Editor of the Ghanaian Publisher newspaper, Yaw Obeng Manu has described the 1Teacher1Laptop as an excellent policy to enhance education in Ghana. But he has urged the Ministry of Education to ensure procurement processes are followed to the latter.
“I support the project because that will increase knowledge amongst teachers and provide great educational support to our children. We all need to keenly monitor the support being given by the government to the teachers. The 350,000 laptops will not be enough for teachers nationwide but I think this is the beginning and all teachers will eventually benefit in the end,” he stated.
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He indicated that procurement processes such as this have raised numerous corruption scandals in the past and advised the Ministry of Education, which is spearheading this initiative to be thorough and accountable to the people. “Procurement process has raised many issues in Ghana and some teacher groups are already raising questions on how these laptops are being procured. I think so far as we are using taxpayers’ money to buy them, then it is right we follow the right procurement process.”
According to him the suppliers of the laptops seem to have gotten the contract based on sole sourcing and although it is a local company, “I pray the right processes were followed. Because if there are lapses in procurement, then the laptops maybe undersupplied and this will prevent our educational system from thriving. The due processes have to be followed so that all is done right.”
Reiterating his support for the project which he insists will enhance the quality of teaching and education in Ghana. He however added, “We need to follow the right procurement processes.”
Editor in Chief of the web-based news portal, WhatsUp News, David Tamakloe, reacting to an earlier statement from the PRO of the Ministry of Education on the initiative, indicated that the 1Teacher1Laptop policy is a great one, but expressed his worry about the procurement process being full of corruption.
“I am worried that just like every good policy, this will also have some semblance of corruption attached to it,” he told Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show.
He notes that there has been no justifiable reason from the Ministry of Education on how and why they awarded the contract to a local company to supply these laptops. “Because it is a good policy, it doesn’t mean we should overlook its price per unit and how procurement was also done. This initiative must offer the taxpayer value for money.”
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Background
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched and handed over 350,000 laptops under the ‘One Teacher One Laptop’ programme in fulfilment of the government’s pledge to equip Ghana’s teachers with the requisite ICT skills to prepare the next generation for the fourth industrial revolution.
At a brief but colourful ceremony at the campus of the St Mary’s Senior High School, Accra on Friday, September 3, 2021, Dr Bawumia, assisted by the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum; the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa; and the leadership of Teacher Unions, handed over the first of these laptops, known as the TM1 (Teachers Mate 1) to the 71 teachers of the school.
Under the initiative, the government is to provide every teacher in Ghana, from Kindergarten to the Senior High School level, with a laptop preloaded with educational materials and with access to an E-Library equipped with books recommended by the GES on the various subjects. The materials can be accessed whether online or offline and with free Wi-Fi available in 722 Senior High Schools across the country, access to the almost innumerable resources available on the internet is expected to aid research, teaching and learning.
The State would take up 70% of the cost of the laptop, while the teacher makes up the difference. The laptop, however, becomes the personal property of the teacher and serves the benefit of providing a tool for developing the teacher’s professional and personal capacity.
