30,000 youth to be employed by rLG by end of 2012

Bolgatanga (UE), Jan. 25, GNA - Mr Sam Kwesi Fletcher, Head of Corporate Affairs of rLG, on Wednesday said Information Communication Technology (ICT) was a revolution of a knowledge based society which Africa and Ghana could not afford to miss.

Mr Fletcher said ICT skills played an integral part of global phenomenon that facilitated not only job acquisition but was required in any sphere of life.

He said this at a ceremony where rLG donated 360 computers to 15 Junior High Schools (JHS) in the Bolgatanga Municipality and Bongo District, as part of government’s public - private partnership with rLG Communications to promote the learning of ICT in schools.

The beneficiary schools were Sherigu, Akantome, Adakura , Sumbrungu Kolgo, Baptist JHS, Awogeya , Afeghera No. 2 and Aninga Zanga JSS.

The rest were Preparatory Junior High, Anglican Junior High, Soe R/C Junior High, Saligba D/A. Junior High, Gambrungu D/A Junior High, St Johns and Nuru Islamic Junior high Schools. Each school had 24 computers.

He said the benefits of the partnership does not end with the learning of ICT, but opened opportunities for over 30,000 youth to be employed by rLG in the assembling of computers by the end of 2012.

He called on all to assist to make the partnership programme a successful one.

Mr Paul Apanga, Upper East Regional Director of Education, commended rLG for donating the computers and the efforts they had made to train teachers to acquire skills to support the youth in the learning of the subject in schools.

He added that underdevelopment could be fought with the use of ICT and urged the youth to take it seriously.

He appealed to the Municipal and District Assemblies that had not connected their schools to the National Grid to do so, to help in the learning of ICT. He also assured rLG that the computers would be put to good use.

Mrs Lucy Awuni, Upper East Deputy Regional Minister, said it was a commitment of government to bring quality life to the people and to also achieve the Better Ghana promised Ghanaians.

She said the donation was long overdue since some schools missed out in writing ICT for their Basic School Certificate Examination because the subject was not taught in their schools.

She said the distribution of the computers to the schools would enhance the teaching and learning of the subject in the country.

“It is an avowed commitment of government to develop the youth, who will in the near future take up the mantle of leadership and the administration of this country”, she said.

She hoped the partnership with rLG would continue and called on more corporate organizations to join in similar partnerships to build a prosperous nation together where all Ghanaians would be self- sufficient.