Aliu advises youth to utilize opportunities in ICT

Accra, March 12, GNA - Vice President Aliu Mahama, on Friday, advised the youth to take advantage of the information technology and communications (ICT) facilities in their communities to develop their skills.

He said ICT offered many opportunities to facilitate human development, therefore, the Government would ensure that such facilities were available in all institutions of learning.

The Government, last week, signed an agreement with Microsoft Corporation, under which the largest and richest ICT Company in the world, would provide resources to improve ICT education in Ghana. Vice President Mahama said this when he inspected facilities at the National ICT and Science Resource Centre of the Ministry of Education, in Accra.

He participated in a brief video conference, which linked Accra to Tamale and Florida in the United States.

An ICT expert from Florida, Mr Frank Sampson, is assisting the Centre to develop an educational programme that would link secondary schools across the country to simultaneously have lessons from teachers rated to be the best in their fields.

The programme also seeks to link schools in Ghana to those in the United States.

Vice President Mahama commended the programme, saying it was a step in the right direction.

The Vice President, who earlier interacted with students undertaking science projects, lauded their ingenuity in developing products from local raw materials.

"This is very encouraging and they deserve to be supported to transcend it to levels that would facilitate economic growth," he said. He assured the Centre, which assists science teachers to develop interesting models for teaching and learning, of the Government's assistance.

The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Reverend Ama Afo Blay, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Mrs Sophia Gifty Awortwe, Head of Science Education Unit, GES, conducted the Vice President round.