Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education has said the assertion that his government is issuing free tablets to solicit for votes in the upcoming general elections is untrue.
Speaking on Peace FM’s 'Kokrokoo' Morning Show on April 18, Dr. Adutwum highlighted the need to champion the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme launched by the Akufo-Addo government.
According to the Education Minister, the learning of computers and its related disciplines should be encouraged by every Ghanaian irrespective of the political divide, with reason being that, the world is moving towards digitalisation to perform a lot of tasks; adding that the students can only develop the requisite skills when they are exposed to the devices.
The government through the Ministry of Education has launched the one student one tablet education policy. This policy is meant to give every student a free tablet to facilitate teaching and learning in the senior high school levels.
However, the opposition party, National Democratic Congress and the party’s flagbearer, John Mahama, criticised the ministry as well as the government for using the free tablets to get the students to vote for the New Patriotic Party in the upcoming December elections.
However, the Education Minister during the radio interview shared a different opinion. In his view, the tablets shared are not for political gains.
"We are in the fourth industrialized revolution. In this era, there is a combination of biological and electrical applications where individual body parts are used to operate doors, machines, start car engines, machines and other devices. When you go to schools, robots are developed to interact with students. That is the era in which we are."
"Countries are running towards this style of education to transform their world. Every country that is developed now embraced the introduction of computers and its related skills in their educational system.
"So this innovation is not for political gimmicks. I don’t have time for political gimmicks. Where God has brought me and the work I have done so far through the government led by the Nana Akufo-Addo, I don’t think I have to do this to score political points," he reiterated.
The minister further underscored the need to decouple politics from education, adding that, such an attempt will plunge the country’s beautiful educational sector into jeopardy.
He, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to be critical consumers of political communication.
He further added that, "the communication ongoing on our airwaves should be scrutinised thoroughly. Ghanaians should be careful in order not to be deceived by any politician who claims his government will do better when he comes into power."
"The future of this country will be very beautiful. We don’t improve our educational sector because of politics. We don’t build STEM schools because of politics. When we give computers to students, we don’t do these because of politics. When we teach children to use computers to study, we don’t do it because of politics,’’ he added.
Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com
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So what time do you think is right for laptops to distributed, You when in an unlikely even that mahama wins power? or Da bene
I have read some of the comments and the main concern is about the timing of the distribution of the free tablets to schoolchildren. However, the policy of providing all the infrastructure, i.e. science laboratories, libraries and modern school buildings, among many other amenities, is not in question. The only abomination is the timing of the distribution of the tablets, which falls during the election campaign. I do not think the purpose is ill-motivated; it is a healthy political point. It shouldn't always be insinuations to defile your political opponents, nor should it be defamation as it has become the hallmark of the NDC.The need to champion the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme launched by the Akufo-Addo government is a good one. I would just commend it and say it's politically expedient.
Minister (Servant) of Education: At the time you launched the free distribution of the tablets, our Teachers were on strike and one of their main concerns was that they had deposited, (through salary deductions at source) 30% of the cost of laptops and you were to top it up with the 70% and buy them laptops, but you had not done your work of buying their laptops. By the way how many workers in Ghana have tablets? People aim for laptops first, for obvious reasons! Furthermore, while you are distributing tablets in Accra, some of our other compatriots are lying on dusty floors and schooling! Meanwhile $100,000 (cost of V8) will transform schools in the rural areas! You are misusing our money - we will take our mandate from you and try another party/person!
Dr., I don't believe anyone frowns upon the idea of digitisation or embracement of technology for the development of our educational sector. People are only scrutinizing how we approach these and what inspires the approach we have chosen. As you mentioned, which of the developed nations that embraced technology to get to where they are started with the distribution of free computers to students or are still doing that? None!!! Rather, there are sustainable and effective means of incorporating technology into our educational setups to benefit students and the nation satisfactorily. The freebies way you are using is only motivated by political point scoring and taking advantage of fragile brains of students to vote for the NPP. It's not sustainable and it is not be the best way we can empower our kids technologically.