Government supports tertiary institutions with $3.4 million for internet access

By Gifty
Amofa, GNA

Accra, August 10, GNA – Government through the
Ministry of Communications has invested $3.4 million in campus internet
networks under the Tertiary Institutions Access Project (TIAP) in eight public
institutions.

This connectivity among the institutions, will
not only advance research and education locally with opportunities such as
e-learning and cloud computing, but equally benefit scientific studies the
world over in areas including climate change, biodiversity, food security,
Malaria, among other infectious diseases.

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of
Communications made this known when she swore-in a nine-member board of the
Ghana Academic and Research Network (GARNET) in Accra.

She said poor internet connectivity in the
sub-region had been a challenge in the digital divide between developing and
industrialised countries, hampering its transitions to the global information
society as the continent was currently underserved in terms of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT).

“The collaboration among tertiary education
institutions in Africa is imperative to make them key players in the
enhancement of ICT for society,” she noted.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said since government was
committed to supporting GARNET, it has also paid 275,000 Euros in March this
year, to the West and Central Africa Research and Education Network (WACREN)
and AfricaConnect2 Project, GARNET’s partners through the e-Transform Project.

The Minister explained that additional
resources provided by the European Union on a 4:1 ratio bandwidth of
10Gigabites, would be available in September this year.

She said tertiary institutions were to reap
the full benefits of GARNET at a cheaper cost in accessing internet services to
enhance teaching, research and collaboration as well as play a vital role in
the African higher education arena effective.

It is also to provide access to scholarly
works and other resource materials and create the environment in which
students, researchers and academicians can work more efficiently, she stressed.

The Minister was quick to add that in as much
as internet is made easily accessible; the sector had also set up a national
cyber security centre to check cyber-crimes.

Professor Mohammed Salifu, Executive Secretary
for National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), and a representative of the
Minister of Education said the collaboration would promote international
network, which fits perfectly in the educational ministry as it would ensure
national development.  

Professor Gabriel Ayim Teye, Chairman of the
Vice Chancellors’ Ghana (VCG) said GARNET was made up of accredited tertiary
institutions and other specialised professional and research institutions.

The Network, he said, brings research under
one umbrella and so members would have access to affordable infrastructure.

Professor Clifford Nii Boye Tagoe, Chairman of
the new Board and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana commended
former vice chancellors including Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyeman for their
resilience in sustaining the body.

He said the reconstitution of the board had
come at the time when computer mediated teaching was gaining prominence and
appealed to government to send ICT infrastructure to the door-step of every
educational institution.

The Board is made up of Professor Tagoe,
Chairman and Mr Alex Frimpong, Ghana Employers’ Association’s CEO, Mrs Mavis
Sintim-Misa, CEO-Stinsad Consult, Mrs Joycelyn Coleman-KPMG, Dr Peter Amoako
Yirenkyi, Representative of VCG and Mr Jacob Akunor, Ministry of Education are all
members.

Other members are Professor Naana Jane Opoku
Agyeman, Professor Akwasi Asabre Ameyaw, Vice-Chancellor, Methodist University
and Mr Issah Yahaya, Director, MoC.

GNA

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