New educational software launched for kindergarten, basic schools
A software to make learning more enjoyable and interesting for kindergarten to basic school students has been launched in Accra.
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The web-based software known as QKnow (quick knowledge) was developed by Avenir Company Limited, an information technology (IT) and software engineering company, to make it easier for schoolchildren to grasp what they were taught in school, especially the core subjects.
The software delivers lessons in a practical way and assists pupils and students to identify their interests at an early stage and also helps them to share and work with ideas on a common platform, www.qknow.gh.
Core subjects
Performing the launch last Saturday at the Queensland International School in Accra, the National Organiser of Science Programmes, Science Educational Unit, Ghana Education Service (GES), Rev. Joana Koranteng, lauded the software’s objective of creating an avenue for pupils and students to participate in science, technology and mathematics competitions and said she hoped that it would energise pupils and students to innovate and develop creative and critical minds.
She said the declining performance of students in the three main core subjects; English, Integrated Science and Mathematics at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) had become a source of worry to the educational sector which identified that at a recent meeting as the weak foundation of students at the primary and junior high school levels.
“I see the performance of the students in the core subjects at the WASSCE as a national crisis which requires a national solution with all hands on deck.”
“I,therefore, see the QKnow project as appropriate and timely to building a strong foundation of pupils and students at the basic level, which in the long term will offer a solution to the problem on our hands at the senior level,” she said.
Practical education
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Chief Executive Officer of Avenir Company Ltd, Mr Senyo Mawuli Jiagge, said the concept of QKnow is to make the delivery of education more practical, interactive and fun.
“We want the students to enjoy what they are learning and make it more real with images, videos and games - something that will stick in their brains instead of having the child just memorise. We want them to understand every concept that they are being taught,” he said.
Mr Jiagge said he was motivated to develop the software after he had developed a game format on a paper and on the computer to help him teach his younger sister to study for her examinations in 2011.
“Luckily, all the techniques and concepts that I used worked very well so I thought this was something I could use on a greater scale,” he recounted.
Mr Jiagge added that the software had both online and offline versions, explaining that the online version which was currently free could allow updates, while the offline version cost GH¢16 monthly and GH¢176 yearly, and came in a package. An application would later be developed for android phones.
Students’ impressions
Two students of Queensland International School, who explored the software, commended the developers and said it would make learning very easy because it enabled the student to learn in a relaxed atmosphere.
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