One Teacher One Laptop :Give 70% subsidy to us, let’s buy our laptops of choice

The One Teacher One Laptop heated arguments seem to last longer than we expected. Parliamentarians were giving money in the form of loans to buy cars of their choice. Teachers deserve to be given a 70% subsidy so they buy a laptop of their choice. This is the latest call from a cross-section of teachers.

This is one of the calls of a concerned teacher in an audio circulating on social media. They will choose cars of their choice, but teachers do not have that option and have to pick up whichever brand of laptop they are offered by the government.

The speaker argued that teachers are not respected hence, the same privileges are not accorded to them to make their own choices with regards to laptops. The speaker alleged that the government has “gone to someone’s backyard in China to order this “Rubbish” and come and dump it on us”.

He however advised teachers who want the government’s laptop to go for it, indicating that the money they will pay is their own earnings, which they worked for.

Why won’t the government pay the 70% subsidy to teachers so that they can top up the amount and buy a laptop of their choice that can be used for the intended purpose? This would have settled the matter.

But come to think of it. Any materials that the GES thinks need to be uploaded onto the laptops can also be uploaded onto Google drive. Once the link to this file is shared with teachers, they can download it onto the laptops.

The Ghana Education Service will have a lot of tough questions to answer if the laptops are distributed to teachers only for them to start breaking down like the RLG laptops which were distributed under the precious government.

The GES has been advised in audio circulating about the one teacher one laptop not to touch the income of teachers who do not opt for the laptop.

Forcing teachers to take up the laptop to him is the “greatest insult in itself. We suffered this “nonsense” when we were in college, where principals were stealing our money by dipping their hands into our allowances. We are in the classroom and the same thing is being done to us.” The speaker alleged.

He questioned how come the Ghana Education Service (GES) asked the heads of Senior High schools to submit the list of teachers in their schools for the laptop to be distributed to them. The speaker added that it would have been proper if it calls for the compilation of the list of teachers who are interested in the one teacher one laptop so that they can be given the gadget. “No teacher has asked anyone to bring any laptop anywhere, If you are a teacher and you have thought for a long time and you do not have a laptop, you do not have a need for it” he added.

He said teachers will not be allowed to be forced into buying laptops they do not need and that they have lawyers standing by should this action is implemented. He challenged the GES to touch the salary of teachers who have not applied for the laptops and they will direct their lawyers to sue the GES for that move where they will question the authority the GES has to make such deductions.

He admonished teachers not to opt for the laptops by persons who feel teachers are not vested with ICT knowledge hence they can through such low-quality laptops at them.

Teachers are inclined in ICT far beyond the root learning (Chew and poor) ICT education they received in school, he added.

The manufacturers’ identity was questioned since that has not been disclosed yet, the original price is also not known. Who knows if teachers are being ripped off even with the 30% they are to pay over a period.

READ: We don’t want this “Nonsense crap” called one teacher one laptop – Concerned Teacher Fumes (Audio)

If you want to make other millionaires, go ahead and take it. They have made it clear that teachers cannot be millionaires, but we do not need it. This is our principle and it needs to be respected.

READ: Consolidate teacher unions for efficiency; reduce low member morale and high disappointment – GNAT, NAGRAT, and CCT-GH told 

The One Teacher, One Laptop agenda would have been excellent if you (government) Give teachers the 70% subsidy, so they buy a laptop of their choice. Think about that.