IT for Schools, Clinics, Farms

Information technology (IT) and the Internet will soon be available to Ghana's schools, health clinics, farms and local businesses under a new project announced by the UN Development Programme on Monday.

A 'Mobile Telecentre,' a bus equipped with IT facilities, is due to go out on the road in September and provide training in Internet-based services such as distance learning, e-commerce, tele-medicine and online banking. Each week the bus plans to reach 270 school children, 30 teachers, 15 farmers, 3 businesses and 2 health clinics, UNDP said.

The project also aims to promote the introduction of IT into the school curriculum, raise awareness about IT as a tool for national and personal development and increase the number of young people with IT knowledge. The bus will remain for three months in each of the four regions targeted by the initiative.

UNDP Resident Representative Alfred Fawundu described the project as "a first, since it will be bringing value-added services to the doorstep of schoolchildren, farmers, traders and clinics." When the bus moves on, the project will forge agreements with local partners to ensure that a cyber cafe or telecentre is established in the area.

The bus is funded by a private-public partnership implemented by the UN Office for Project Services. To access the Internet, it will use wireless technology and a solar panel or, where these are not available, electric power, UNDP said.