Government to unveil website for students to access learning materials

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said government would soon unveil a website containing all lessons and teaching materials of the best teachers from well-endowed schools, which could be accessed by students of senior high schools (SHS).

He said a lot of preparatory work had been done and that the website would be launched by the end of the year to provide access to lessons and teaching materials for both students and teachers in first-class and less-endowed schools to enhance teaching and learning.

In areas that did not have access to the internet, the Vice President said a new technology had been invented by a Ghanaian called; The i-Box and that once the device was placed in any school it would connect internet to the place to provide every student access to the website.

Vice President Bawumia said this at the Second Biennial Africa Regional Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in Accra on Wednesday.

The three-day conference is being hosted by the School of Information and Communication Studies of the University of Ghana to dialogue, share knowledge and promote communication, research and scholarship as well as uphold a high quality standard in digital communication.

The event is being held on the theme: “African Digital Cultures: Practices and Innovations,” and attracted members of the Association from 11 African countries and 12 other member states outside Africa.

Vice President Bawumia, therefore, encouraged all old student associations to support their alma mater to acquire the device; saying that government is negotiating with the telecommunication companies to make the downloading of lessons free for students.

He said efforts were underway to link the Ghana Post Digital Address to the new emergency number (112) so that whenever a call was placed the individual’s digital address would accompany it to the Police, Fire Service, Ambulance and other emergency services for prompt response.

He said the system is expected to be out-doored by December, this year.

“Sometimes you’re stranded and you need help urgently and so this digital address will help the emergency response team to easily locate you and offer you the necessary support,” he explained.

Vice President Bawumia said digitisation of public sector institutions had been creeping into the language of government adding that President Nana Akufo-Addo’s Government had rolled out a number of digital programmes as “soft infrastructure” to revolutionise the public sector since it assumed office 22 months ago.

The digital programmes include the Paperless Ports System, National Digital Property Address System, Electronic Business Registration, Mobile Money Interoperability Payment System, the ongoing National Identification System, e-driver licensing and vehicle registration digitisation.

He said those technologically-inclined interventions would enable the Government to solve basic social challenges, enhance financial inclusion of the unbanked population and make the country competitive on the global trading front, which would engender economic growth and move the nation beyond aid.

He noted that the Ghana-Card would serve as eligible identity card for citizens to travel within the ECOWAS without a passport and expressed optimism that the mass registration would be completed by the close of 2019.

Vice President Bawumia reiterated government’s resolve to ensure all payment of government services were done electronically next year, which would enhance transparency and accountability.

“We have to leverage on digital technology and make sure that all payments, whether for births or deaths, port duties, DVLA charges, business registration, passport and all payments will go through electronic payments,’’ he said.

“You can use your mobile money wallets, bank cards and visa master cards for payments and I believe we’re making a major leap on this.”

Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, the Dean of the Department of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, said there would be workshops and presentation of academic papers during the conference to enable the delegates to share knowledge and experiences.

Being the Convener of the Conference and Chair of the Local Organising Committee, she expressed gratitude to the ICA for selecting the University to host the biennial event.

Prof. Gadzekpo expressed the belief that it would contribute to academics in Africa and promote research, communication and scholarship.