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A one day workshop on Change Management has been organised by Savana Signatures for educational workers in the Tamale and the Savelugu District.
The workshop was targeted at teachers, head teachers, circuit supervisors, officials from the Northern Regional Education Office, Tamale Metropolitan Education Office and the Savelugu District Education Office.
In his welcome address to the participants, the Director of Savana Signatures, Mr. John Stephen Agbenyo mentioned that Savana Signatures has this year started a new project called the Integration of ICTs in Education Project (IIEP). The project, he mentioned will use ICT tools to Enhance School Administration and Teaching and Learning in 20 schools in 5 districts in Northern Ghana through capacity building and resourcing with the specific aim of improving the performance of school administrators in collecting and managing school based data as well as building the capacity of teachers to effectively use ICT tools to enhance the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
He stated that Savana Signatures has signed an MoU with the Tamale Metropolitan Education Office and the Savelugu District Education Office to implement this project and that the project had already started with 3 pilot schools; Darul Hardis Islamic Junior High School in Tamale, Yoo Roman Catholic Junior High School in Savelugu and Pong Tamale D/A Primary School in Pong Tamale. He mentioned that the Change Management Workshop was part of the series of activities and programs within the IIEP.
He added that the change management workshop was important because it aimed at reassessing and reinforcing top management engagement in ICT activities which are seen to be critical in sustaining the mainstreaming of ICTs into education. He outlined the objectives of the workshop as;
i) To improve participants overall understanding of both the project and organizational goals of the Integration of ICTs in Education Project
ii) To let participants appreciate the major challenges faced in internalization of ICT projects and activities
iii) To strengthen participants’ own commitment to ICT activities in their schools
iv) To offer participants skills and ideas on how to secure similar commitments from others.
A facilitator at the workshop, Patricia Fafa Formadi, Director for Women and Development Project (WADEP) explained that change happens at all times and the most important influence of change is the current situation. She added that in dealing with change, it is important to consider all human issues to be able to effect change. She said that change is often influence by factors such as Denial, Reaction, Acceptance and Action. She explained the process of effecting change with a diagram consisting of three major stages. The first stage being information stage where awareness must be created about the change to be effected, the second which involves education to bring about understanding of the change and the third being the commitment where people now would accept and use change for their benefit. On the phases of change, Madam Patricia outlined three issues; unfreezing, moving and refreezing. With unfreezing, she explained that change does not occur in a vacuum and that there is always an old way of doing some thing which must give way to the new ways in other for change to occur. On the other hand, the individual begins to accept the idea of change thus resulting in the moving stage. During this stage guidance is vital as the change process is still based on perception and feelings. The third phase which is refreezing is the period when the change now has a bearing on the individual or group, that is, they now reap the fruits of change. Madam Patricia added that, there have often been problems with change because of underground resistance, honest opponents, emigrants, missionaries and believers. She concluded by urging participants to use the reservation of other team members to work for the change.
Speaking on Problems of Change, Mr. Norbert Apentibadek, a Program Officer at the Association for Church Development Projects (ACDEP) said, perception is one major problem of change. He added that most people would resist change because of organisational culture, power, conflicts and resistance to change. To overcome resistance to change and change problems, Mr. Apentibadek added that communication is very important in alleviating people’s fear to change. In the integration of ICT in Education project for instance, he said the Head teachers and teachers of the schools have a responsibility to explain to GES and the PTA the essence of ICT in education. He urged participants to use evidence of change to convince others to see the need for change since change is for the better. Speaking on ‘commitment to change’, he urged participants to create positive perception about the new idea and also inform stakeholders about the impact the change would have on them.
Relating to the wheel of change, participants observed that change is not a one time activity nor can it be forced on leaders or the led but that it is a process which require information and education to get members’ commitment to achieve the desired change. Participants were grateful to Savana Signatures for organising such a workshop to enlighten and empower them.
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Savana Signatures is one of the proud winners of this year’s Google Rise Awards.
Search giant Google recently announced the winners of the RISE grant in which the Company will give away in excess of $ 340,000 as support to organizations that are rooted in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and CS (computer science).
The annual Google Roots in Science and Engineering (RISE) program supports organizations running innovative STEM and CS enrichment programs for students around the world.
