One-student One-laptop initiative: 120 University of Ghana students benefit
The One-Student, One-Laptop (1S1L) Implementation Committee has disbursed the first batch of 120 laptops to brilliant needy students of the University of Ghana.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, who led the committee to disburse the laptops, congratulated the beneficiaries and applauded the committee for doing a thorough work in identifying the deserving beneficiaries.
Advertisement
Prof. Amfo reiterated her vision of creating a culture that promotes research, teaching and learning, administrative processes and by extension activities driven by technology and anchored in humanism.
She explained that her vision hinged on the university’s aspiration to become a “world-class research-intensive university” and a mission to “create an enabling environment that makes the university increasingly relevant to national and global development through cutting-edge research as well as high-quality teaching and learning”.
V-C’s goal
Prof. Amfo added that her goal as Vice-Chancellor was for the university to train students who were critical thinkers, technologically adept, humane, culturally sensitive and ready to provide leadership for the country and the continent.
“I will focus on developing 21st Century citizenry skills of our students. It shouldn’t matter whether you are an Engineering, Mathematics, Nursing, Political Science or Theatre Arts student. Through our programme and content delivery, our students and graduates ought to be ready for the fourth industrialisation revolution,” she said.
The Vice-Chancellor expressed appreciation to corporate bodies and individuals who had supported the project, and expressed confidence in the smooth running of the other projects, eliciting the support of the entire university community.
The Chairman of the 1S1L Committee, Prof. Peter Quartey, expressed appreciation to the Vice-Chancellor for the initiative and the confidence reposed in the committee, indicating that the committee went through a stringent process to identify the brilliant needy students.
“We don’t want people taking advantage of the project, someone making a business out of it, to get the laptops and resell them,” he said.
He gave the assurance that students from other campuses of the university would equally benefit from the initiative, and expressed the hope that the committee would continue to work together and deliver according to its mandate.
Educational need
The President of the Students’ Representative Council of the university, Prince Asumadu, said the initiative “meets the educational need of bridging the gap between effective teaching and learning”, and pledged the SRC's support for it.
“We’ve passed a bill at the General Assembly to make a contribution to all the projects you are embarking on,” he stated, and expressed the hope that the initiative would be sustained to benefit the next generation of students.
The President, Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG)-Legon, Mrs Christina Adu, said the initiative “is novel and visionary”.
She stated that her leadership was poised to donate to the programme in the coming days, and urged beneficiaries to use the gadgets for the intended purpose.
Stakeholders’ support
The Registrar of the university, Mrs Emelia Agyei Mensah, urged the beneficiaries to use the laptops efficiently and effectively, and encouraged internal stakeholders to support the project.
“When our external partners see that internally we are doing a good job of supporting our students, I’m sure that they would rise up and also support us,” she said.
The event was attended by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Development, Prof. Felix Ankomah Asante; Provost, College of Health Sciences, Prof. Julius Fobil; Provost, College of Education, Prof. Samuel Nii Arday Codjoe; Dean, University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Prof. Justice Bawole; Director, Office of Institutional Advancement, Prof. Samuel Kwasi Dartey-Baah; Head of Public Administration and Health Services Management Department, UGBS, Prof. Albert Ahenkan; Director, Public Affairs Directorate, Mrs Elizier T. Ameyaw-Buronyah, among other high ranking officers of the university.
