Strengthen capacity of teachers in ICT

The Connect for Change Education Ghana Alliance (C4C-EGA) has said the capacities of basic school teachers should be strengthened towards the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities to enhance teaching and learning.

C4C-EGA said, “Capacity building in ICT for education managers, especially circuit supervisors, is also crucial because they do more of the monitoring and reporting.”

The recommendation follows a study conducted by C4C-EGA in 40 districts in the Volta, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions in November last year. The report was released in Tamale at the weekend.

The study sought to determine the availability of and use of ICT tools in basic schools as well as to identify gaps in the implementation of the country’s ICT in Education Policy with the view to improving the use of ICT in basic schools across the country.

C4C-EGA is a group of civil society organizations that use ICT to enhance the quality of education. They include Savanna Signatures, IBIS Ghana, Presbyterian Education Unit, Producer Enterprises Promotion Centre, Women and Development Projects and the Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing.

The study found out that infrastructure had been the major challenge hindering the promotion and deployment of ICT in education and development in the country, leading to poor knowledge of basic schools teachers in ICT, thus making the teaching and learning of the subject difficult.

It recommends the organization of stakeholder sensitization meetings for the Ghana Education Service Directorate and teachers at the districts level on their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of the ICT in Education Policy to ensure success.

It also recommends that internet services be provided to schools to enable teachers to do more research to enhance the quality of teaching as well as to enable the pupils to access online learning materials.

The study also suggests that teachers and pupils be increasingly exposed and educated on the use of online learning resources to maximize the use of the internet.