Accra (Greater Accra) 18 March ’99
Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Education, has advocated the use of communications and information technology to support education. Addressing a conference in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, he said communications could make a meaningful impact on the sector if key partners are identified and their roles fully understood and appreciated. This would also help determine and devise the most effective strategies needed to build the necessary partnerships and develop the much needed trust upon which consensus building can rest, he said. A statement from the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Accra on Thursday said Mr Spio-Garbrah was speaking on Ghana’s experience in the use of communications to enhance education. The conference was organised by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in collaboration with the World Bank. The conference with the theme “Communication for Education” is being held alongside an African ministers of education summit to adopt the draft programme of action of the “Africa Decade of Education 1997-2006”. The decade was declared by the African heads of state at the 1996 OAU summit in Yaounde, Cameroun. Mr Spio-Garbrah said Africa has no choice but to use the vital tools of communications as a key component and pillar to build a holistic educational system capable of transforming the continent. The MOE has in this direction initiated moves through a multi-sectoral approach aimed at promoting extensive discussions and consultations among student bodies, teachers’ organisations, parents and development partners among others groups.
