Practical Computer Education textbook Receives National and International Recognition Tobby Vision Computers Makes Cameroon proud – Wins the competition by African Union, USAID & FHI360 as a most promising model and best practice in Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for the 21st Century from Africa’s 54 member countries

Tobby Vision Computers

Bambui –Cameroon

Mott: Inspiring young men and women to reach for a star in ICTs, in a safe and healthy environment

(see www.au.it)

The textbook is a fantastic opportunity for students and schools to study ICTs in order to comply with 21^st century education.  Tobby Vision Computers is competing with a Business Development Plan (computer training, Practical Computer Education, Computer Repairing etc) in the School Enterprise Challenge with more than 2250 schools all over the world. School Enterprise Challenge is run by a UK charity, Teach A Man To Fish. With the feedback on our business development plan from our Mentor Mr. Jay Holton and the School Enterprise Challenge Team we believe we will emerge Top Global Winner when the results of the School Enterprise Challenge Competition are announced by the end of the year.

The book also has been selected by Create Space and paper back copies are made available to libraries and academic institutions worldwide. This amazon expanded channel has also made the book available to public libraries, elementary and secondary schools, higher institutions of learning around the world not leaving out polytechnics. CreateSpace Publisher Direct is doing the distribution of millions of paperback copies and has contracted and is making the book available to certified bookstores and booksellers worldwide.

Tobby Vision Computers is taking their TVET studies and creativity to the next level. Author and Managing Director Cornelius Tawong and his team of students are into the School Enterprise Challenge, and students are learning what it means to run a business while in school.

Tobby Vision Computers Students

As a winning entry of the African Union’s Prestigious Prize, a delegation from Tobby Vision Computers was invited and awarded during the TVET exhibition organized parallel to the first meeting of African Union Ministers of Education called specialized technical committee on Education, Science and Technology an event which brought together all ministers responsible for Education, Science and Technology in Africa, with participation of Regional Economic Communities and all key agencies working in education in Africa and took place from the 27^th to the 30^th October, 2015 at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Tobby Vision Computers is promoted on the African Union (AU) materials, website, FHI360, and other partner websites of the AU. The AU and partners will support Tobby Vision Computers through technical assistance, training, and networking to promote exchange of successful TVET practices in Africa.

You can buy the book online on: http://www.amazon.com/Coni-T.-Tawong/e/B013YWC4O0

Also obtainable in all bookshops in Cameroon

For Registration and inquiries:

Contact:

Cornelius Tfurndabi Tawong

Tobby Vision Computers

P. O. Box 309 Bamenda–Cameroon

Phone: (+237) 675425551

African Union careers: Notice of vacancy

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT:
AHRMD ADMINISTRATIVE, AUDITING AND DOCUMENTS CONTROLLER
The African Union, established as a unique Pan African continental body, is charged with spearheading Africa’s rapid integration and sustainable development by promoting unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among the peoples of Africa and African States as well as developing a new partnership worldwide. Its Headquarters is located in Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia.
In seeking to achieve these objectives, the African Union intends to strengthen its capacity to deliver by, among others, the implementation of new organization structure and the filling of vacant posts.
The Commission of the African Union invites applicants who are citizens of Member States for the short-term position of AHRMD Administrative, Auditing and Documents Controller Officer.
1. Post
Job Title: AHRMD Administrative, Auditing and Documents Controller
Post Level: P2 Step 5
Location: Directorate of Administration and Human Resources Management (AHRMD)
Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Supervisor: Director, AHRMD
Direct Reports: Director, AHRMD
2. Key Objectives
To quality control all the AHRM Directorate’s Incoming and Outgoing transactional documents as well as the African Union Travel Documents prior to their dispatches and to act as the AHRMD Audit Controller focal person on all the Directorate’s administrative, transactional and legal issues with the view to ensure accuracy and integrity of the records or information of the Directorate.
3. Job Purpose
The AHRMD Administrative, Auditing and Documents Controller shall be responsible for verification, certification and clearing all incoming and outgoing documents of the AHRM Directorate as well as African Union Travel Documents with the view to ensure accuracy and integrity of information they carried. The incumbent shall also manage as focal person all audit, legal and administrative issues that are received by or emanated from the Directorate and its divisions with the view to ensure continuous improvement of the Directorate’s processes in line with its Standard Operating Procedures.

