Samira Bawumia inaugurates ICT lab for basic schools in Sagnerigu

Over 8,000 basic school students in the Sagnerigu Municipality of the Northern Region, will now heave a sigh of relief during ICT lessons.

This follows the inauguration of an ICT lab for them by the Second Lady, Mrs. Samira Bawumia.

The facility will serve about ten schools in the area.

Studying Information Communication and Technology in deprived schools has always been a hurdle for teachers and students due to the lack of computers.

Students are thereby denied practical knowledge in ICT as lessons are often delivered in theoretical form.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service has introduced ICT as an examinable subject at the basic school level which requires that students must have the requisite knowledge to enable them past their BECE.

In a bid to bridge the gap in ICT in basic schools, the office of the Second Lady, Samira Bawumia, with support from Helping Africa Foundation and other partners, inaugurated a 56-seater computer centre for the Choggu demonstration school in the Sagnerigu Municipality.

The centre, which is named ‘Yamoransa lab’, will also serve other schools in the area.

Addressing a gathering of students and teachers in Sagnerigu, Samira Bawumia said she is confident the centre will enhance the study of ICT and other subjects.

“I’m happy to learn that over 8000 students will benefit from this lab, we have also trained as resident management. Aside from ICT, the centre will also enhance the teaching and learning of English, Maths and science, due to the software installed on the computers.”

She further called for strong community participation in maintaining the facility.

“It’s important to note the need for strong community participation to ensure the facility is used for its intended purpose and probably maintained. This centre belongs to you, please make the best use of it. The government is committed to leveraging technology to formalise this economy. The government through its innovative policy is also harnessing ICT towards enhancing our institutional and governance capacity.”

The Director of the Helping Africa Foundation, Japhat Aryiku, emphasized the need for the community to show commitment towards the attainment of desired results in education.

“The Helping Africa foundation and friends of Yamoransa foundation will support and assist initiatives and projects that are driven by the local community but the political, religious, traditional, elders and civic leaders of the community must be fully committed to supporting the project in a sustainable way. With the commitment, in the form of an MOU we the outside organizations, will do our best to support those projects and initiatives with funding and other needs. ”

Some of the students who spoke to Citi News were elated over the ICT lab.

To ensure the effect management of the facility, TEACHAide, a non- governmental Organisation will provide two-year technical support to enable the smooth running of the Yamoransa ICT lab.