By Jesse Ampah Owusu, GNA
Accra, June 19, GNA – Mr Prince Agyemang Duah, Director of Schools and Instructions at the Ghana Education Service (GES), has urged teachers to equip themselves with ICT skills to enable them teach learners effectively in the new digital phase of education.
He said the nature of teaching and learning was evolving in the 21st century with the advent of digitisation, therefore, it was important for teachers to be abreast of digital skills to enhance their work.
Mr Duah said this during a durbar on a piloted Learning Passport initiative enrolled by the Ghana Education Service in collaboration with the Center for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) with support from United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The Learning Passport initiative is a learning platform on literacy and numeracy for basic school children from Primary One to Primary Three.
The project is currently being piloted in three basic schools – Haatso Calvary Presby Basic School, Kwabenya M/A Basic III School, and La Bawlashie Presbyterian Basic I School.
Mr Duah said the initiative highlighted the importance of including digitisation in education to enable learners to be well-equipped and empowered to compete globally.
He said it was the aim of the GES to equip Ghanaian school children with 21st century technological and digital skills to fully prepare them for the future.
“This forms part of the Ministry’s move to embrace technology and ICT in our schools making it integral part of the education system to give students that leverage and opportunity to compete favorably with the rest of the world,” he stressed.
Nana Gyamfi Adwabour, Executive Director of CENDLOS, said they were planning to upscale the learning passport initiative to 30 schools across the country after the pilot phase.
He said the platform offered a wide range of learning materials in literacy and numeracy for the pupils at the basic level enabling them to learn online through audios, pictures and videos.
Mr Awabour said CENDLOS came up with the platform after the COVID-19 outbreak where schools were closed and the pupils could not go to school to study.
“All the content on the learning passport is GES, NaCCA approved content; it is within what we are already doing in the country, so it is not foreign materials we are bringing to teach,” he added.
Christin McConnell, Chief of Education, UNICEF Ghana, said the initiative was a step towards complementing government’s efforts to enhancing foundational literacy and numeracy among children, particularly in the face of evolving educational landscapes.
“By leveraging evidence from the field, we can effectively collaborate with governments and stakeholders to refine and scale digital learning interventions not only during regular circumstances, but also in times of crisis.”
“This approach is pivotal in ensuring that no child is left behind, regardless of their circumstances or challenges they may face,” she added.
GNA