By William N-lanjerborr Jalulah
Teachers and pupils of St. Charles Primary School in the Bolgatanga Municipality have become the latest beneficiaries of the MTN Foundation’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) Centre project for selected communities and institutions in the country.
The managers of the MTN Foundation, in December 2011, joined hands with then Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni, to cut the sod for the construction of the facility which was then estimated at GH¢148,640.
It was expected to be completed and commissioned in the second quarter of 2012, but this deadline was not met. It was also announced that the facility would have 25-seater capacity, but after completion, it turned out to be a 20-seater capacity facility, at the cost of GH¢128,000.
The facility will, no doubt, facilitate teaching and learning of ICT, as the course has been included in the Ghana Education School curriculum at the basic level of education.
Mr. Robert Kuzoe, Executive Secretary and Senior Manager, MTN Ghana Foundation, said in its sixth year of existence, the foundation had spent about GH¢13 million on projects that have touched the lives of many people in every region, making a difference through education, health, and economic empowerment projects.
In the Upper East Region, he said GH¢848,873.37 had been spent in interventions such as the ITC centre, donation of an incubator to the Bawku West District Hospital, construction of the Azuribisi CHPS compound, which is ongoing, refurbishment of the Zuarungu Health Centre, and sponsorship of 20 schools to participate in the national “Spelling Bee” competition for the past three years.
The Head teacher of the St. Charles Primary School, Madam Binina Weye, was full of excitement for the fact that, at long last, her school was now fully connected to the rest of the world, with the commissioning of the centre.
She observed that today’s world is ICT-driven, and the intervention by the MTN Foundation-Ghana to provide an ICT Centre for her school was a timely gesture, which would equip the pupils with ICT knowledge before they progress into the Junior and Senior High schools.
Madam Weye lamented over the negative impact of the late arrival of teaching and learning materials in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This, she said, did not promote effective teaching and learning.
She called for the inclusion of her school in the Ghana School Feeding Programme to help reduce the dropout rate of the pupils.