76th New Year School opens today
The 76th Annual New Year School and Conference, which provides the platform to discuss national issues and proffer solutions to them, will open at the University of Ghana today.
The event is organised by the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education of the University of Ghana.
This year’s event is on the theme: “Attaining the 5-Ps of Sustainable Development for a Resilient Ghana: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership”.
Opening
The Vice-President, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who will be the special guest at the event to be held at the Great Hall, is expected to open the conference.
In attendance will be the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, with the Chancellor of the university, Mary Chinery-Hesse, serving as the Chairperson.
The keynote speakers are the Founder and Chairman of AISECT, Sir Santosh Choubey, and the Group Chairman of CDH Financial Holdings Ltd, Dr Emmanuel Adu-Sarkodee.
The collaborating partner is the Managing Director of GCB Bank PLC, Kofi Adomakoh.
The main programme will run up to Thursday, January 16, 2025, at the ISSER Conference Centre at the University of Ghana.
The complementary youth school will be held on January 16, 2025.
The youth school is designed to serve as a national platform to harness the potential of the next generation of leaders in the country under the auspices of the Annual New Year School and Conference.
Initiative
It is the initiative of the School of Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Ghana.
Hundreds of delegates from across the fields of academia, governance and corporate industry are expected to participate in the 2025 event.
The deliberations at the conference, which will be held in-person and virtually, will be documented and presented to the appropriate authorities for policy interventions.
The New Year School, which has been organised since 1948, is a major platform for academia, industry, policymakers and other stakeholders to deliberate on pertinent issues critical for national development.
In its 77-year journey, the conference has covered critical sectors such as education, health, agriculture, security and economy, and provided enormous knowledge to accelerate national development.
The New Year School and Conference has been a source of great pride to the University of Ghana, given the platform it provides to patrons from all walks of life to dispassionately discuss issues centred on transforming the nation.
Calendar
Being one of the first major events in the university’s calendar, the Annual New Year School and Conference has become an event of national significance, bringing together stakeholders from all sectors of the Ghanaian economy to deliberate on pertinent issues of national concern.
“The New Year School and Conference has survived 74 years of various dispensations in the democratic history of our country due to its significance and place in the national development discourse of the country,” Prof. Amfo said at the 74th edition of the event.
At the launch of the 76th event, the Provost of the College of Education of the University of Ghana, Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration between the university and the private sector for the conference.
The New Year School and Conference will be organised in partnership with the Tallinn University of Estonia, Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), the National Youth Authority and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).
Director’s view
The Director of the Annual New Year School and Conference, Dr Simon-Peter Kafui Aheto, told the Daily Graphic that between 400 and 500 participants were expected to be at this year's event.
He said the number of days for the conference had been reduced for this year’s event as a result of feedback from the public and stakeholders.
Dr Aheto said the event had always been impactful, and cited the National Health Insurance Scheme, Africa Continental Free Trade Area and Planting for Food and Jobs as some of the outcomes of the programme.
"This is a new government; people should come and make their input," he said.