Digital skills without tools will leave rural children behind – Kafui Prebbie

Kafui Prebbie, the programmes director for the Yamoransa Model, has stated that Ghana’s push to equip young people with digital and STEM skills risks leaving rural children behind if schools are not provided with the computers, robotics kits and other practical tools needed for hands-on learning.

According to him, although Ghana’s education curriculum requires pupils to acquire digital skills, many schools, particularly in underserved communities, lack the equipment to translate those lessons into practical experience.

“Unfortunately, even though our national curriculum requires the kids to learn digital skills, there are no tools to learn the digital skills,” Prebbie said, citing the absence of computers, robotics kits and Arduino boards in some schools.

Kafui, who doubles as the CEO of TECHAiDE, speaking at the launch of the 10 years anniveraay of the Yamoransa Model, said the problem became evident during the early stages of the Yamoransa Model Labs initiative, when organisers encountered an ICT teacher in a rural school teaching pupils by drawing on a blackboard because the school had no appropriate technology equipment.

Prebbie said the situation highlights a wider disparity in access to technology between children in urban communities and those in rural areas.

While some families in cities can afford laptops and other digital devices for their children, he said, pupils in many rural communities depend almost entirely on schools and community initiatives for access to technology.

It is against this background that the Yamoransa Model Labs has established technology centres serving schools in underserved communities.

The programme, which began in 2016 with a single project at Yamoransa, now has about 19 laboratories across Ghana, The Gambia and Liberia, according to Prebbie.

He said each centre is designed to serve pupils from several schools, with the facilities providing access to computers and practical STEM learning tools.

Prebbie also said data collected from about 40 communities showed a 14 percent difference in basic school examination scores between children who had access to the laboratories and those who did not.

He said the findings demonstrate the importance of giving pupils opportunities to practise what they are taught in the classroom.

The concerns come as Ghana places increasing emphasis on STEM education and digital literacy as part of efforts to prepare young people for a changing labour market and technology-driven economy.

The Ministry of Education has been expanding STEM centres and specialised STEM schools, but disparities in access to equipment, connectivity and trained personnel remain a challenge for schools in less-resourced communities.

Prebbie believes community-based interventions can complement the government's efforts by extending practical technology education to children who might otherwise have limited exposure to digital tools.

The Yamoransa Model is marking its 10th anniversary under the theme, “A Decade of Digital Impact: Empowering the Next Generation.”

Prebbie said the programme had so far reached more than 100,000 people across Africa and was exploring expansion into Tanzania and Zanzibar.

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