Support ICT infrastructure in Western Region schools – NGO

Smart Development Initiative Ghana (SDIG), a non-governmental organization that promotes Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education and development has engaged stakeholders on the need to support the provision of ICTs infrastructure in deprived schools within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA).

The engagement which forms part of the organization’s strategy to improve the application of ICTs in teaching and learning in deprived schools within STMA included a series of meetings with the Western Regional Minister, Metropolitan Director of Education, the Vice President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, the Coordinating Director of STMA, and other stakeholders within the Western Region of Ghana. The engagements ended in early August 2020.

According to the Executive Director of SDIG, Mr Alfred Baah, the decision to mobilize key stakeholders for ICT education was to improve the application of digital skills among children in deprived schools and communities.

This is in line with the increasing importance of ICTs in education delivery and development.

He noted, however, that, in Ghana, like elsewhere in the developing world, there are notable challenges that hamper the full realization of digital skills in education.

These include the lack of electricity supply to rural communities, inadequate ICT equipment, and insufficient support for ICT infrastructure by stakeholders.

According to Mr Baah, “the reverse is the case in Europe, Central Asia, and North America where most countries have the basic capabilities and connectivity that enable schools to deliver instruction using technology.

In these regions of the world, ICT has mitigated the impact of COVID-19 on education because learners are being taught remotely using technology even though schools are closed”

Mr Baah was satisfied at the end of the engagements that all stakeholders pledged support for ICT infrastructure in deprived schools within STMA as a deliberate strategy to stimulate learning in these schools; enhance connectivity in schools; improve digital skills of young children, and enhance telecommunication capabilities to enable education delivery online.