic education campaign to nurture the reading and writing skills of children. Currently, www.springupglobalnetwork.org has renovated 2 school libraries and established 2 Reading and Writing Clubs through the iRead iLead Campaign. Writing Caribbean-focused news, culture, music, and lifestyle with Soca News and later writing African-focused stories, quizzes and helping to create fun content for children at Perbi Cubs Library Services helped sharpen my writing skill. Industries: Education, Communications, Logistics, Non-Profit Roles occupied: Teaching Assistant, Mandarin Translator and Logistics Assistant, Content Writer, Educational Content Creator, Communications Assistant Currently, I am building www.akorfaakoto.com: a website for celebrating beautiful people and places in Africa. I am also building SUGN to provide conducive learning environments for children in Ghana. I am leveraging my knowledge in development and corporate communications as a Communications Assistant at Ghana’s Education Ministry. My skills include content writing, copywriting, speech writing, writing stories for children, editing, Chinese translation and non-profit management. If you are looking for a creative writer who is reader-focused and result-oriented with a cross cultural experience in writing, send me a message: akorfaamaakoto@gmail.com
INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
These interview questions were brought to you by TwoCents and Tobi Igbinedion
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If you were to give a personal development routine, what would it look like?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
Identify career goals 
Enrol in virtual courses
Create social media accounts and stay visible online 
Join a community of change makers to enrich your network 
Read books and share lessons with your social media followers 
Be diligent at work 
Take advantage of free seminars and workshops but be ready to pay when necessary 

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For one to thrive in any sector in the 21st century, picking up basic Tech skills is compulsory. Do you agree with this?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
I agree. There is an increasing demand for Tech skills and young people must begin to align their skills with industry demands if they want to secure great paying jobs and thrive in the 21st century.

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How does volunteering help one's skills?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
Volunteering helps individuals especially students and fresh graduates learn and sharpen various soft and hard skills. For example, a person who volunteers as a social media manager of an NGO will learn various social media management techniques. In addition, volunteerism enriches one’s network. I encourage the youth to explore volunteer opportunities whether in web design, sewing, makeup, teaching, project management or digital marketing. There’s so much to learn for free through volunteer work.

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What are the most important skills for getting a job today and why?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
Critical thinking, leadership, project management, storytelling and open mindedness are key skills needed. These skills will make an individual most preferred candidate for a job no matter the industry. Individuals with tech and digital skills are getting more and more offers each day. But the trick really is to equip oneself with a tech or digital skill and be exceptionally great at it while keeping a solid personal brand.

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How often during the course of an undergraduate program would you recommend that students take up volunteering/internship roles?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
There are different ways one can volunteer. You can volunteer at a one-off event during school or the holidays. You can also volunteer with an organization maybe as a campus rep or member. Or you can volunteer or intern with an organization during school holidays. It all depends on the organization and the individual’s availability. The most important thing is that you make the best out of the volunteer or internship opportunity.

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By using the word 'Nurture', what exactly do you mean, with respect to job relevance, personal development and volunteerism?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
I believe that it takes time to build anything. So by using the word ‘Nurture’ , I mean things take time. As you invest in your skill and capacity building, remember to practice your new skills. Give yourself some time to become excellent. For example, you won’t become an excellent writer because you volunteered for a week in a writing firm. It takes months and years of practice and commitment.

So yes, there’s a need to nurture skills with practice and patience.

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Do you think Universities today equip her students with the right skillset, to enable them get good jobs? Asides academic work ofcourse.

Akorfa Ama Akoto
Over the past decade, there has been a heightened advocacy to include skills training and development in our higher education system.

It is no wonder Universities keep remodeling their delivery to align with current industry demands. However, for us in Africa, many of our universities need to have a higher sense of urgency to redesign the school curriculum to prioritize more skill training and development. We need to adopt leapfrogging strategies that will enable us equip many students with job skills within a limited time.

Also, the university is a place of numerous opportunities. Students can be equipped with job skills both in and outside the lecture halls. This is why students must get involved and participate in various extra curricula activities on campus, which will help develop some job skills.

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Many undergraduates shy away from volunteering because they largely do not come with any financial remuneration, what do you have to say to this?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
Benefits of volunteering include enriching ones network, learning new skills, sharpening some skills, identifying some hidden talents, discovering some business opportunities and many more. The lack of financial remuneration shouldn’t prevent a student from enjoying all the other benefits in volunteering.

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What does the Future of Work in Africa look like?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
There’s a rising demand for highly skilled and creative professionals worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic further made it more evident. Work is getting automated, tech skills are increasingly in demand.
Recently, there’s been an increased demand for healthcare professionals largely because of the pandemic.
So generally, work is getting automated with accelerated digital transformations. This is why individuals must be ready tolearn, relearn and unlearn in order to stay relevant in the ever changing job environment.

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What is the Ministry of Education in Ghana doing to see that we have more graduates that are better equipped for the world of work?

Akorfa Ama Akoto
Ghana’s Ministry of Education (MoE) believes that our education system needs to equip graduates with relevant skills required to fully participate in the 4th industrial revolution.

Because of this, Government through the MoE is vigorously reforming the education system right from the basic to the tertiary level. Many of these reforms have prioritized Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Ghana currently has only 12% of SHS students enrolled in science disciplines and this figure is inadequate to achieve Government’s 60:40 Science: Humanities ratio in favor of the sciences.

Over the last 5 years, MoE has introduced a number of cutting edge reforms. Let me start with my favorite, which is one-year detailed  Pre-Engineering Programme.
This Pre-Engineering programme is designed for SHS students with non-science backgrounds.


In addition, Government is constructing the Accra STEM Academy and STEM Senior High Schools across the country. Some of these new schools including the Bosomtwe Girls STEM SHS have been operationalized. Relevant 21st century courses like Data Literacy, Digital Literacy, Robotics and Computer Science will be taught in these STEM schools to train students for the labour market.

With the increasing demand for skilled labour across the globe, Government is heavily investing in the TVET sector. First, Government has made TVET education at the Senior High School free for all students. This has improved access to skill training for young people. 

Government has also retooled various technical institutions across the country to enhance practical teaching and learning. MoE under the Government is also constructing 32 modern TVET centres to further encourage more youth to enroll in TVET institutions where they will be equipped with job skills.

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Tanyi Tracy Ebot
July 22, 2022, 2:40 a.m.
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