Savana Signatures is one of the 5 Winners of the 2012 Google Rise Awards from Sub Saharan Africa to implement an ICT Clinic for Girls project.
The Google Rise team received over 400 applications but awarded only 26.
We are excited about this feat. See other winners at: http://www.google.com/edu/rise/recipients.html
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A half day stakeholder meeting has just ended at the Conference Room of Savana Signatures with a renewed commitment by all stakeholders (3 partner schools, Chairpersons of Parent Teacher Associations of partner schools, Savelugu District Director of Education, Tamale Metropolitan Director of Education and Northern regional Director of Education).
The meeting was organised by Savana Signatures with the aim of briefing the stakeholders on the Activities and Timelines involved in the Integration of ICTs in Education Project (IIEP) funded by C4C
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New office space
Savana Signatures has moved from its Jisonayili office to a new office. Our new location and address is:
Plot # 164, Block 6, Naa Luru Estate, Tamale.
The office is located directly behind the Fan Milk Depot, Tamale. It is a 3 minute walk from Gariba Lodge on the Tamale Bolgatanga Road. Our contact postal address and telephone numbers remains:
Post Office Box TL 332, Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana
Tel: +233 372 091 305
Cell: +233 264 421 532
All current and prospective project partners as well as other stakeholders are cordially informed.
Savana Signatures – Promoting ICTs for Development!
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PTA members attending the seminar
Savana Signatures has successfully organised a one day seminar on the theme “The Role of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) in sustaining ICT Projects in schools”.
The seminar brought together Executives of PTAs of partner schools of Savana Signatures in Tamale and Savelugu Nanton Districts, school Administrators, officials of the Ghana Education Service as well as other NGOs working in Education.
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Four Savana Signatures staff have successfully taken part in a one day capacity building training organized by the Tamale Branch of the Google Technology User Group (GTUG). The event, spearheaded by the Northern Ghana ICT Innovators,
an association of people involved in ICT and based in the Northern Part of Ghana was organized on Saturday the 26th of March 2011 at the Filla Consult Training centre.Jojoo Imbeah and Kelvin Fiifi Baidoo from Accra GTUG were the facilitators. Participants were taken through a general presentation on google and google apps. A hands on was done on google maps. Participants went through the Tamale township with some android devices to map key institutions and points of interest in Tamale.
Mr. Abdul Rashid Imoro, Program Officer – Education, Mr. Samuel Acheampong, Program officer – Documentation, Ralph Adomey, Capacity Building Officer, Robertson Agbenyo, Technical Officer and Miss Fuseina Dedawu, Secretary took part in the training. As a contribution to the success of the event, Savana
Signatures supported the training with computers and Internet facility.
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The maiden edition of the ICT4D forum for the 2011 year came off on Thursday 26th February, 2011 at the Northern regional library. In attendance were members from the Female ICT Teachers Association (FICTTA), Ghana Library Board’s ITAP members, invited youth and the general public.
Opening the forum, the Team leader of Savana Signatures, Mr. John Stephen Agbenyo welcomed participants to the new venue for the ICT4D forum and commended members for their attendance and the contribution to the forum since its inception in the region.
He informed the participants that the forum was a monthly one organized by Savana Signatures on behalf of GINKS.
He went on to explain the activities of the two organizations and called on members to patronize the forum and to invite their friends for subsequent forums.
Mr. John Stephen Agbenyo explain that, the choice of the topic for the forum was as a result of the fact that, most youth in the last general elections were actively involved in electoral violence, thus the need for this forum to provide a platform to educate the youth.
Speaking on the topic, “The role of ICTs in preventing electoral violence”, Mr. Dominic Dery, a lecturer at the Tamale Polytechnic and a former District Electoral Officer of the Saboba District explained that electoral violence included the use of force by political parties or their supporters to intimidate opponents and threats to a democratic regime.
He added that, in some instances, violence is used to intimidate opponents in order to force them not to dare openly and freely express their choices of candidates; whilst in others, violence is manifested in the rigging of elections.
Mr. Dery opined that to ensure violent free and democratic elections, the election must be free, fair and transparent.
