Two teacher unions have protested the government’s policy of ‘one teacher, one laptop,’ alleging a lack of transparency and quality.
The policy’s cost-sharing module is also opposed by the two teacher unions, the Innovative Teachers Alliance of Ghana (ITAG) and the ‘All Teachers Alliance of Ghana (ATAG).
Teachers would shoulder 30% of the cost, while the government will cover 70% of the cost of the laptops given by KA Technologies.
However, during a press briefing, Stephen Ayensu, founder of the Innovative Teachers Alliance, maintained that “employers were responsible for providing the tools needed for teachers to work.”
Additionally, the organizations are concerned that “the price of laptops changes like a chameleon.”
“With reference to GES Press release dated 9th September 2021 the price of the laptop was GHS 1,831 and it’s 30% was GHS 549. GES letter dated 26th October quoted GHS 509 as the price for the 30% component. What was the actual amount negotiated before KA Technologies started executing the contract?”.
“What was the actual amount executed before KA Technologies started executing the contract,” they asked further.
Dr. Clement Apaak, the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Education Committee, has also criticized the policy for its lack of transparency.
Dr. Apaak expressed worry that the government has been unable to offer specific information on the overall cost of the laptops and the number of teachers who would get them.
Along with issues about transparency, Mr. Ayensu questioned the computers’ quality.
He characterized them as substandard and said that they could not be utilized successfully for educational purposes.
“Teachers prefer Dell, Lenovo, Apple, Toshiba, Acer, Samsung, and other brands just like parliamentarians love Toyota V8 cars because what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”
Teachers, he claims, are outraged that the government has turned to “a local company with no track record in manufacturing laptops after the RLG debacle.”
“We wrote to Ghana Standards Authority and asked whether it has certified the TMI laptops being distributed. They responded by saying the company has not applied to the Ghana Standards Authority for certification or quality evaluation for its laptops. We wrote to the Registrar General and requested for the names of the Directors and Secretary of K.A Technologies”.
“Since the laptops were substandard, almost all of them [RLG laptops], broke down within a short time,” Mr. Ayensu added, reminding of the government’s distribution of RLG laptops.
“One would have thought that the Ministry of Education ought to have learned lessons from the RLG fiasco and not repeat same with K.A Technologies Ghana Limited. It has become obvious that the Ministry of Education will continuously insult teachers with laptops of suspicious quality which break down within a short time resulting in huge financial loss to the state. The so-called laptops are like notepads. We can’t use it for anything”.
In 2010, the government hired RLG to produce and deliver over 100,000 laptop computers to schools throughout the nation.
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