President Akufo-Addo has assured teachers he will address their concerns over the ‘one teacher one laptop policy’.
In collaboration with Teacher Unions, government started the distribution of laptops to all teachers in public schools in September across the country.
A group of teachers who are angry over deductions from their welfare funds for the purchase of laptops to aid their work have been agitating over the quality of the machines. An Accra Court in December 2021 dismissed their suit against the deductions and the purchase of the laptops by government.
Speaking at the 6th Quadrennial and 53rd National Delegates Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in Kumasi Tuesday, the President said he values the relationship between his government and teachers.
“I am glad to hear how much you welcomed the supply of the laptops. I promise you that the other related matters of concern will be addressed. The relationship between GNAT and my government is a matter of concern to me, and I will do my very best to promote such a relationship.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has debunked allegations that the laptops acquired for teachers across the country are inferior.
Speaking to Naa Dedei on Starr Today, Monday 15th November 2021, the Ministry said they know what is best for the Ghanaian teacher adding “we know the value and the contribution of our teachers towards quality education and the things we need to supply to be able to put out the best in shaping the thought and destiny of this country.”
The Ministry also explained that every step of the way through the acquisition due diligence was done to procure the laptops for the teachers.
“Every process which needed to be followed throughout the procurement before the certification for it to be used in this country was duly followed. As we speak the machine is in use and nobody is complaining of its quality and how efficient the machine is. It is as good as any machine that can be found on the market.
“So these are things that are cropping up and as I indicated to you on the exact date, we will have our day in court and all other facts will be made available to the court and the good people of Ghana will get to hear it,” Yaw Opoku Mensah, the Deputy PRO reiterated in an interview with Starr FM.