4. Key Responsibilities
• Verify, certify and clear all outgoing communication of the Directorate as well as AU Travel Documents with the view to ensure accuracy and integrity of information they conveyed;
• Act as focal person for all audit queries and prepare appropriate responses in consultation with the various divisions and offices within the Directorate;
• Follow up the implementation of the Audit recommendation and prepare status update for management consideration;
• Any other related duties as may be assigned.
5. Required Skills and Competencies
i. Functional
• Excellent Planning, monitoring and communication skills;
• Displays awareness of relevant technological solutions;
• Excellent organization, drafting; analytical and critical thinking skills;
• High accuracy level in verification and certification of documents; and
• Excellent working knowledge of the AHRMD functionalities and inter-linkages within its divisions and other directorates and departments of the Commission.
ii. Personal Ablilities
• Ability to plan work, analyze the Directorate’s legal, administrative and audit issues, anticipates risks, and sets goals within area of responsibility;
• Capacity to ensure the accuracy and integrity of information produced by the Directorate within the purview of the Rules and Regulations and Policies;
• Work and communicate effectively with all clients and AHRMD stakeholders;
• Contributes to a collegial team environment.
iii. Knowledge and Understanding
• Works with internal and external stakeholders to meet resource needs of the Directorate.
• Working knowledge of SAP would be an advantage;
• Knowledge of international personnel and financial policies, rules and regulations;
• Knowledge of ICAO regulations regarding Travel Documents;
• Knowledge in the use of Monitoring tools
6. Required Academic Qualifications and Experience
• A minimum of University Bachelor degree in Business Management, Document Security Management, or Organizational Behavior and Development, or a related field from an accredited academic institution with a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience.
• Excellent drafting skill of reports and minutes of procedures.
• Knowledge of production, issuance and management of travel document as well as verification and certification of documents will be an added advantage.

7. Language requirement
Proficiency in two of the AU working languages (English, French, Arabic and Portuguese) is mandatory. Knowledge of a third or all of the other working languages would be an added advantage.
8. Tenure of Appointment
The appointment will be made on fixed term contract for a period of one (1) year of which the first three (3) months shall be considered as probationary period. A further one-year contract may be offered subject to satisfactory performance and deliverables and availability of funds.
9. Gender Mainstreaming
The AU Commission is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.
10. Remuneration
Indicative lump sum salary for this position is US$6,002.83 (P2 Step 5) per month for internationally recruited staff, and US$5,035.86 (P2 Step5) for locally recruited staff, this allowance is inclusive of all allowances.
The applications must be made through the AUC E-recruitment Website http://www.aucareers.org not later than 20th November 2015
Directorate of Administration and Human Resource Management
African Union Commission
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

Controller of administrative documents and accounting

Created as a pan-African Continental Organization Unique in its kind, the African Union is responsible for driving the integration process fast and sustainable development of Africa by the promotion of the unit, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation between The peoples and the African States, as well as by the establishment of a new partnership with the other regions of the world. The African Union has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.

In view of the achievement of this goal, the African Union intends to strengthen its capacity to carry out its mission by conducting, among other things, to the establishment of a new organizational structure and recruitment to all vacancies.

The Commission of the African Union invites the citizens who are nationals of its member states to apply for the post in the short term of controller of administrative documents and accounting

1. Post

Job Title: Controller of administrative documents and accounting

Grade Level: P2 5
Department: Department of the administration and management of human resources
Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
Supervisor: Director, aghr
Direct Report: Director, aghr

2. Main objectives

Control the quality of all the transactional documents incoming and outgoing of the directorate of agrh as well as the travel documents of the African Union before dispatch and act as a focal point of the audit for the dagrh on all the administrative matters, transactional and Legal of the direction in order to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the documents or information from the direction.

3. Objective of employment

The Controller of administrative documents and accounting of the dagrh is responsible for the verification, certification and validate all incoming and outgoing documents of the direction ahrm as well as the travel documents of the African Union in order to ensure the accuracy and integrity The information they wear. The incumbent must also manage as a focal point all the questions of audit, legal and administrative which are received by or from the direction and its divisions in order to ensure the continuous improvement of the processes of the direction in line with its procedures for use Standardized.

4. Main functions and responsibilities
• Check, certify and validate all outgoing connections of the direction as well as the travel documents of the au in order to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the information they transmit;
• Act as a focal point for all requests audit and prepare the appropriate responses in consultation with the different divisions and the offices of the direction;
• Monitoring of the implementation of audit recommendations and preparation of an update of state for consideration by the management;
• All other similar tasks which will be awarded.

5. Skills and competencies required

I. The functional level
• Excellent skills in planning, monitoring and communication;
• shows knowledge of relevant technology solutions;
• Excellent jurisdiction in organization, writing; analysis and criticism;
• High level of accuracy in the verification and certification of documents; and
• Excellent working knowledge of the features of the dagrh and interdependence of its divisions and other directions and services of the commission.

