450,000 free student tablets ready for distribution – Dr Yaw Adutwum

Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has announced that 450,000 tablet are set to be distributed to 32 schools across the country.

The tablets, valued at $250 each, come equipped with a keyboard and a power bank, with a solar panel option for charging, catering to the intermittent power supply in certain areas.

The distribution process he said will be in three phases, with the first batch of 450,000 tablets due to be deployed.

Dr. Adutwum emphasized the importance of a phased approach to deployment to prevent overwhelming the system.

He added that a monitoring system has been put in place to track the effective distribution of tablets to ensure accountability.

“The 450,000 is a little less than 30%, the deployment is such that it is in three phases. The first phase which is hitting the regions and schools in the next coming week, is going to 32 schools in the 16 regions.

“Once it gets to the school, there is a dashboard that informs us the tablets are here. The whole idea is to ensure that you will do a phased approach to deployment and don’t get the system overwhelmed.

“Once we get them to the 32 schools, then within a week or two thereafter the rest which is phase two also starts moving to the schools, so it’s a phased deployment,” myjoyonline.com quoted him to have said in an interview on Joy News on March 30, 2024.

Furthermore, the Minister highlighted the long-term goal of gradually phasing out textbooks by integrating educational materials into the tablets. He explained that ICT Coordinators in schools have been tasked with training teachers and students on the effective utilization of the devices.

Background

The Ghana government, through the Ministry of Education, is set to distribute 1.3 million tablets to public Senior High School and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students through the Smart School project.

This initiative, fully funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND), marks a significant step towards the country's digitalization agenda.

AM/SARA

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