Regulate social media usage in schools — Dr Annor-Frimpong
An educationist, Dr Charles Annor-Frimpong, has called for a regulatory framework on the use of social media in schools.
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That, he indicated, would lead to academic excellence.
He explained that in spite of the dangers associated with social media, it was also a powerful platform that helped students and teachers to keep pace with the internet revolution of teaching and learning.
Dr Annor-Frimpong, who is also the Proprietor of the Charles Wesley Academy School at Oyoko, made the call at the 3rd Speech and Prize-giving Day, which coincided with the 5th graduation ceremony of the Oyoko Methodist Senior High School (OMESS) in the New Juaben North Municipality of the Eastern Region last Saturday.
The event on the theme: “Social media and its effects on academic excellence,” brought together students, old students and some dignitaries in the education sector.
According to the educationist, social media had become useful in teaching and learning which could not be ignored or underestimated.
Social media
Dr Annor-Frimpong stated that social media had increased access to education for a greater number of people through online learning and individuals have been offered significant educational courses in the comfort of their homes and had later graduated.
Students of the Oyoko Methodist SHS at Oyoko
He indicated the learning environment had been expanded by social media which made it easier for teachers and students to share works of assignments online without necessarily being in the classroom.
Restriction
In order to achieve academic success and improve teaching and learning, Dr Annor-Frimpong emphasised that educational authorities must come together to enforce students’ restriction on certain social media platforms and also organise public lectures to encourage its use in schools.
Dr Annor-Frimpong said in spite of the opportunities and advantages that exist in social media use, there had been controversial engagements on whether Ghana needed to adopt the technological learning revolution to achieve academic excellence.
He maintained that several stakeholders had allayed fear of social media repercussions in schools if allowed.
Some of the consequences raised, he noted, were cyber bullying, sharing of inappropriate or sensitive content, among others.
The Headmaster of the school, Seth Darko Odame, said the school continued to increase in population with academic excellence despite inadequate infrastructure to meet the demands of the students.
Challenges
Mr Odame noted that the school faced a number of challenges such as deplorable roads, inadequate infrastructure for both students and teaching staff and the lack of equipment in the science laboratory.
He called on the government and other well-to-do individuals to help address such challenges.
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