Bongo MP donates computers but beneficiary schools lack electricity to power them for effective teaching and learning of ICT

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bongo In a bid to boost the teaching and learning of Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a subject, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bongo Constituency, Mr. Albert Abongo has presented a number of computers to selected schools in the area. This is the second time the MP is providing computers for the schools in the area to significantly push forward the new ICT policy of the Ministry of Education, which makes the teaching of computer skills compulsory and an examinable subject in the basic schools. Zorko Senior High School, which had earlier received two computers from the MP some few months back, received an additional four desktop computers and its accessories and a photocopier machine. A number of selected Junior High Schools in the area, namely Vea, Kodorogo, Tarongo, Kadare, Gamborongo, also received a computer each to facilitate the teaching and learning of ICT. Mr. Abongo in an interview after the presentation said the computers were sourced from the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), as part of efforts at facilitating and providing I.C. T education and internet service to deprived communities. He appealed to the authorities of the schools and the students to ensure that the computers are put to good use to the total benefit of all. At the Zorko Senior High School, the MP said government is doing everything possible to improve infrastructure development on the schools new campus and this is manifested in the 18 unit classroom block currently on under construction at the school. The Assistant Headmaster of the Zorko Senior High School, Mr. Augustine Ceaser Achegewe expressed his appreciation for the gesture and said the school was happy to within a relatively short time benefited from the MPs benevolence. During a tour of the beneficiary schools, especially the Junior High Schools, one major observation was the lack of electricity supply in the schools to power the computers for the effective teaching and learning of I.C.T. The Bongo West Circuit Supervisor, Mr. Sylvanus Akurigo, acknowledged the challenge and said all efforts are being made to get schools hooked up to the national grid. He pointed to some electric poles acquired for that purpose and said very soon the schools will be connected to effectively utilize the computers. In the meantime, he said since nearby quarters’ have lights and it should be possible for teachers to utilise the lights nearby to facilitate the teaching of ICT. The MP for Bongo also acknowledged the unavailability of electricity to power the computers but said the most important thing was for the pupils to see what a computer looks like and appreciates the subject while efforts are made to extend electricity to the schools. -End- July 20, 2012