II. Personal skills
• Ability to plan the work, analyse administrative, legal and audit of the directorate, anticipate the risks, and set the goals within the field of its responsibility;
• Ability to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the information produced by the management in the scope of the rules and regulations and policies
• Work and communicate effectively with all the customers and the stakeholders of the daghr;
• Contributes to a collegiate team environment.

III. Knowledge and understanding
• Works with stakeholders both internal and external in order to meet the needs of the management.
• Knowledge of sap would be an asset.
• Knowledge of policies related to the expatriate staff and financial policies, as well as rules and regulations of personnel;
• Knowledge of the regulation of icao concerning the travel documents;
• Knowledge of the use of the tools of follow-up.

Qualifications and experience required

• a minimum of license of university degree in business management, the management of safety of document, or the behaviour and the development of organizational, or a relative field of a registered school with at least 5 years of professional experience appropriate .
• Excellent jurisdiction of drafting of the reports and the record of procedures.
• Knowledge of the production, the establishment and management of travel documents as well as the verification and certification of documents will be an added advantage.

2. Knowledge of languages

The competence in two of the working languages of the au (English, French, Arabic and Portuguese) is mandatory. The knowledge of a third party or all other working languages would be an added advantage.

3. Duration of the contract / terms and conditions:

The appointment to that post is made on the basis of a fixed contract for a period of one (1) year of which the first three (3) months will be considered as a probationary period. The contract will be renewable for a period of one (1) year, subject to satisfactory performance and the deliverables and the availability of funds.

4. Equal Opportunities:

The Commission of the African Union is an employer who advocates the equality of opportunity for men and women. The qualified women are strongly encouraged to submit their applications.


5. Remuneration

The salary indicative of lump sum for this item is uss6, 002.83 (P2 STEP 5) per month for the staff internationally recruited, and uss5, 035.86 (P2 step5) for local staff. This allowance is included of all the benefits.

Applications must be received by the website of the commission http://www.aucareers.org no later than 20 November 2015.

Department of public administration and the
Human Resources Management
Commission of the African Union
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)

Read the President's full Keystone XL remarks:

This morning, speaking from the Roosevelt Room, the President announced that the State Department determined that the Keystone XL Pipeline would not serve the national interest of the United States.
For years, this topic has occupied a huge portion of our country's climate discourse. And after explaining why this pipeline "would not serve the national interest of the United States," the President called attention to the broader climate challenges facing America and the global community heading into international climate negotiations in Paris this December:

"…we’ve got to come together around an ambitious framework to protect the one planet that we’ve got while we still can. If we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late, the time to act is now. Not later. Not someday. Right here, right now."

