Dr. Prince Hamid Armah
Vice-Chairman of the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Prince Hamid Armah, and Member of Parliament for the Kwesimintsim Constituency have reiterated the government’s commitment to providing digital literacy training for teacher trainees.
The Legislator made these remarks in his speech at the investiture of Dr. Adwoa Kwegyiriba as the new Principal of the St. Francis College of Education in Hohoe.
Addressing the gathering, the former Director-General of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Dr. Prince Armah reflected on the importance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education delivery in the twenty-first century.
He explained how the failure to train teachers in ICT would impact effective teaching and learning.
“Given the value of teachers to national development, policymakers must continuously remain committed to the wholesome training and development of teachers, especially in the field of digitisation. We are in the digital dispensation, where many children are now referred to as digital natives, because of their affinity for and heavy dependence on information communication technology (ICT) tools. Other studies further suggest that digital immigrants that are adults who have had to adapt to ICT struggle to create content that can meaningfully engage and hold the attention of digital natives. This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of education delivery in the 21st century,” he started.
In Ghana, research suggests that less than 15% of teachers use ICT in improving teaching and learning.
This statistic indicates that there are many students in Ghana, especially in basic schools with little access to ICT education and tools.
The One Laptop per Child policy implemented in the past has improved access in many ways, but the ICT gap remains huge.
Dr. Armah, however, assured the gathering that the government has recognised the need for digitisation in education and designed effective solutions to meet it accordingly.
He cited the TM1 laptop distribution scheme as an example of the government’s commitment to providing ICT tools to teacher trainees to empower them with ICT skills.
The Kwesimintsim Legislator, who was a key team member of the recent teacher education reforms in the country also explained how the government has formulated policy to integrate ICT into the teacher training curriculum.
He emphasised that colleges have now been empowered with conducive policies to support the education of ICT.
“The government’s distribution of laptops to teachers is predicated on the assumption that teachers can competently use the devices to enhance teaching and learning… The National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF), the National Teachers Standards, and the Bachelor of Education curriculum for Colleges of Education – all of which I was privileged to be actively involved in their development – strongly emphasize the need for pedagogical integration of technology in teacher education. The NTECF framework recognizes ICT as a key to effective communication, teaching, and learning in the 21st century.’ Colleges are therefore well-equipped, in policy, to use this framework to develop teachers that can effectively manage the digital demands of teaching in the 21st century,” he stated.
The infusion of ICT into education delivery is a challenge that goes beyond Ghana; the African continent has generally struggled to successfully infuse ICT due to a lack of supporting infrastructure at basic levels.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 2015 outlook on Sub-Saharan Africa’s e-readiness in terms of education was promising but slow.
However, a key recommendation for improving the situation was progressive education policy formulation and provision of ICT tools for teachers and students. In this regard, it appears Ghana is leading the way.