ICT operators asked to charge affordable fees

Accra, Jan. 5, GNA - The Reverend Ama Afo Blay, Director General of Ghana Education Service (GES), on Monday appealed to private Information and Communication Technology (ICT) operators working with educational institutions to charge affordable fees.

She said it was wrong for ICT operators to exploit the enthusiasm of schools eager to introduce computer education into their curriculum. Reverend Afo Blay made the appeal when she opened a five-day workshop on Instruction in Accra being attended by 120 pupils drawn from the 10 regions.

It is being organised by the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), under the Associated Schools Project Network and it is aimed at bridging the gap between the urban and rural schools in computer studies.

Reverend Afo Blay said although the importance of the private ICT operators in the teaching of programme in schools was worthwhile there was the need for them to consider the state of the pupils especially those in the rural areas.

She said there were instances where pupils in certain schools could not pay the charges because it was beyond their reach adding: "The charges are too exorbitant."

She noted that ICT had been identified as an effective area that could help to deliver quality education for national development. Reverend Afo Blay said in spite of the numerous problems facing the GES it would ensure that ICT education facility was available to every school.

She advised the pupils to access educational information that would help to develop their potentials rather than pornographic sites that portrayed negative practices.

Dr Boubacar Camara, Director of UNESCO Cluster Office, said there was the need for an accelerated effort to offer pupils access to ICT education so that they would have a fair idea of issues taking place elsewhere in the world.

"You cannot belong to a society without being abreast with its scientific and technological operational systems", he said.