The Education Minister, Mr. Alex Tetteh Enyo has said the one laptop per child (OLPC) concept is a good one, but issues of sustainability and security needs to be properly addressed before the programme can be continued.
He said this when he responded to a question as to how the first batch of laptops under the OLPC were distributed to school pupils and when the exercise will be completed. The Education Minister added that his Ministry has found it necessary to review the scheme in terms of its cost implication and sustainability.
He said the Ministry is committed to deployment of ICT in the teaching and learning process, with efforts being made to provide class or laboratory solutions, and not 'one on one' solutions at the pre-tertiary levels, in view of the capital intensive nature of ICT deployment.
The Minister told the legislative house that last year the Ministry took delivery of one thousand pieces of XO laptops for the OLPC programme, under an agreement made between the Ghana OLPC foundation and the OLPC organisation of the USA for the supply of ten thousand laptops for distribution nationwide.
He added that this followed a pilot project implemented by the Ministry in two schools, namely Kanda Estate '5' School in Accra and Bonsaso Primary School in the Amansie West district in the Ashanti Region.
Mr. Alex Tetteh Enyo explained that the regional directors and district directors of Ghana Education Service (GES) were invited to identify primary schools that had electricity supply and secured structures for the computers. "A final list of thirty beneficiary primary schools was prepared and the distribution was done in August 2009", the Minister said.
Mr. Tetteh Enyo also told the house that the Education Ministry has made plans to conduct a forensic audit on the GETFUND. To this end, the Ministry has initiated moves to get the audit to ascertain disbursements from the GETFUND over the years, and its outstanding commitments.
The Education Minister disclosed that the Board of the fund has constituted a sub-committee to develop the terms of reference to guide the conduct of the forensic audit. He said this in response to a question posed by the MP for Ho West, Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah, on when a forensic audit would be conducted on the GETFUND to ascertain its indebtedness.
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As someone who has had considerable experience with the OLPC computers in Axim, Nzema East District, I can say that these computers are not really directed to ICT training, as such. Yes, their use will teach a child how to use computers and what they're all about. Howver, their main use with children about 6-12 or so years is as a "learning" tool. They are not at all like the computers we all use in our offices, with wordprocessing, spreadsheets, etc. They are equipped with programs called "Activities", which engage a child directly in learning. For example, there are math activities, measurement, science, and yes, writing and drawing. There is a "Wiki-pedia", which is really a complete encyclopedia available to the child at any time. The Minister is rightly concerned with focusing on ICT deployment, which I like to call "vocational computing", as vital to older students as they prepare to enter a modernizing Ghanaian economy. But, these OLPCs are not that---they are learning machines, and have content and activities which are similar to textbooks and other learning materials for primary level children. They help teachers and parents give educational content to children. And they are designed to stand up to the heat, humidity, etc. of the climate in the sub-tropics. Maryanne Ward, Ghana Together (US)
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