1Student-1Laptop initiative not 'efficient, prioritised' use of public funds – CSOs

Some 10 CSOs and teacher groups have said the government's one student-one laptop initiative, in which 1.3 million laptops would be procured by the state to replace textbooks in senior high schools, "does not represent efficient and prioritised use of public funds in the face of a heavily underfunded basic education sub-sector".

Instead, they propose the government use thise funds to develop "an emergency infrastructure expansion plan for overcrowded urban and peri-urban schools".

"The plan must also include a purposive approach to bridging the 25 per cent gap between primary and JHS while providing new schools for underserved communities", the groups said in a report.

"The government must deploy desks to all the 2.3 million pupils in underserved schools", the report added.

It urged the government to pursue partnerships with the Forestry Commission and the private sector in that regard.

The report noted that there are over 5,400 schools existing under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, "a situation which negatively affects, teaching, learning, and learning outcomes".

The general learning environment, the report said, "is not only a disincentive for teachers to accept postings but also demotivates existing teachers while making school attendance unattractive to students".

The groups noted that the Akufo-Addo government, in 2021, "announced a programme to replace all schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures with decent new school buildings by 2025".

However, the report said: "To date, only 17 have been completed".

"Given the current pace, it will take Ghana more than 300 years to eradicate the over 5,400 schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, which is unacceptable", the report indicated.