MINISTRY COMMITTED TO PROMOTING ICT EDUCATION (PAGE 11, MAY 19, 2010)

THE Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has assured stakeholders of the ministry’s support to promote sound Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education for teachers and students.
This, he said, was due to the important role ICT was playing in facilitating the rapid development of all sectors of the nation.
He said the integration of ICT into all levels of education in Ghana as a major component of the last educational reform was a matter of priority to the government.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said this in a speech read on his behalf at the opening ceremony of the 2010 annual Global Teenager Project (GTP) coordinators conference in Accra.
He said the Global Teenager Project was one of the key stakeholders partnering the ministry in ICT education to help students acquire and develop rare ICT skills to enhance quality education.
The Minister noted that since its launch, the project had grown from three classes to over 350 and provided professional development training for teachers and students in over 40 Junior and Senior High schools in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Northern regions.
"Education should make provision for changes of the present and the future. It is for this reason that the government places emphasis on quality education," he emphasised.
He therefore commended Rescue Mission Ghana, managers of the project, for the work and promised the ministry's support for the project.
The Executive Director of Rescue Mission Ghana and Project Manager of the GTP, Mr Ebenezer Malcolm, said the project had developed very well and advanced in its objective of using ICT to connect local and international learners and teachers, developing educational content, promoting cross-cultural understanding and raising ICT literacy and awareness in schools.
He said 750 teachers had so far been trained in basic ICT knowledge and skills, while 840 students had acquired web development skills with 17 students and two teachers winning international awards in web development contests organised by the School Net Africa.
Mr Malcolm said the project was playing an important role in the lives of young people and had also become an important aspect in employment, adding that some schools were using ICT to enhance and add new dimensions to the learning process.
"To move the project forward, some critical issues should be addressed and GTP is seeking partnership with well-organised and structured telecentres that are dotted in a few regions across the country," he stated.
He said for the programme to be national in character, it required the active involvement of students, teachers and stakeholders.
He therefore stressed the need for the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to consider including GTP into the school curriculum.