President Akufo-Addo has announced the distribution of 1.3 million tablets to public Senior High School and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students.
According to him, this initiative is part of the government’s measures to ensure that all sectors of the country are digitised.
Speaking at the launch of Smart School Smart School Project on March 25, he said “In furtherance of our digitalisation agenda in the education sector, government is proceeding with plans to distribute 1.3 million educational tablets to students in Senior High Schools. That is one student per tablet under the government Smart Schools Project. The tablets are fitted with digital contents to aid research, teaching and learning.
“At the tertiary level, the government plans to provide at discounted price, tablets and laptops to students and lecturers to facilitate academic work.”
He explained that the initiative resulted from lessons the government had learned from Covid-19. He stated that the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in various sectors of the country, including the educational sector. One of the notable gaps highlighted was the need for digitalisation across all sectors, particularly in education.
President Akufo-Addo also announced that the Ministry of Education had already distributed 200,000 laptops to teachers in pre-tertiary institutions nationwide.
Additionally, these teachers have undergone training on how to use and utilise applications embedded in the computers to facilitate the preparation of lesson notes and research.
Again, he said although the free SHS policy has been successful, the next phase of the policy would be propelled by digitalisation.
He stressed that this would allow a seamless offline teaching and learning experience.
“The enhanced Free SHSs will be environmentally friendly, boost academic performance fitted with interactive displays, interactive learning and increase productivity which is what has given birth to the Ghana Smart School Project.
He explained that the project seeks to deepen the application of IT in teaching and learning at the secondary cycle level. Its goal is to enhance the performance of students, better preparing them for higher education and competitive careers.
Meanwhile, government intends to build 100 smart schools across the country. The first 30 of these schools are slated to be completed this year, with the remaining 70 are expected to be finished within the next two years.
The smart school infrastructure will be located in all 16 regions of the country.
Additionally, President Akufo-Addo mentioned that the smart school buildings will be fitted with solar panels, enabling them to operate independently of the national electricity grid.
These schools will also feature digitised infrastructure aimed at advancing teaching and learning. The physical infrastructure will take into account the unique climatic conditions of each region, creating a conducive atmosphere for learning.
“The Ghana Smart School Project is in alignment with the government’s promise to enhance the free Senior High School programme leveraging on technological advancement to enable students to compete globally,” he said.
Again, he said “I am confident that we can build a future where every Ghanaian child has access to a world-class education and unlocks full potential. Let us embrace this opportunity to transform our school into hubs of innovation and excellence. Let us work tirelessly to ensure that no child is left behind in the digital age.”
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