GNAPS conference calls for technology-driven transformation of Ghana’s education

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Scholarstika, Akotarh Akoson, has challenged Ghanaian schools to embrace technology and modernise their administrative systems to prepare children for a rapidly changing digital world.

Speaking at the 30th Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS)-Scholarstika Annual General Conference at the Ho Technical University in the Volta Region, Akoson said schools must move away from outdated paper-based systems and adopt technology to improve efficiency, accountability and the quality of education.

The conference was held under the theme, “Revolutionizing Education: Transforming Ghana Through Innovation and Technology.”

Akoson used a typical school-fee dispute to demonstrate how inefficient administrative practices can affect both schools and pupils. He described a situation where a parent arrives at a school after a child is sent home for unpaid fees, only for staff to search through ledgers and receipt books because the bursar is unavailable.

He said such experiences do not only create administrative difficulties but also teach children what to consider normal in their environment.

“What a school practises teaches more powerfully than what it writes on the blackboard,” he said, stressing that schools must demonstrate the values of efficiency, organisation and innovation they expect children to learn.

Akoson, who said he first encountered a computer at age 12, noted that many African children still experience technology as something distant and unfamiliar. He argued that schools have a responsibility to make technology part of children's everyday learning and administrative environment.

He therefore urged Ghana to match its reputation for democratic leadership in Africa with technological leadership, beginning with schools.

He said technology could significantly reduce the workload of teachers and administrators by automating key functions such as admissions, fee management and academic reports.

On admissions, he explained that information entered once could be accessed by authorised staff according to their responsibilities, eliminating repeated data entry and reducing errors.

Regarding school fees, Akoson said administrators should be able to know immediately how much had been collected, what remained outstanding and which parents owed money without searching through ledgers or receipt books.

He also advocated automated academic reporting, arguing that assessment scores recorded throughout the term should automatically generate totals, averages and report sheets, allowing teachers to spend more time teaching and supporting students.

Akoson said Scholarstika was developed after identifying the practical challenges facing African schools, including student records, attendance, communication with parents, staff information, health records and financial management.

He stressed that technology for African schools must be affordable, simple to use and supported with adequate training.

The President of GNAPS, Professor Damasus Tuuroson, in a speech read on his behalf by the First Vice President, Justice King Essiel Amevor, said Ghana's education system was moving from the traditional “chalk-duster stage” into a digital and information technology-driven era.

He said the transformation required stakeholders to work together to ensure children acquire the skills needed to compete in the future.

Professor Tuuroson said revolutionising education meant more than improving existing systems, but required schools to reconsider inherited approaches to teaching, assessment and record keeping.

He noted that while technology was an important instrument for change, it could only be effective when teachers and school leaders were adequately trained and prepared to use it.

“A smart screen in a classroom means little if the teacher standing beside it has not been trained and trusted,” he said.

Professor Tuuroson added that every child who learns to code, reason, question and create contributes to national development, describing education as “national development conducted one classroom at a time.”

He called on GNAPS members to enter the new era with better technology, better-trained teachers and improved data systems while maintaining their commitment to providing quality education.

The three-day conference brought together private-school proprietors, headteachers, administrators, education professionals and technology stakeholders to examine how innovation and technology could transform Ghana's education sector.