Two groups of teachers calling themselves Innovative Teachers and All Teachers Alliance Ghana have dragged the Education Ministry before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) over the procurement of laptops under the 1 teacher 1 laptop policy.
Vice President Dr Mahamud Bawumia launched the initiative to distribute laptops to all teachers in public schools in the country to help improve the quality of education.
Under the programme, teachers will bear 30 per cent of the cost of the laptops while government absorbs the remaining 70 per cent.
According to the groups, they suspect the cost of the laptops has been inflated.
“The cost of each laptop is purported to be ¢1,550, and we suspect that this amount is inflated. A thorough investigation into procurement will vindicate our position,” they said.
“The highest price for this TMI laptop in our estimation must not be more than ¢600 given the specifications of this laptop and a colossal number of 280,000 laptops,” the petition reads.
It continues that “it is trite knowledge that manufacturing electronic gadgets in large quantities makes the price per item very low.
“One wonders why private businessmen procuring thousands of electronic gadgets from the same companies abroad get huge discounts, but when it comes to the use of taxpayers’ money to procure same electronic gadgets, the story is the direct opposite.”
The groups want the investigation conducted into the procurement because they believe the procurement of 280,000 laptops should significantly reduce the price for teachers and the taxpayer to pay.
In the petition filed at CHRAJ, the groups detailed 19 questions they want to be answered by the Ministry of Education to unravel the full circumstances surrounding the pricing and procurement of the laptops.
These questions include:
- What is the name of the IT company or the IT consultant who worked on the procurement of the TM1 laptops?
- Did the Ministry of Education contract a company to supply the TM1 laptops or signed the contract directly with the manufacture of the TM1 laptops?
- On which date was the tender invitation published and where is the copy of the tender invitation if the tender was through competitive tentering?
- What is the name of the company that won the contract to supply the laptops if the procurement was given to a company?