A member of Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe is sceptical about plans by government to distribute free electronic tablets to senior high school students across the country.
Mr. Kortsu-Kotoe intimated that it is baffling the government has such plans in the midst of more disturbing challenges confronting the delivery of education in the country.
The announcement of the intention to distribute tablets to schools was made on January 17 by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia while speaking at this year’s New Year School at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Mr. Nortsu-Kotoe acknowledged that though there is a need to technologically develop education and its delivery in the country, the time to do so, especially with the distribution of electronic tablets was a misplaced priority at the moment.
“There is a need to develop our education technologically, but we need to take one step at a time. The Vice President has a good idea, but the timing is wrong.”
He stressed that cues from the government’s previous intentions of supplying electronic gadgets only leave one sceptical.
The Akatsi North lawmaker also wondered where the government will get funds to execute the policy because provisions for the initiative were not captured in the 2023 budget.
“There is no provision in the 2023 budget for the procurement of tablets for senior high schools and I know they are going to push that one to GETFund but GETFund is so much overburdened that it cannot meet all the demands required of it because GETFund received only 39 percent of the approved allocation in 2022, and it is going to be worse this year.”
“The projected revenue for GETFund was GH¢4.6 billion, but we are going to receive just about 40 percent which is GH¢1.8 billion so looking at these things, how are they going to meet all these expenditures in the educational sector?”