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Middle-income economy hinges on ICT -Oheneba-Sakyi [Ghana News Agency]
[January 13, 2014]

Middle-income economy hinges on ICT -Oheneba-Sakyi [Ghana News Agency]


(Ghana News Agency Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Accra, Jan. 10, GNA - Government has been asked to reposition itself to emerging opportunities in Information Communication Technology (ICT) to drive the economy.

Professor Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi Director of the Institute of Continuing and Distance Education of the University of Ghana observed that Ghana's middle income status would not be sustainable without government commitment to training more human resource and providing adequate infrastructure in ICT.



Professor Oheneba-Sakyi, made the call at the closing ceremony of the 65th Annual New Year and Conference which was on the theme: "Information and Communication Technology-driven Education for Sustainable Human Development: Challenges and Prospects.

He said it was regrettable that very few numbers of senior high school graduates had access to higher education in the era of widespread technology.


He called for extensive internet connectivity, provision of ICT laboratories, intensive awareness creation on ICT usage and review of ICT policies to match current social and economic needs.

Professor Oheneba-Sakyi said Ghana would have to prepare for about five million more post-secondary education students by 2025 in order to meet its educational needs.

However, "meeting this need will require building about 17 new universities or polytechnics of 30,000 capacity each between now and 2025," he said.

This translates to about one new campus every two months." Professor Oheneba-Sakyi expressed doubt of Ghana sustaining its place as a middle income nation and meeting the Millennium Development Goals if sufficient attention was not given to ICT education.

He announced that the University authorities had given the Institute the mandate to launch Masters Programmes in E-learning and Distance Education which would commence in August this year.

He said the programmes would take care of the needs of managers and leaders in education offering them theoretical and practical knowledge in e-learning.

Professor Emmanuel Kweku Osam, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana said government needed to make ICT facilities cheap and accessible.

He expressed concern about irregular power supply and unreliable service provided by telecommunication companies, saying: "service providers are increasingly not reliable and lagging behind in internet speed." The Pro-Vice Chancellor observed that the development was something that called for serious national attention and redress.

GNA (c) 2014 Ghana News Agency (GNA) Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company

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