The Implementation Of ICT Policies In Enhancing Smart Education In Ghana

Most countries worldwide have recognized the developmental opportunities of the emerging information age characterized by information and communication technologies(ICTs).These technologies are driving national development efforts worldwide not only in education alone but all sectors as a whole.Countries in both the developed and developing world are exploring ways of facilitating their development process through the development,deployment and the exploitation of ICTs within their economies and societies especially in the education sector.Notwithstanding,Ghana still adopts the old system of teaching and learning even when the world is moving to a state full of technology(technological age)in the education sector.A report by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 2011,indicates that the country is in critical challenges when it comes to Information Communication Technology(ICT)development in all the various institution as a whole.These infrastructure development serves as the pillar for the counties economic growth and there is the need to address such issue.In spite of this,the Government of Ghana has placed a strong emphasis on the role of ICT in contributing to the country's economy.The country's medium-term development plan captured in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper(GPRS I&II)and the Education Strategic Plan 2003-2015 all suggest the use of ICT as a means of reaching out to the poor in Ghana.In 2004,parliament passed into law Ghana's ICT for Accelerated Development(ICT4AD)policy,which is currently at various stages of implementation.This policy represents the vision of Ghana in the information age and addresses 14 priority focus areas or pillars.Majority of the 14 pillars is focused on the education sector.These includes;Promoting ICTs in education – the deployment and exploitation of ICTs in education,Deploying and spreading ICTs in the community,Developing Research and Development(R&D),scientific,and industrial research capacity in schools.The ICT in education policy for Ghana had a long gestation period.An attempt at policy development for the sector predates the national ICT policy.A committee set up by the Ministry of Education,Youth and Sports outlined an ICT in education policy framework and produced a document that remained untouched for a long time.The objectives of the policy were to ensure that students have ICT literacy skills before coming out of each level of education,provide guidelines for integrating ICT tools in all levels of education,provide means of standardizing ICT resources for all schools,facilitate training of teachers and students in ICT,determine the type and level of ICT needed by schools for teaching and administration purposes,promote ICT as a learning tool in the school curriculum at all levels.However,the Government of Ghana needs support from the private sector to ensure smooth policy implementations of ICT to enhance smart education.Some researchers pinpoint to the fact that the best way to solve this problem is when there is collaboration between the government and other private companies,thus Public-Private Partnership(PPP).First of all,GeSCI which was funded by United Nations Tax Force is to expand the deployment of ICTs in schools in Ghana and to promote the effective use of these ICTs to achieve Ghana's educational and community development objectives.Again,Nepad E-Schools which was funded by HP,Microsoft,Oracle,and Cisco is to support six schools in six regions with ICT infrastructure.These testifies that the Government of Ghana needs support from the private sector to help implement ICT policies to enhance smart education and this paves way for other researchers to undertake research on Public-Private Partnership(PPP)in smart education.To achieve the objective of the research,both qualitative and quantitative data was collected from primary and secondary sources.Primary data was gathered directly through questionnaire and whereas secondary data was gathered from World Bank reports,literatures from other researchers and Government of Ghana ICT implementation policies reports.Key informant people were purposely and randomly sampled for data collection through questionnaire.Data was analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive statistical technique and empirical analysis.Policy related issues and its implementation was analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive statistical analysis techniques such as tables.Theoretical analysis was used to assess the policy gaps,problems,positive and negative impact of policy implementation.Finally,based on the findings policy priorities and policy implementation strategies are recommended to policy makers and other stake holders for further review on the existing Ghana ICT in education policy implementation.