1 student 1 tablet initiative transformational agenda – Free SHS Coordinator

The Upper West Regional Coordinator of the Free Senior High School (FSHS) Programme, Mr Yussif Moomen has said the government's One-Student-One-Tablet initiative under the Ghana Smart Schools Project (GSSP) is transformational and capable of revolutionizing education in the country.

He said the provision of tablets to the Senior High School (SHS) students would provide them access to a vast array of educational resources and limitless opportunities to explore digital and online learning materials.

Mr Moomen said this at the sidelines of the national launch of the Ghana Smart Schools Project (GSSP) in Accra by President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo which was video premiered at Wa Senior High School.

He noted that the era where students had to solely depend on textbooks and note materials provided by teachers or rely on people for information, would be over as students could freely access the internet for information.

"With the tablets, students will be able to overcome their learning challenges in terms of access to learning materials which will enrich their learning experiences and improve their academic achievements," he said.

He added that the GSSP and the tablets would also help teachers in the smooth execution their teaching and learning activities for the maximum benefit of learners.

He allayed fears that students might misuse the tablets as he noted that mechanisms are put in place to flag access to inappropriate and unauthorized websites.

The Headmaster of Wa Senior High School, Mr Adams Iddrisu Thirdman said the GSSP was a dream-come-true as it was as timely as the world jumped into an era of digitalization and innovation.

"This Ghana Smart Schools Project will enable students, at least, to reduce the load in carrying heavy books especially the Science students and other programmes," he observed.

Mr Thirdman added that the project would help reduce the burden on teachers who otherwise would have to take on the herculean task of writing notes on the white or chalkboards for students to copy.

"The herculean task of teachers always giving notes will be a thing of the past. We only need to give some supplementary notes to enable these students, at least, go through whatever details they want on their tablets," he said.

He, however, noted with concern how students were going to be able to charge the tablets as mobile phones hitherto were not allowed in the SHSs and thus, no provisions for charging of electric devices.

Mohammed Salman, the General Prefect of Wa Senior High School, indicated that the provision of the tablets would help him in his learning and research as a National Science and Mathematics Quiz (NSMQ) contestant.

"It will help me a lot in my research because when I study, at some point, the book doesn't go much into the details, so the understanding of the concepts are always vague.

"But with the inception of these tablets, it will help greatly because there are a lot of books, materials, videos of different people that one can access at any moment in time," she said.

He added that the tablets would greatly impact his research and knowledge acquisition which he believed would translate into improved performance in his NSMQ and West African Senior Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE) which was six months away.

The Ghana Smart Schools Project (GSSP) is an extension of the free Senior High School (FSHS) programme which is being digitalized to empower Ghanaian students to learn the smart way with limitless boundaries.