Ensure all students have access to internet before online exams – Education Ministry

The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Obeng-Fosu, has asserted that before any educational institution carries out an online exam, it must ensure that all students have equal access to the internet.

Speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show on Happy 98.9FM, he stated: “Any university that will conduct an assessment of students must put in place measures to ensure that all students have equal access”.

He, however, revealed that most educational institutions were of the position that while the institutions do their part in ensuring an uninterrupted online exams,the students must also “take the necessary steps to ensure that they have internet access during the online exams”.

He furthered that while the Ministry has arranged with telcos in Ghana to allow for zero rate when accessing online learning platforms, some educational institutions have made their own arrangements with other IT platforms.

According to him, the Ministry does not have the autonomy to determine what specific platforms that institutions should use.

He was, however, hopeful that with some bills in parliament at the moment, the Ministry could be given that right in the future.

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, the President directed that all educational institutions be closed while taking advantage of online learning. After about a month, some institutions in Ghana informed their students of an online exams which was not favourably accepted by students.

Subsequently, the Minister of Education in an interview on an Accra-based TV station kicked against the online examination by stating that “there is no public school that is conducting any exams online”.