Workshop on ICT for dev't for African institutions opens

Winneba (C/R), Feb. 6, GNA- Professor, Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba has called for the institution of a special fund to be named ICT Trust Fund for the establishment and equipping Information Communication Technology Centre in all basic and secondary schools in the country.
He said if the fund is established, it would make every school child in the country to start the learning of computer from the basic schools, adding that by the time the child would enter the secondary cycle institutions, he or she would have become very good at ICT and conversant on the computer.
Professor Anamuah-Mensah said this at the opening of a three-day international ICT workshop on Information communication Technology for Development Network for African Higher Education Institutions. Fifteen participants made up of Lecturers and Educational administrators drawn from Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal and the Royal Holloway University of London, UK are attending the workshop. It is, at among others, aimed at creating a network excellence in Africa ICT for Development and also to establish a sustainable Higher Education Institution ICT for development partnership network. He said ICT for development is a project aimed at forging partnership network among higher educational institutions in Africa in order to promote the development and use of ICT for improving teaching and learning.
Professor Anamuah-Mensah said that higher institutions in Africa have a major role to play if ICT is to serve as a vehicle for socio-economic transformation of good human resource base for the sub-region. He was of the view that partnerships among institutions of higher learning through the use of ICT for development could provide the platform for sharing best practices and prevent others from re-inventing the wheel of technology.
Mr. Benjamin J. Williams, the ICT Coordinator for the UEW, suggested that time limited for students to visit the centre be reduced to avoid the misusing of the excess time on the net.
The District Chief Executive for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, Mr. Solomon Abam-Quaye, said the District Assembly has established an ICT centre at Senya Beraku for schools in the town and another one at Awutu Bawjiase would soon be opened for schools in the area.