Pupils of Doba L.A primary school in the Kasena-Nankana East Municipal Assembly of the Upper East Region are lagging behind in the study of Information Communication Technology due to the absence of adequate computers and other ICT learning materials.
The school which cannot also boast of an ICT laboratory has converted a room into one where two old rickety desktop computers are accommodated and used for the teaching and learning of the subject by the over 300 pupils of the school.
The empty room (Laboratory) lacks furniture befitting of a modern ICT laboratory and is partly used as storage space where the schools’ kitchen ware and food stuff are kept.
Zemkem Carilos is the schools’ ICT teacher. He tells Atinka News’ Senyalah Castro Cazo how he has been teaching pupils of the school despite his little knowledge in the subject. According to him, the lack of a trained ICT teacher has forced school authorities to resort to him to handle the subject. He adds that the inadequate number of computers is also greatly affecting proper teaching and learning of the subject.
He explains that the normal arrangement in which each pupil sits behind a computer is what would have been best for them. He expressed dissatisfaction at the current state of the schools’ lab.
“This is the lab for the school. As you can see, we have two computers for the whole school and the room (lab) too there’s no chair, no table and you can see that there are cupboards, books, containers and even food stuffs of the kitchen.
“When they are sitting like this and you are to teach them practically, it’s always difficult because the computers are only two. They are old and it makes booting them a problem. They simply won’t respond.
“The computers are not many for the pupils to learn practically so it is making everything not to progress. If we had enough equipment here, each people would have sat in his or her computer and do the exact thing”.
Mr. Zemkem questions why government would include the subject in the school system and not properly provide for the teaching of it to encourage and grow the interest students.
Mr. Zemkem wants more to be done for the school to facilitate the smooth tuition of the subject. He called on authorities to furnish the school ICT laboratory into a modern status. He is also calling on government to organize periodic refresher training for teachers of the subject, especially in rural areas.
“Government should come to our aid with ICT equipment such as computers and desks for the computers, chairs and tables so that the room will be a complete ICT lab. This one is not a computer; it’s just that we are just managing.
“Government should also organize more workshops for teachers to go for ICT training and prioritize the teaching the subject”.
Another visible challenge in the school is the huge furniture deficit. Several classrooms of the upper primary are almost empty or filled with broken desks. Classrooms which have little furniture can only boast of seven pieces of dual desks or less.
The situation has resulted in students lying prostrate on their bellies during contact hours. In some classrooms, mats have been provided for the pupils.
The headmaster of the school is unhappy with the litany of challenges hindering the smooth academic work in the school. He, however, declined to speak to our reporter for fear of victimization after several calls from him to the Kasena-Nankana Municipal Education Directorate seeking permission to speak went unanswered.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Senyalah Castro Cazo
