Make ICT facilities available

INFORMATION Communication Technology (ICT) has contributed immensely to the development of many countries in the world.

THE crucial role that ICT plays in Ghana’s development process cannot be overlooked hence the need for structures to be put in place for effective teaching and learning of ICT.

THE Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) is calling on government to fast-track the provision of ICT facilities in basic schools.
ACCORDING to GNAT President, Paul Asamanaba Apanga, the government of the day is doing its best, but its best is just not good enough for ICT to be introduced into the school curricula without the requisite facilities.

TODAY shares in the concerns raised by GNAT. This is because it is very worrying to see some basic schools in the country without ICT facilities which could help facilitate teaching and learning of ICT at the basic level.

IT is against this backdrop that government must ensure that Junior and Senior High Schools have ICT facilities at their disposal to impact computer literacy in students.
WHAT worsens the situation is the fact that some teachers in the country have little or no knowledge at all about how to use the computer. This does not auger well for the country’s development process and the nation’s future.

ICT as a subject can be recalled was introduced into the school curriculum two years ago with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) designing programmes for the ICT subject.
TEACHERS and students cannot upgrade their skills in ICT if facilities for the subject are inadequate and non-existent.

THE main idea behind introducing ICT in schools was to increase the ICT awareness of the Ghanaian school-goers and to make Ghanaians, in the long run, appreciate the need to use ICT to solve problems.

TILL date, no one knows what has happened to the One-Laptop-Per-Child project that was conceived by the immediate past New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
THOUGH, we are aware that the project is currently being piloted across the country, there is the need to speed up the piloting process to extend the project to every student in Ghana.
THE lack of facilities for effective teaching of ICT in schools has, more often than not, hindered the development of education in the country.
WHILE some teachers accuse government of showing little or no commitment at all in providing the requisite materials for the teaching of the subject others have also defended the government that it was doing well to put structures in place to enhance ICT training.

IN any case, ICT has done developed countries a lot of good. It is in this wise that all stakeholders involved in Ghana’s ICT development process must rise up to the challenge to equip students and teachers with the requisite ICT skills.