Chinese Ambassador commissions ICT lab for JHS

The Chinese Government has established an ultra modern ICT laboratory to promote the learning of ICT among students of Duong Junior High School (JHS) in the Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region.

The facility, which costs GH¢65,000.00 was executed under the banner of “China-Africa People-to-people Friendly Action” through the cooperation of the Chinese Embassy and the Ghana-China Friendship Association (GHACHIFA).

Commissioning the facility on Thursday, Sun Baohong, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana said the successful completion of the facility was an epitome of the ever-deepening China-Africa and China-Ghana relations.

“Considering the importance the whole Ghanaian society attaches to education, ICT and the development of the youth, the Embassy handed over a China-aided ICT lab to Philip Akpo Memorial School in the Volta Region last year, and cooperated with GHACHIFA to aid an ICT lab for Doung JHS”, she noted.

The Chinese Ambassador noted that Ghana was one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to establish Diplomatic Relations with China and that relationship had yielded fruitful achievements in various sectors.

Ambassador Sun Baohong noted that, in 2014, China-Ghana trade volume hit 5.6 billion United States (US) dollars, adding that, China had rolled out various sectors to facilitate Ghana’s export to China, which surged to more than 1.4 billion US dollars the same year.

This is a big boost to President Mahama’s strategy of exporting more “made-in-Ghana” goods, she stated.

Dr. Musheibu Mohammed Alfa, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister noted that information sharing was very vital to the development of every nation, saying that, it was however sad to note that the opportunity presented to the world through ICT has not yet reached millions of people the world over due to lack of resources.

Fortunately, the government of Ghana has distributed computers to several schools to facilitate the teaching and learning of ICT as a course area examinable in the Basic Education Certificate Examination, he hinted.

Dr. Alfa said the gesture of goodwill from the Chinese Government to the people of Duong was a demonstration of the good relationship that existed between Ghana and China.

He entreated the students and the community to make good use of the facility to enrich their knowledge in computer and research and avoid misuse such as engaging in cyber-crime and the consumption of bad content like pornography.

Ambassador Kojo Amoo-Gottfried, Chairman of GHACHIFA, appealed to the teachers to use the facility to train the students for the future since knowledge in ICT had become indispensable commodity in the job market.