Provide more access to ICT education
Participants in the 65th Annual New Year School and Conference have called on government agencies to intensify awareness creation on the importance of information communication technology (ICT) in national development.
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They also urged the Ministry of Education to strengthen ICT education in the curricula of colleges of education and other training institutions where the policy on ICT was being implemented, and support those which were yet to implement the policy.
These were among recommendations contained in a 12-point communiqué issued at the end of the programme organised at the University of Ghana, in Accra last Thursday.
ICT coverage
The weeklong conference was organised by the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education (ICDE) of the University of Ghana on the theme” Information and Communication Technology-Driven Education for Sustainable Human Development: Challenges and Prospects.”
The communique further called for an even distribution and coverage of ICT in the country, adding that the ministry of information should roll out a nationwide outreach through mobile computer laboratory and training to less endowed communities.
“In addition to the provision of computer laboratories, maintenance shops should be established in every district to ensure proper maintenance of ICT equipment,” it said.
It further stressed the need for all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to be provided with e-learning centres to serve adults and out-of-school youth.
Power supply
The communique also called on the government to vigorously pursue its policy of providing reliable power supply to all parts of the country.
“Solar and other sources of energy such as wind and thermal energies should be alternative sources that can be explored to augment current sources of energy supply,” it added.
Closing address
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Director of ICDE, Professor Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, said a five-year thematic plan had been instituted to ensure that Ghana’s vision of the Information and Communication Technology Accelerated Development (ICTAD) policy was achieved.
He said the institute would focus on ICT and national development for the next five years, beginning from 2014, in the educational sector.
“Specifically, the spotlight of the annual new year school and conference up to 2019 would be on how ICT could be enabled to drive and transform the other key sectors of the national economy,” he added.
This year’s conference provided a platform for a cross section of Ghanaians to contribute to the national dialogue on the role of ICT in modernising the country’s educational system at all levels to uncover the knowledge, skills and creativity of its human resource.
