Dr. Yaw Adutwum (left) presenting a citation to President Akufo-Addo (2nd from left), with them is Vice-president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (right)
The Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration yesterday fulfilled one of its major promises; to provide each senior high school (SHS) student with a computer tablet.
It follows the successful launch of the Ghana Smart Schools Project (one student, one tablet initiative) in Accra yesterday.
Under the one student, one tablet initiative, over 1.3 million students at the senior high school level across the sixteen regions of the country will receive a SM1 10.1 inch tablet which is pre-installed with all the educational materials they require for their academic work from SHS 1 to 3.
The Ghana Smart Schools Project aims to equip students benefiting from the free SHS (FSHS) policy with crucial technological skills, aligning with the government’s commitment to leveraging technology to advance education.
President Akufo-Addo also revealed that approximately 100 Smart SHSs will be constructed nationwide within the next two years.
This initiative aims to enhance the learning environment and expand educational opportunities for students across the country.
“To distribute 1.3 million educational tablets to students in SHSs. That is one student, and one tablet under the Ghana Smart Schools Project. The tablets are fitted with digital content to aid research, teaching and learning.
“At the tertiary level, Ghana is pleased to provide at a discounted price tablets and laptops to students and lecturers to facilitate academic [activities]…The government continues to seek innovative ways to do STEM and the FSHS policy.
“The next phase of FSHS policy enhancement will be propelled by digitalisation. This will allow a seamless online and offline teaching and learning experience,” he stated.
The internet-ready tablets also come with a solar powered Powerbank, a tablet case with a keyboard attached, as well as power cables for both the tablet and the Powerbank.
The tablets will be distributed in three phases from March to September 2024.
450,000 tablets are expected to be distributed during every phase of the distribution cycle.
President Akufo-Addo therefore promised to strive to make sure education becomes more accessible to all Ghanaian children during his tenure of office.
It is for this reason, he said, no child in Ghana must be left behind as far as the fourth industrial revolution (the digital age) is concerned.
To achieve this goal, the President said his administration is building one hundred smart schools to boost the digitalisation agenda in schools across the country.
Minister for Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, in his remarks, expressed delight in the level of commitment demonstrated by President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to education in Ghana.
He added that with the introduction of one student, one tablet initiative, smart education has taken off in the country in grand style, and the education ministry will do everything within its power to sustain the project and grow it.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent