Helping Africa Foundation inaugurates ICT facilities
The Helping Africa Foundation (HAF) has provided two communities and a senior high school with information and communications technology (ICT) equipment to promote the teaching and learning of ICT under its flagship, the Yamoransa Model Labs Programme.
The beneficiaries are the Asare Bediako Senior High School at Akrokerri in the Ashanti Region; Bomaa community in the Ahafo Region and Tuobodom community in the Bono East Region.
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Projects
All the projects comprised a 48-seater educational laboratory (known as EDULab), powered by a device (ASANKA device) that enables students to access educational materials without the Internet.
The laboratories are built by TECHAiDE, a Ghanaian technology company working in Africa for over a decade using ICT to improve education, support youth development and facilitate health delivery.
Among robotics facilities provided in the MakerSpace for innovation and creativity are tools for ThreeD Design and Printing; Coding with Legos and Arduinos; and Virtual and Augmented Reality.
Both Labs nine and 10 have a conference room and centre manager’s office.
Dedication
At a ceremony to dedicate the respective projects, the Project Manager & CEO of TECHAiDE, Mr Kafui Prebbie, said the facilities in Bomaa and Tuobodom were powered by solar as part of the sustainable model of the projects.
"The computers installed in these facilities are of low voltage.
This means they consume only 10 per cent of the power used by the everyday computer and this is to ensure that the communities are not burdened with utility bills and no student is to be charged for using the facility," he remarked.
At the dedication ceremony of the centre in Akrokerri, dubbed YM Lab 3.1, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for Fomena Adansi, Mr Andrew Amoako Asiamah, assured the Asare Bediako SHS that he would adopt and help develop.
Vision
The Executive Director of the HAF, Mr Japhet Aryiku, stated that the vision of the foundation was to equip every Ghanaian schoolage child with the skills needed to be globally competitive.
"The vision of the HAF is to bring quality and accessible education to all Ghanaian children to ensure they acquire the right skills in order to be competitive in the global market regardless of the location," Mr Aryiku said.
At Bomaa in the Tano North Municipality, the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Ernest Kwarteng, advised the community to handle the facility with care and ensure it was well maintained.
The Promoter of the Yamoransa Model Lab 10, Ms Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, MP for Techiman North, at the dedication ceremony in Tuobodom, expressed her gratitude to the Helping Africa Foundation for their sterling intervention in providing the community with such a facility.
