Basic schools in Bongo District appeal for ICT laboratories

Head teachers of some basic schools in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region have appealed to the Government to construct computer laboratories in their schools to enhance the teaching and learning of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

They said the lack of computer laboratories in the schools hindered the effective teaching of ICT as a subject and made the subject very difficult for pupils to develop and sustain their interest in it.

The head teachers expressed these concerns when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited them in their schools on Wednesday.

Mr Elvis Nyaaba, the Head Teacher of Balungu Junior High School (JHS), said the school had received laptops to offer practical lessons of ICT however it had no laboratory to install and use the computers for lessons.

He said ICT moved the world and it was imperative that pupils at the basic level received proper ICT lessons to enable them to contribute significantly to the development of the nation.

Mr Nyaaba, therefore, appealed to the Government to renovate an old structure in the school to temporarily serve as ICT laboratory to offer practical lessons, which is an examinable subject at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Mr Mark Adagubra, the Assistant Head Teacher of Nayorigo Primary School, said the school was given only one laptop by the Ghana Education Service and that it was not enough to cater for all the pupils in the school.

Mr Thomas Alukuke, the Head Teacher of the Balungu-Nabiisi Primary School, expressed similar sentiments and said he had two laptops for his school, which were woefully inadequate to serve the number of pupils there.

He explained that pupils from his school performed creditably in the theory aspect of ICT in the BECE in the past, “but we do not have the needed computers and laboratories to assist the pupils to acquire practical experience that would make them compete effectively with their colleagues in other schools.”

He urged the Government and other stakeholders in education to assist the school to acquire the necessary logistics and ICT facilities to improve on the quality of teaching and learning of the subject.