One Student, One Laptop: A Misplaced Priority!

Background
The Vice President, Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia's announcement of the supply of laptops for all SHS students as a replacement for textbooks has again been met with varied opinions from educationists and the general public. The announcement, though sounds great, would not be left to dissipate into thin air without subjecting it to the objective lens of educational, analytical scrutiny.

There is no doubt that the successful supply of these laptops to SHS students would be a huge digitalization leap towards the global West and improve upon educational delivery, however, there need to be laid, a strong educational foundation before the "one teacher, one laptop" project is conceived.

Why the doubts over this 'sweet' pronouncement?

1. The 18th January one student, one tablet promise: At a New Year's school programme held at the University of Ghana, Legon, the supply of electronic tablets for every SHS student in Ghana was announced by the Vice President. The supply was to be done in 2023 according to Dr. Bawumia. It is therefore surprisingly incoherent that in the fifth month of waiting, the provision of tablets whose feasibility was questioned then has metamorphosed into laptops, much more expensive than tablets.

2. The fate of the 1 teacher, 1 laptop in limbo: Following the deduction of GHC 540.00 from the salaries of teachers in a government subsidized 1 teacher, 1 laptop project, SHS and JHS teachers have been served. That notwithstanding, the majority of teachers teaching in Primary schools have not been supplied despite being deducted almost two years ago. If 250,000 teachers who have paid some GHC 540.00 have not received their laptops since November 2021, then every doubt surrounding the supply of laptops to over 1.2 million SHS students in Ghana is a legitimate doubt.

3. Mobile phone prohibition in SHS: In Ghana, the prohibition on the use of mobile phones in SHSs by students is still in force. How then can the ban on phones be in sync with the usage of laptops in schools, holding constant, all the negative arguments raised against the use of phones in schools?

Again, as most mobile phones come with a lot of functional sophistication, wouldn't it be rather prudent to encourage the use of phones in schools where textbooks can be downloaded rather than spending huge amounts of our resources on laptops for students? Computer laboratories in the SHS should be well-equipped for the use of students.

4. Cost: Assuming a laptop would cost GHC 1000.00, it would cost the government 1.2 billion cedis (one hundred million dollars) amounting to one-sixth of the first tranche of the IMF package. One would not be wrong to conjecture that Ghana would not have sealed the deal with the IMF if this pronouncement had earlier been made.

The supply of laptops for all students would also increase electricity bills in schools. One can imagine 3,000 students all having to charge their laptops at least once every day and the utility cost implications for schools that are already struggling to feed their boarding students.

5. Sustainability: The initiative also risks sustainability challenges as the following questions need to be addressed. Are students going to own the laptops even after completion or they will be the property of the schools? Would students be allowed to take them home during vacation if the schools will own them? Will the nation be able to provide for every student in case the students will own them? Will there be prompt repair and maintenance plan for spoilt laptops?

The way forward
The amount to be spent on the provision of laptops for SHS students should be channelled to addressing more pressing needs in the provision of quality education such as addressing the acute pupil-to-furniture deficit in Basic schools, payment of capitation grants which are in arrears for two years and payment of caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme, also in arrears for almost 3 academic terms.

The Vice President's announcement of the supply of laptops for SHS students would have been received with great joy if the economy of Ghana was stable with a high growth rate, a stronger cedi value and a low inflation rate. In an era of an economic meltdown when it had to take almost a year to secure a 3 billion IMF deal with harsh attached conditions, it would not be economically advisable to embark on such an over-ambitious initiative.