Here's the full text of his remarks -- they're worth a read.
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Several years ago, the State Department began a review process for the proposed construction of a pipeline that would carry Canadian crude oil through our heartland to ports in the Gulf of Mexico and out into the world market.
This morning, Secretary Kerry informed me that, after extensive public outreach and consultation with other Cabinet agencies, the State Department has decided that the Keystone XL Pipeline would not serve the national interest of the United States. I agree with that decision.
This morning, I also had the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada. And while he expressed his disappointment, given Canada’s position on this issue, we both agreed that our close friendship on a whole range of issues, including energy and climate change, should provide the basis for even closer coordination between our countries going forward. And in the coming weeks, senior members of my team will be engaging with theirs in order to help deepen that cooperation.
Now, for years, the Keystone Pipeline has occupied what I, frankly, consider an overinflated role in our political discourse. It became a symbol too often used as a campaign cudgel by both parties rather than a serious policy matter. And all of this obscured the fact that this pipeline would neither be a silver bullet for the economy, as was promised by some, nor the express lane to climate disaster proclaimed by others.
To illustrate this, let me briefly comment on some of the reasons why the State Department rejected this pipeline.
First: The pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to our economy. So if Congress is serious about wanting to create jobs, this was not the way to do it. If they want to do it, what we should be doing is passing a bipartisan infrastructure plan that, in the short term, could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year as the pipeline would, and in the long run would benefit our economy and our workers for decades to come.
Our businesses created 268,000 new jobs last month. They’ve created 13.5 million new jobs over the past 68 straight months -- the longest streak on record. The unemployment rate fell to 5 percent. This Congress should pass a serious infrastructure plan, and keep those jobs coming. That would make a difference. The pipeline would not have made a serious impact on those numbers and on the American people’s prospects for the future.
Second: The pipeline would not lower gas prices for American consumers. In fact, gas prices have already been falling -- steadily. The national average gas price is down about 77 cents over a year ago. It’s down a dollar over two years ago. It’s down $1.27 over three years ago. Today, in 41 states, drivers can find at least one gas station selling gas for less than two bucks a gallon. So while our politics have been consumed by a debate over whether or not this pipeline would create jobs and lower gas prices, we’ve gone ahead and created jobs and lowered gas prices.
Third: Shipping dirtier crude oil into our country would not increase America’s energy security. What has increased America’s energy security is our strategy over the past several years to reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuels from unstable parts of the world. Three years ago, I set a goal to cut our oil imports in half by 2020. Between producing more oil here at home, and using less oil throughout our economy, we met that goal last year -- five years early. In fact, for the first time in two decades, the United States of America now produces more oil than we buy from other countries.
Now, the truth is, the United States will continue to rely on oil and gas as we transition -- as we must transition -- to a clean energy economy. That transition will take some time. But it’s also going more quickly than many anticipated. Think about it. Since I took office, we’ve doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas by 2025; tripled the power we generate from the wind; multiplied the power we generate from the sun 20 times over. Our biggest and most successful businesses are going all-in on clean energy. And thanks in part to the investments we’ve made, there are already parts of America where clean power from the wind or the sun is finally cheaper than dirtier, conventional power.
The point is the old rules said we couldn’t promote economic growth and protect our environment at the same time. The old rules said we couldn’t transition to clean energy without squeezing businesses and consumers. But this is America, and we have come up with new ways and new technologies to break down the old rules, so that today, homegrown American energy is booming, energy prices are falling, and over the past decade, even as our economy has continued to grow, America has cut our total carbon pollution more than any other country on Earth.
Today, the United States of America is leading on climate change with our investments in clean energy and energy efficiency. America is leading on climate change with new rules on power plants that will protect our air so that our kids can breathe. America is leading on climate change by working with other big emitters like China to encourage and announce new commitments to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. In part because of that American leadership, more than 150 nations representing nearly 90 percent of global emissions have put forward plans to cut pollution.
America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change. And frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership. And that’s the biggest risk we face -- not acting.
Today, we’re continuing to lead by example. Because ultimately, if we’re going to prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we’re going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them and release more dangerous pollution into the sky.
As long as I’m President of the United States, America is going to hold ourselves to the same high standards to which we hold the rest of the world. And three weeks from now, I look forward to joining my fellow world leaders in Paris, where we’ve got to come together around an ambitious framework to protect the one planet that we’ve got while we still can.
If we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late, the time to act is now. Not later. Not someday. Right here, right now. And I’m optimistic about what we can accomplish together. I’m optimistic because our own country proves, every day -- one step at a time -- that not only do we have the power to combat this threat, we can do it while creating new jobs, while growing our economy, while saving money, while helping consumers, and most of all, leaving our kids a cleaner, safer planet at the same time.
That’s what our own ingenuity and action can do. That's what we can accomplish. And America is prepared to show the rest of the world the way forward.
Thank you very much.
-- President Barack Obama
Watch the President deliver his statement here.
Learn more about the President's Climate Action Plan here.
Follow @FactsOnClimate to get the facts on how the President is combating climate change in the United States and mobilizing the world to take action.

Ministers of STC on Education, Science and Technology Welcome Cooperation for Building Innovation Management Capacity

Prof. Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Harvard Kennedy School, addressing the Ministers of the STC on Education, Science and Technology,  30 October 2015, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa

 African ministers have welcomed the offer of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) to help build innovation management capacity at national and regional levels.

“This collaboration will go a long way in helping high-level African officials strengthen their capacity in research, technology and innovation management,” said Dr. Martial De Paul Ikounga, African Union’s Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST).

The offer was made by HKS’s Professor Calestous Jumaduring his keynote speech at the first meeting of the African Union’s Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology (STC-EST) help in Addis Ababa on 27-30 November, 2015. The ministers requested the HRST Commission to work with HKS to develop modalities for the implementation of the cooperation which can form the basis for similar capacity building initiatives with relevant STI institutions.

HKS has launched the Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Africa (TIEAfrica) Executive Program with a $1 million gift from the Schooner Foundationto HKS’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. 

“This support was inspired by the collaboration we have had with the Commission during the formulation and adoption of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024),” Professor Juma informed the ministers.

The first three-day session of TIE-Africa will be held at HKS in September 2016. “The program will bring together senior leaders from across Africa to address critical challenges facing their economies and support them in their implementation of innovation strategies,” Professor Juma said. He said that the “focus will be on finding solutions to critical issues identified by member states.” “We look forward to working closely with the HRST Commission in identifying participants across Africa whose initiatives could have a major impact of development objectives,” Professor Juma added.

“We consider the collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School as an important step in working with some of the world’s leading universities to build our management capabilities. We look forward to expanding our collaboration of like-minded universities around the world,” he said.

END

For further information contact

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dinfo@africanunion.org I Web Site: www.au.intI Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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