The Ghana Education Service has announced plans of procuring laptops for all pre-tertiary teaching staff of the Service to support teaching and learning as they combine classroom and online lessons in this covid-era.

In a letter by the Director-General of GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, and sighted by GhanaWeb.com, the GES noted that each teacher must acquire one of the laptops adding that government will absorb 70% of cost whereas the remaining 30% will be deducted at source from Controller and Accountants General’s Department (CAGD) from their salaries.

“The laptops are to be owned as personal assets of the individual teachers, and it is mandatory for each teacher since much of the materials for teaching will be uploaded on them. Thus, to enhance performance of teachers, the curriculum, Teachers’ Resource Pack, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and Professional Learning Communities (PLC) modules, as well as the textbooks on core subjects will be pre-loaded on the laptop,” part of the statement dated January 29 read.

"Government has agreed to pay 70% of the cost while the individual teacher is to pay 30%. These amounts have been agreed upon in consultation with the Teacher Unions,” portions of the letter read.

The letter by the Director-General of GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa also noted that “each teacher is to sign an acknowledgement form stating all personal particulars and also authorizing the deduction of the amount at source at the Controller and Accountants General’s Department (CAGD).

Ghana is among few African nations to have reopened its schools despite cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The government have however assured the public that measures put in place including the mandatory wearing of nose masks among other safety protocols will help prevent any possible spread of the virus among students.