Multi-purpose ICT Education Centre at New Nzulezu
Information technology education in Western Nzema schools has received a boost with the provision of a fully equipped ICT Resource Centre by Kosmos Energy for use by nine junior high schools at New Nzulezu and its neighbouring communities.
The centre, which has a lecture hall equipped with 20 new computers, an office, a server, a multi-purpose printer and a multi-media projector, is expected to serve more than 1,500 pupils and students from the communities.
The centre was provided in fulfillment of a promise made to the community by Kosmos Energy during the celebration of the Kundum Festival of the chiefs and people of the Western Nzema Traditional Area.
The headteacher of the New Nzulezu Cluster of Schools, Mr Joseph Efframi, stated: “We have only one computer for the entire cluster and a teacher has to carry it from class to class to enable him to teach.”
He added that in most cases more than 50 students had to queue to see the IT teacher one at a time, and some do not get to see the teacher at all.
“In other schools that are covered under the project, I must say some of the students have not even seen a computer before; sometimes the teachers have to rent computer parts such as the keyboard, the CPU, mouse and other components to teach the children.”
The facility, which was fully funded and equipped by Kosmos Energy Ghana, will serve as a training centre to prepare students for their ICT examination.
The incoming Vice-president and Country Manager of Kosmos Energy in Ghana, Mr Joe Mensah, said the company believed in investing in Ghana’s long-term future.
“In a world now led by technology, it is important that children and their teachers have the tools needed to access information and promote learning. We are pleased to collaborate with the community to support this project,” he said.
Mr Mensah added that a board comprised of representatives from district education services, traditional authorities and the community had been formed to manage the facility.
The facility has an income-generating mechanism to provide ancillary commercial services such as printing T-shirts, posters and other services.
Mr. Mensah said that the centre also provided volunteers from Kosmos Energy’s ICT department and a local ICT solutions company from within the district installed the equipment. “In addition, they have arranged to provide a training programme for instructors who will be in charge of running the center.”
The ICT center at New Nzulezu, he said, marked Kosmos’ latest example of collaboration between the company and community to address local needs.
Local communities provided the land on which the facility was built. A similar ICT center was handed over to the Nsein community, in the Nzema East Municipal District in November 2012.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo in a speech read on his behalf commended Kosmos for its continuous support for communities in the region and other parts of the country.
He urged the communities and heads of education in the district to own it to support their children and ensure it was well maintained.
To welcome and demonstrated their support for the centre raised fund for the purchase of standby generator to ensure continuous teaching and learning at the schools.
Some of the students expressed their joy are the facility and that queuing to see the ICT teacher will be a thing of the past and that they could compete with their counterparts in the city in the area of IT in next BECE exams.
