STRATEGIC STUDENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Student development is a key concern to SOLNetwork and the main reason behind the book Academic Excellence. SOLNetwork Africa started with our initiative in education which was with the drive of assisting University students find value and relevance for their time on campus and hence optimizing the efficiencies of the academic environment and academic systems with a high level of productivity.
The Academic Excellence book which was a master piece designed and authored by Gabriel King Akpalu with support from Mr. Andrews Ofosuhene and Christiana Herman from 2012 to 2014 is what birthed the Academic Excellence project which thrived with the mission of helping freshers have a sense of direction be it University, Senior High or Junior High to succeed in the career pursuit where as helping final years across all levels prepare for the world of work with the right employable skills. The focal areas of the seminar were academic excellence, entrepreneurship,financial literacy,leadership and academic excellence.
This started as WIWIK-BEU(What I Wish I Knew Before Entering University) transformational seminar which first took place at the University of Professional Studies-Accra in 2015 with over 400 participants from UPSA, Jayee University, University of Ghana and other surrounding institutions. The Speakers for the session were Dr. Jeff Bassey(CEO of HR Certification Center,Ghana),Mr. John Armah(CEO of JA Venture Capital),Mr. Makafui Awuku(CEO Mckingtorch Africa),Mr. Abotsi,Gabriel King Akpalu(Executive President SOLNetwork) among other speakers. The transformational seminar ended and still had participants trooping in to partake in the session. There was a request from the students to reconvene which saw the organization of the Academic Excellence Workshop again at UPSA to deepen the meaning of the Academic Excellence which is “ Optimizing the efficiencies of the academic environment and systems with a high level of productivity” (Gabriel King Akpalu 2015). WIWIK-BLU was targeted towards final years and level 300 students so we planned same programme for the fresh students and then we came to the conclusion on WIWIK-BEU(What I Wish I knew Before Entering University) which was billed to take place on the University of Ghana campus but was finally birthed in UPSA same year.
There were requests from other Universities to replicate same on their campuses and this led to WIWIK-BLU and WIWIK-BEU on the various campuses: University of Ghana, Wisconsin International University College (WIUC),Accra Technical University, Lancaster University, Jayee University, University College of Management Studies, Regent University and Pentecost University with participation from sister institutions and some students from Sierra Leone. Between 2015 and 2020 we have directly impacted 60,000 students and professionals and over 600,000 indirectly which includes some of our media engagements and our sessions(WIWIK-BESH) in the Senior High Schools and the SOLNetwork Mentorship Groups. We have hosted a tall list of Club 100 CEO’s and over 250 corporate executives and diplomatic corps which includes the former Korean Ambassador to Ghana H.E Leo Woon-ki,former Ghana’s High Commissioner to Singapore and Japan H.E William George Mensah Brandful and the CEO of the first Mall in Ghana Dr. Andy K. Asamoah.We also attracted Ghanaians in the Diaspora key among them are Dr. Charles Abeku Buckman, Dr. James Owusu and Mr. Ferdinand Senyo Lawson. We had support from organizations such as Kings Packing & Services Ltd,Wi-Tech Group, West Blue Consulting, Awesome Consulting Group just to mention a few.
THE NEXT FACE
From the year 2022 to 2032 the Strategic Student Development Program (SSDP) will run across 5 top cities in Ghana namely Accra, Ho, Tamale, Takoradi and Kumasi in partnership with the Universities, Senior High Schools and the Junior High Schools with support from Corporate Ghana and the collaboration of the Ghana Education Service with International partners and sponsors from Corporate Africa. The transformational seminars focuses on the following areas:
- Orientation about the world of work
- Career Development
- Academic Excellence
- Leadership Development
- Personal Development
- Financial Literacy
- Student Entrepreneurship
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