IT to be introduced in pre-tertiary institutions

Larteh-Akuapem (E/R), March 15, GNA- The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports is to introduce the study of Information Technology (IT) and the use of the internet in pre-tertiary institutions to enhance quality education at cheaper cost to students.

The move is also to help develop IT and it's related skills which had become necessary to boost the economy and technical proficiency of the human resources that would lead to increased productivity and accelerated development.

The Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Rev. Ama Afo Blay, announced this at the Speech and Prize-Giving Day of the Benkum Secondary School at Larteh-Akuapem on Saturday under the theme: "Enhancing quality education, the way forward."

She said the Ministry had prepared a policy framework for the take-off of IT in pre-tertiary institutions whilst the GES has also linked up with West African Examination Council (WAEC) for the draft syllabus.

Rev. Afo Blay said the use of IT in education would allow teachers and students to learn more faster while developing positive attitudes towards computers and becoming independent learners.

She said with the inability of the country's public universities to admit about 60 per cent of qualified applicants each year, due to inadequate infrastructure and teaching personnel, an efficient use of IT would be an important asset for promoting distance education in all educational institutions.

The Director General noted that students who used computer-based educational technologies and communication systems were better prepared to meet the new challenges of jobs in today's computer-based environment.

The Akuapem North District Chief Executive, Dr (Mrs) Eugenia Dankwa-Quist, said the district assembly has been devoting much of its resources on education towards the provision of infrastructure at both basic and second-cycles levels as well as granting scholarship and bursary to support needy students up to the tertiary levels.

She, therefore, urged students to avail themselves of the opportunities to attain higher laurels that would empower them to accelerate national development.

Headmaster of the School, Nana Addo Gyau, mentioned lack of a dormitory block for the boys and this had made the few boarders to occupy part of a classroom while the girls were housed in the boys dormitory block since their own block had been abandoned over the past 26 years at the floor level.

He said the school had no assembly hall and the science laboratory lacked the needed equipment for continuous practical activities while the library lacked facilities for boarding students.

Nana Addo Gyau said only seven out of the 67 teaching staff including the headmaster and his assistants have accommodation on the compound thus making supervision over the 1,240 students very difficult. On the publication of the SSSCE league table this year, he noted that even though it had gone a long way to put teachers, students and school administrations on their feet, yet the "unequal provision of the necessary infrastructure and personnel as well as quality of students admitted in the various schools made the table inequitable."