Stephen Odoi-Larbi
10 March 2010
As the world continues to develop at a faster pace in the 21st century, access information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) has become a critical tool in human advancement. Knowing this potential very well, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament said the use of ICT is unavoidable in the developmental agenda of the West African sub-region, especially, in the area of education.
"Recourse of ICT is unavoidable in the development of West Africa. The 21st century is characterized by the development of ICT which are essential tools to access to knowledge," noted Mahama Usman, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and Dr. Adrienne Yande Diop, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Gender, in joint opening remarks at the ongoing five-day workshop, which began in Accra yesterday.
It was under the theme; 'Introduction of New Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the educational systems -challenges and perspectives'. Member states in the aforementioned Committees are to draft an agenda to promote the use of ICT in education, with special emphasis on e-learning in the sub-region.
The West African sub-region is lowly rated in terms of literacy levels. This, according to the leadership of the ECOWAS Parliament is due to the inadequate and in some cases inappropriate infrastructure, low quality and number of teachers, the exclusion of most prospective students, early school leavers, housewives and the physically.
Mobile phone usage is the predominant tool for communication in the sub-region, but access to and effective use of ICT among member states is uneven across the rural/urban divide, between the rich and the poor, and more importantly, between the better educated (with better access to resources) and less educated often found in the informal sector.
The slow growth of ICT uptake and usage in the West African sub-region is also attributed to limited infrastructure, internet bandwidth, energy, limited technical expertise, low internet usage by government, schools, health and agricultural institutions and as well as income levels.
However, to harness the potential of ICT in nation development, Dr. Adrienne Diop called for more financial resources into education, since it is a worthwhile investment available to governments, to ensure that equal opportunities are provided for every member in the society.
"Progress toward better governance, more effective conflict resolution, increased competitiveness, controlled population, improved health and most importantly accelerated poverty reduction is ultimately related to progress in education and training. If education must play its unique role in the development of our countries, special attention should also be given to funding. It is also imperative that allocated funds are appropriated by the Ministries of education," he emphasized.
She believes that the "use of ICT in education is the antidote for the diverse challenges confronting education in the ECOWAS region", and therefore, stressed the need for it to tackled headlong by all stakeholders in order to achieve the desired result.
Simon Osei Mensah, MP for Bosomtwe said in an interview that the use of ICT should be given a top priority by the government in order to advance at a faster pace. "We must give education a top priority, especially in the use of ICT.
If we take it as one of the top priority areas, we can allocate the necessary resources to develop ICT in our countries. We should not forget that the way the world is moving, if you fail to educate your people and introduce ICT to them, when they complete school, they cannot fit into the global world," he noted.
The workshop is expected to end on Saturday March 13th 2010.
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