Provost calls for restructuring of New Year School

Reverend Professor Cephas Omenyo, Provost of the College of Education, University of Ghana, says the annual New Year School should be restructured to attract more participants and to make its impact more evident.

“Some have questioned the relevance of the annual New Year School and Conference, as well as its impact on the population in the area of national policy formulation,” Prof Omenyo said in his closing remarks in Accra at the end of the 67th New Year School and Conference.

It was on the theme: “Promoting Universal Health for Sustainable Development in Ghana: Is the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) the Game Changer”.

The New Year School and Conference was organized by the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education, University of Ghana, from Sunday, January 10 to Friday, January 15, 2016, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Communications, and the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.

Airtel Ghana, which was the main sponsor of the event donated GH? 200,000 in cash and GH? 50,000 in kind towards its organisation.

This year, the School recorded a total number of 128 participants; made up of 76 registered participants, 35 UG staff and 17 resource persons.

Men formed 75 per cent of the registered participants.

The School provided opportunities for participants to practice what they learnt in a hands-on environment - health screening, National Health Insurance Scheme biometric registration, ICT labs, wireless hotspots, as opposed to just sitting in lecture rooms.

Prof Omenyo recounted that over the past 67 years, the annual New Year School has offered a platform for civil society organisations to dispassionately discuss issues of national importance.

He said: “Going by the deliberations and discussions that have taken place over the last few days, there is no doubt that the objectives of the annual New Year School and Conference are very still relevant.

“We’ve met some of the speakers and discussed wonderful opportunities available through the use of ICT in various aspects of healthcare.

“However, if we do not carry the ideas and knowledge we have acquired here to our various places of work and to our communities, not much would be accomplished.”

“I therefore, encourage all participants to take advantage of every opportunity to disseminate the ideas and recommendations made; it is only through such efforts that the impact of the School will be felt,” he added.

On the issue of improving healthcare delivery for majority of the people; how to translate medical records into electronics and how to improve on the convergence and the mobilization of data and how to provide affordable healthcare to all Ghanaians, Rev Prof Omenyo said ICT holds the key.

“I am assured you will all agree with me that ICT indeed is the game changer for the health sector. But ICT without adherence is like a church without members,” the Provost said.

He gave an assurance that the College of Education through the School of Continuing and Distance Education will continue to work with the relevant agents to ensure that ICT indeed becomes the game changer for promoting universal healthcare coverage.

Prof Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, Dean of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education, University of Ghana, described the theme as very appropriate and timely, considering the fact that the Ghanaian public had in recent times been inundated with news items that revolve the National Health Insurance Scheme, working conditions of health professionals, managing health records, corruption, accountability, transparency, and prudent fiscal management of resources both at the national and local levels in the midst of declining budgetary allocations.

He said for the health sector to be relevant in the 21st Century’s knowledge-economy and smart society, it must be positioned to adapt quickly, leverage technology, engage citizens, and deliver services in new ways.