With the merriment of the holidays seemingly already in the distant past, many Ghanaians are embarking the new year with worthy educational pursuits at the top of their minds. Google has released its January search results for Ghana, which revealed that education-related searches were most prominent in the list of top ten most searched terms. Searches for WAEC were high on the list as many students anxiously searched for the WASSCE exam timetable, as they prepare for this significant exam to be held in May and June. Other popular search items featured on January’s list were “KNUST” and the “University of Ghana”, two of the most prestigious tertiary institutions in the country. Presumably these searches are being made by secondary school students exploring the next steps in their academic journeys. Commenting on this month’s findings, Estelle Akofio-Sowah, Google Ghana Country Lead, said, “Google Zeitgeist explores the billions of global search queries received by Google each month, and highlights the top trends. It is exciting to see so many Ghanaian students taking a strong interest in their education, and to witness this generation of students using the internet to engage with their academic futures.” For those not Googling exam timetables and universities, sport was another prominent theme in the new year. Searches for “EPL” (English Premier League), “Arsenal”, “Chelsea FC” and “Soccernet” show Ghanaians’ continued enthusiasm for the most popular sport in the world -- football. Meanwhile, searches for “ghanaweb” and “twitter” suggest that online news and social media play a significant role in the lives of most internet users, who are keen to engage with the latest trends and developments around the world. Ghana’s Fastest rising searches – January

1. New Year’s messages
2. WAEC
3. KNUST
4. twitter
5. University of Ghana
6. epl
7. arsenal
8. ghanaweb
9. soccernet
10. Chelsea FC

Source: Africa Practice