The Minority in Parliament and the Sub-Committee on Education are disappointed at delays in the full implementation of the One Student One Tablet programme launched by government earlier this year, Deputy Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, Dr. Clement Apaak, has said.
According to the Builsa South Member of Parliament, it was the expectation of all of them that by now some 1.4million students would have had access to the tablets to aid learning as contained in the policy rationale for the initiative.
The Tablet per Student initiative was contained in the Ghana Smart Schools Project, launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in March this year and the full rollout was expected to commence last October per an earlier announcement by the Education Minister, Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum.
It is emerging that a large number of the intended beneficiary students are yet to be given the tablets even though some schools have been supplied the equipment but sitting idle in their stores.
“This government initiative received overwhelming support from the Education Committee and the whole House. The Committee toured the company producing the gadgets and we got excited by the demonstrations made to us; but months on, sub-committee on education is disappointed at government for failing to fulfil a public promise made at the launch of the Smart Schools Project which includes the provision of Tablets to students,” the MP explained.
Speaking in an interview, the MP said Parliament made budgetary provisions for tablets to cater for 1.4million children and, therefore, envisaged that by the commencement of the 2024/2025 academic year, all students would have benefitted.
“Some schools have been supplied with the Tablets and the Government through the Ministry of Education must tell Ghanaians why the schools are not distributing them to students. We must be concerned about the storage conditions; the likelihood of damage to the gadgets is very high. I want to believe the heads of school may not have been given the go-ahead to distribute and it is bad,” he added.
He said the failure of government to ensure all senior high and TVET schools access the initiative will be tantamount to discrimination and unfairness and said his committee will continue to engage the Ministry on the issues.
Chairman of the Committee of the Education Select Committee and MP for Fanteakwa North Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah confirmed there have been delays in executing the programme and explained that per the outcome of a pilot scheme, rollout were to be in three phases until the whole country is covered.
“The Minister assured us in our recent engagements with him at the committee level that everything possible is being done to ensure a successful implementation. Schools that have received their supplies must give them to the students, no need to keep them, they are the ultimate beneficiaries, and I want those who are yet to receive theirs to keep calm, they will get them,” he said.
In June this year, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia performed a brief ceremony in Kumasi to officially kickstart the distribution of the government’s tablet computers to students of senior high schools in the in the region.
Students in public senior high schools are to be given a tablet each for free under the government’s One Student One Tablet Programme being implemented by the Ministry of Education to accelerate ICT-aided teaching and learning.
Some 1.4 million students are to benefit from the initiative.
