Free SHS students to receive tablets instead of laptops – Revised Promise

The information available to Ghanaeducation.org is that Vice President Bawumia’s announcement that the government would supply every Free SHS student with a laptop has been altered. Per the revised promise, the students will be issued with tablets instead of laptops.

This move is in line with efforts to digitize education in Ghana. The tablets will have textbooks and other essential books and software installed on them for students to use in public Senior High Schools nationwide.

The new information is sourced from a deep throat at the Ministry of Education

Ghanaians have lamented over the decision of the government to fund such a project when basic schools are under-resourced.

According to a report filed by AcademicWeek.com, “the source said his research indicates prospective students in government Senior High Schools will be provided with free tablets and not laptops, as reported by the media.”

The change in the electronic gadgets from Laptops to tablets was altered after the Vice President’s announcement, which was greeted with mixed feelings.

The free tablets will be supplied to students in all public second-cycle school students.

Dr. Bawumia made the initial announcement while addressing a guest at the  74th Annual New Year and School Conference at the Great Hall and ISSER Conference Centre.

Dr Bawumia said he had been informed the government is on course to provide the tablets to all Free Senior High School students.

But in his address at the 60th Anniversary celebration of the Hohoe Evangelical Presbyterian Senior High School, he said textbooks and other teaching and learning materials would be installed on laptops to be given to SHS students.

According to Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), the Nana Akufo-led government may spend more than GHC1.3 billion on the purchase of tablets to replace printed textbooks at the secondary level.

In a Facebook post, Mr Kofi Asare, Executive Director of EduWatch, stated that with over 1.3 million students in various government second-cycle institutions, the central government is likely to pay even more than the estimated amount.

According to the Director of an education think tank, there are over 1.3 million students in Senior High Schools (SHS). The average wholesale cost of a 128 GB tablet is around GHC 1,000. The government could potentially spend up to GHC 1.3 billion on providing tablets for SHS students, excluding maintenance costs.

While the tablets (e-textbooks) are considered useful learning resources that introduce students to ICT culture, Kofi Asare, the Director, emphasizes that they cannot completely replace printed textbooks used at the secondary level. Instead, he suggests that the tablets should be seen as complementary to printed textbooks.

As per international best practices, even advanced countries like the US, UK, and South Africa still use printed textbooks alongside tablets due to their reliability and constant availability. The Director highlights that this evidence was submitted during discussions.

In light of these factors, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch calls on the Ministry of Education, under the government’s supervision, to reconsider its decision to heavily invest in tablets/laptops (e-books) with the assumption that they can completely replace printed textbooks.

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The Director suggests that printed textbooks should still be purchased, making the proposed multi-billion venture inefficient in terms of spending since there are already sufficient paper textbooks available in Senior High Schools.