Some of the beneficiary students
The Ministry of Education has begun deploying smart tablets to Senior High School (SHS) students across the country, after President Nana Akufo-Addo launched the Ghana Smart Schools Project (GSSP) in March this year.
Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, said about 70,000 smart tablets had already been distributed to 30 of the 450,000 schools slated to get them under the first phase of the exercise.
He explained that the distribution is carried out using an automated system that ensures that only students captured in the Senior High School Secretariat database are served.
To ensure that only eligible students receive the tablets, Dr. Adutwum indicated that serial numbers have been assigned to each student so as to identify who is using a certain device.
Opoku Ware School, Bosomtwe Girls, OLA SHS at Kenyasi, St. James SHS, Bosomtwe STEM Academy, Osei Adutwum SHS, Wesley Girls’ SHS, Abomosu STEM, Mamfe Methodist SHS, Achimota SHS, Applied Technology Institute, Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC), Awaso STEM, Kpasenkpe SHS, and OIC are the schools that have so far received the smart tablets.
The rest are Aburi Girls SHS, Nyakrom Senior High Technical School, St. Augustine’s College, Ghana Senior High Technical School, Ahantaman Girls’ SHS, Tarkwa SHS, Accra Academy, Mawuli School, Afua Kobi Ampem Girls’ SHS, Worawora SHS, Damongo SHS, Nandom SHS, Bolga Girls’ SHS, Notre Dame Girls’ SHS, and Koase Senior High Technical School.
According to the minister, IT personnel who will play a role in the distribution platform have been trained ahead of time to ensure that the tablets are distributed efficiently from headquarters to the school level.
He also revealed that there is a tracking mechanism that can detect when the device is active, the websites students visit, and its location if it is stolen.
To ensure that the tablets are serviced promptly, Dr. Adutwum said the Ministry of Education in partnership with K. A. Technologies had established 274 support centres across the country, each with at least three technicians.
The Ghana Smart Schools Project (GSSP) aims to provide students under the Free SHS policy with essential technical skills, in line with the government’s commitment to advancing education through technology.
President Akufo-Addo during the launch of the project said the plan is to distribute 1.4 million smart tablets to schools nationwide.
The smart tablets come with a comprehensive management learning system that allows learners to take up self-assessment, access WAEC past questions, and also create blogs to interact with other students.
Dr. Adutwum stated that embracing ICT-driven education is the way to go if a country is to produce human resources capable of competing in an era of technological advancement.
He stated that equipping students with digital skills would not only improve their academic performance, but would also expedite the economy’s digitalisation for socio-economic development.
The minister said since 2017, the President has shown his determination to reform Ghana’s education system by implementing innovative policies.
He stated that President Akufo-Addo’s massive investments in the education sector would be remembered as his most significant legacy, while urging all stakeholders to play their respective roles in taking Ghana’s education to the next level.
“We are making significant progress as a nation, and the statistics and learning outcomes since 2017 attest to the fact that we are heading towards the right direction under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo,” he noted.
Dr. Adutwum added that, in addition to the Smart School Project, the government is establishing new laboratories and renovating old ones to support the implementation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
By Ernest Kofi Adu