First Lady, GIFEC to the rescue of Assin Asamankese D/A Primary
The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) have donated a total of 17 new computers and their accessories to the Assin Asamankese D/A Primary in the Assin South District of the Central Region.
Advertisement
While the GIFEC donated 14 computers and one projector, the First Lady donated three computers and learning and teaching materials to the pupils in the school.
Reports
The donations followed reports that a teacher in the school had used a stone to illustrate a computer mouse during an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) class.
A video shared on social media went viral and generated a national debate.
The teacher, Augustine Kusi, thought that improvising with a stone was the best form to teach ICT virtually without seeing physically how a computer and its accessories looked like.
Policy
Presenting the items to the school, a deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Vincent Odotei Sowah, said it was the policy of the government to support communities which had taken initiatives to build facilities equipped with computers and accessories and financial support.
He said the country had witnessed growth in both fixed and mobile telephony due to the government’s promotion of liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation of the telecommunication sector.
Privatisation
“The general expectation is that these efforts at privatisation in the communication sector will bring about competition, improved services, lower prices and more important, make it possible for the underserved areas in rural and isolated areas in the country to gain access to vitally needed communications services,” he said.
Mr Odotei said ,however, that it had not been the case, adding that although there had been expansion in the telecom sector, the distribution of fixed and mobile phone infrastructure was still concentrated in the major economic centres of the country, while rural areas lacked infrastructure and ICT access.
Commendation
He commended the teacher of the school, who in the absence of computers, still made efforts to visualise the computer to enable pupils to have an appreciation of what a computer was.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, said plans were underway to extend ICT centres to most educational institutions in the district.
He said he had meetings with some traditional authorities on where such centres could be located, adding “we are making a headway in this direction.”’
The District Chief Executive of the area, Mr Derrick Owusu said the assembly had plans to train personnel to teach ICT in schools in the district.
The District Director of Education, Mrs Sally Nally Coleman, said the directorate would soon come up with a timetable to enable all schools to participate in ICT lessons.
