Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has responded to students lamenting the poor internet connectivity in some parts of the country and how it is making online learning inefficient, saying that even in developed countries, there are also internet connectivity challenges.He says that the matter is not peculiar to Ghanaians as it has long existed.
In an interview on Accra-based GHOne, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, said that as the fight against the coronavirus pandemic persist, the country would have to do of what it has.
“I’m sure it is a reflection of the development of society and we are all aware that even before COVID, there was accessibility problem with data and it is not every part of the country that has 4G or 3G. It’s not every part of the country that even has mobile telephone connection. So we know and we have to make do with what we have,” he said
That notwithstanding, the Education Minister said that the government was committed to improve the situation.
He stressed that the government’s decision to allocate more bandwidth to MTN and Vodafone, which are the two leading telecommunication networks in the country, is part of the efforts to address the matter.
Matthew Opoku Prempeh was quick to add that it was the duty of telecommunication networks to identify areas that they can extend their coverage to as they were in business.
Most tertiary institutions have resorted to continuing academic work online following the closure of schools to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Some students have protested the decision, saying that it will place their colleagues in areas with connectivity challenges at a disadvantage.
The students add that the high cost of data and the huge digital divide the country will make the online learning programme ineffective as just a privileged section would be able to enrol.
