Charge reasonable fees for IT courses - Boafo tells IT service providers

Kumasi, Dec 12, GNA - Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, has expressed concern about the exorbitant fees charged for courses offered by Information Technology (IT) education service providers in the country. He said the practice could deny majority of Ghanaians, especially students, the opportunity to pursue and upgrade their knowledge in IT for accelerated socio-economic development.

Mr Boafo was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Kumasi Centre of the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) in Kumasi at the weekend. Some 150 students passed out after a two-year programme in software and networking engineering. "You should charge moderate fees that can meet the pockets of the ordinary Ghanaian so as to enhance the nation's bid to becoming an information-based economy", the Regional Minister said.

Mr Boafo advocated the integration of IT education into the basic school curriculum with the view to training professionals who could handle the nation's affairs with expertise.

In a message, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, commended the NIIT for living up to its mission statement of providing excellent IT education to the broadest spectrum of people in the country. He called on the graduands to strive to put into practice the knowledge they have acquired for their own development and the nation as a whole. Mr Saeed Hussein, Manager of the Kumasi Centre of NIIT, announced that his outfit had introduced a degree programme in computer science.