Teachers Raise Red Flag Over ‘1 Teacher 1 Laptop’ nitiative
Some concerned teachers are raising issues about the ‘one-teacher one laptop’ initiative by the government.
The group, Innovative Teachers Association of Ghana, claims the programme is a clandestine move to “steal teachers’ monies”.
The government, in collaboration with teacher unions, started the distribution of laptops to all teachers in public schools in September across the country.
The ‘One Teacher One Laptop’ is to help improve the quality of education. The teachers will pay 30 percent of the cost while government absorbs the remaining 70 percent.
But President of the group, Stephen Dosu, in an interview on Monday said the programme is not in the interest of teachers.
He said the laptops by K. A. Technologies Ghana Limited is “substandard compared to brands like Dell and HP.”
Mr Dosu said the teacher unions, including the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), agreed to the project without extensive consultation with members.
“This is daylight robbery and the greatest insult unions like GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT can inflict on teachers with the connivance of the Ministry of Education,” he fumed
Mr Dosu also alleged that the teachers are paying for the full cost of the laptop contrary to claims that the government is paying 70%.
He also raised issues with K. A. Technologies Ghana Limited, the company in charge of distributing the laptops to teachers.
“Our checks at the Ghana Standards Authority show that K. A. Technology’s laptops have not been certified,” Mr Dosu alleged.
He also added that the company has not been registered at the Registrar Generals Department – a situation he described as worrying.
As an immediate measure, Mr Dosu said they have sued the Attorney-General and three others, including two state institutions.
He said they are demanding that the sole-sourced contract awarded to K. A Technologies Ghana Limited be annulled on grounds that it is contrary to sections 40 a, b, c, d, and e of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).
SOURCE: adomonline