He indicated that ICT can promote the credibility of election results, and that it was high time Ghana, as a country
considers mainstreaming ICT fully into our electoral system. He indicated that one sure way ICT could promote election free violence in the near future in Ghana is through the introduction of the biometric register which will help to avoid multiple registrations and voting. He added that ICTs could contribute to the quick declaration of election results; thereby reducing the tension associated with delayed results and will eventually enhance the democratic process of Ghana.
The speaker went on to emphasize that ICT will enable the electorates to be regularly informed and kept abreast of all the activities surrounding the conduct of elections, thereby saving the people from unnecessary rumor and lies which can derail the peaceful atmosphere in the country. Mr. Dery was however quick to add that an irresponsible person or group of persons can use technology (ICT) to cause election violence as it occurred in Rwanda some years past.
He bemoaned the situations where media houses characterized by facilitating communication, information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. He stated that web 2.0 has Programs and services that allow new ways of using the internet which include allowing users to contribute content, edit WebPages, add comments, upload documents, images or videos and even add content to their personal websites.
He emphasised that web 2.0 is a much potential tool for rural development since it allows many people to share information and pictures, collaborate on documents such as reports, spreadsheets, and presentations and comment on activities.
He further identified income generation, advertising, free Online Training, increased access to relevant and up-to-date content, establishment of communities of Practice as well as remote collaboration and Networking as the other benefits of using google applications.(both the print and electronic) in Ghana tried to call results
of election in favour of their affiliated parties. Such an act can be a recipe for chaos and must be guarded against.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Dominic Dery stated that the most important watch word during elections is vigilance on the part of everybody. “People must be vigilant so as to prevent attempts at changing the decision of the electorates” he said.
The Northern Regional Librarian, Mr. Aaron Kuwuono, expressed his joy and satisfaction
at the discussion that took place and urged participants to patronize the library as it is a place where the general public could source information. He added that he was happy that the Library has this partnership with GINKS and Savana Signatures to organize the monthly ICT4D Forum at the Library.
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Savana Signatures (SavSign) has organised a five day Information literacy capacity training for twenty journalists from both the electronic and print media in Ghana. The five day capacity training equipped journalists with the skills that they need to become more resourceful and competitive in their search and reportage of information in the 21st century.
SavSign identifies journalism as the vehicle that must be used to drive the social, economic and political growth of the country and the north in particular. It was in the light of the immense role that journalists and information literacy play to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals that Savana Signatures with funding from International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) organized a five day information literacy training workshop to widen the knowledge scope of twenty selected journalists across the various media houses in the Northern region of Ghana.
The facilitators, Mr. John Stephen Agbenyo of SavSign and Mr. Joseph Kpetigo of GINKS built the capacity of the media men and women regarding how to recognize useful information and how toevaluate and use information effectively to meet local consumption and enhance development and growth. Participants were also taken through the process of understanding the economic, legal and social implications surrounding the information they access and urged to use the information ethically and legally with the ultimate goal of harnessing development.
The journalists’ capacities were built to enable them understand information needs of their listeners and readers, identify the appropriate means of assessing information need and eventually formulating an effective search strategy. The journalists were also taken through the use of mind mapping which entails using brainstorming in accessing current and prior knowledge and placing it in context to make it news worthy. Other topics that the journalists were taken through included skills in searching for information online using a variety of search engines, effective ways of authenticating and evaluating information and how to create a reflective journal to serve as road map in their daily activities as media men.
At the end of the five day information literacy training workshop, the participants were awarded certificates. Since the training was for journalists, the Northern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr. Alidu Baba was present at the closing ceremony and expressed his gratitude to INASP and Savana Signatures for conducting the training for the journalists. Mr. Baba said that the GJA was very proud to be part of the workshop and stressed that “ … the GJA is not only concerned with championing and advocating a better working environment for media practitioners but also ensuring their professional development and so this training by Savana Signatures will help raise the professional standards of the journalists.” He also urged the journalists to use the skills acquired to contribute even more than ever to the growth of the region and be good instruments of social change.
The Director of Savana Signatures and lead facilitator at the workshop, Mr. John Stephen Agbenyo, in his closing remarks expressed his appreciation to the media men that in spite of their busy schedules, they availed themselves for the five days capacity building session and admonished them to use the knowledge acquired to better the lot of themselves and the entire society.
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