Govt cannot provide over 2.3million students with 'promised' tablets - Minority claims

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority in Parliament has once again raised concerns over what they perceive as an attempt by President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Bawumia to deceive Ghanaians regarding the provision of tablets to all Ghanaian students.

In a statement released by Dr Clement Apaak, MP for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member of the Education Committee of Parliament, the NDC highlights the failure of the current government to fulfil its campaign promise.

The statement begins by acknowledging that the NDC is not opposed to providing tablets to students for educational purposes, referencing their own manifesto commitment to provide free tablets loaded with relevant content to facilitate teaching and learning.

However, the NDC criticizes the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for falling short of its promise to distribute tablets to all students.

" It is important to state, that the NDC is not against the provision of tablets to students to enhance their learning experience. In the NDC's 2020 Peoples’ manifesto, on page 70, under ‘7.2: Providing Globally Competitive And Quality Education,’ it is stated in 7.2.3(k) that the NDC will; "Provide students and teachers with free tablets loaded with relevant content to facilitate teaching and learning.   " The failed Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led NPP in its 2020 manifesto on page 57, under Education (promise123): Improve ICT facilities and curriculum on ICT, notes that Curriculum approved and rolled out, stating further that discussions are ongoing for distribution of tablets to JHS and SHS students."

The NDC contrasts their manifesto pledge with that of the NPP, which promised to improve ICT facilities and curriculum, including discussions for the distribution of tablets to Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS) students.

However, they point out that according to data from the Ghana Education Service, there are approximately 2.8 million students in public SHS and JHS combined, yet only 450,000 tablets have been procured.

This shortfall means that over 2.3 million students will not receive tablets as promised by the government.

Furthermore, the NDC criticizes the lack of transparency regarding the procurement process and questions how the tablets will be distributed among schools and students.

Read the full statement below

‘ONE STUDENT, ONE TABLET’ TURNED INTO TABLETS FOR ONLY SOME STUDENTS   The NDC Minority in Parliament, once again, is compelled to expose President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Bawumia for trying to deceive Ghanaians, that they have fulfilled a campaign promise to provide tablets to ALL Ghanaian students.   Clearly, they have failed, because they have only provided tablets to less than a quarter of the population of Ghanaian students. This is obviously a cheap attempt to hoodwink unsuspecting Ghanaians into voting for Bawumia in the general elections, this year.   1. It is important to state, that the NDC is not against the provision of tablets to students to enhance their learning experience. In the NDC's 2020 Peoples’ manifesto, on page 70, under ‘7.2: Providing Globally Competitive And Quality Education,’ it is stated in 7.2.3(k) that the NDC will; "Provide students and teachers with free tablets loaded with relevant content to facilitate teaching and learning."   2. The failed Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led NPP in its 2020 manifesto on page 57, under Education (promise123): Improve ICT facilities and curriculum on ICT, notes that “Curriculum approved and rolled out,” stating further that "Discussions are ongoing for distribution of tablets to JHS and SHS students."   3. Note, that per data from the Ghana Education Service presented to Parliament during the 2024 budget process, the total number of students in our public Senior High School (SHS) was given as 1,331,219 (1.3 million), while the total number of students in public Junior High Schools (JHS) stood at 1,448,896 (1.4 million). This brings the total number of students in our Senior and Junior High Schools to 2,780,115. What the NPP manifesto promised, was tablets for ALL students; which means tablets for 2,780,115 students in Ghana.   4. After seven long years (and still counting) of failing to fulfill this promise, and now with only nine months to go to general elections, the failed Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia-led government has, through GETFUND, procured only 450,000 tablets for a total of 2,780,115 students. It is worth noting, that no provision has been made either in the 2024 budget, or the recently passed 2024 GETFUND formula to procure additional tablets.   5. This means, that a whopping 2,330,115 students in both SHS and JHS will not receive the tablets. With the 450,000 tablets being given to only SHS students, it means the remaining 881,219 SHS students will not have some; and no JHS student will have one.   6. Again, it is worth noting that  the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia government has failed to tell Parliament and the people of Ghana the unit cost of  the 450,000 tablets procured through GETFUND. This is clearly a government that has no regard for transparency and accountability. Even worse, it has no policy to guide the method of distribution and use of the tablets.   7. Given, that government has not procured enough tablets to ensure that at least all SHS students get access to these tablets, what criteria will be used to decide and select which students in which schools are to receive these tablets?   8. Now that the government has failed to produce enough tablets to enable every SHS and JHS student get a tablet as promised, should government decide to pilot the one student one laptop programme, how will the schools be selected?   9. At this juncture, we are cautioning the government not to select schools based on partisan political considerations, where schools in districts with NPP MPs are selected and districts with non-NPP MPs left out.   We call on Ghanaians to hold the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia-led NPP government accountable for failing to fulfil the promise of providing ALL students in SHS and JHS with tablets, despite receiving the most revenue in the history of Ghana. With the quantum of revenue this government has been lucky to have at its disposal, from 2017 to present, it's such a shame that it could only procure 450,000 tablets when we have 1,331,219 (1.3 million) students in SHS  and 1,448,896 (1.4 million) in JHS.   Obviously, the government has once again failed to fulfill its promise to the people. Ghanaians, as usual, can be trusted to see through the razzmatazz attached to the launching of the programme and recognize it as an election campaign gimmick.   Signed Dr. Clement Apaak MP, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member, Education Committee of Parliament

NAY/OGB

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