The Ghana Education Service (GES) says it has distributed about 80% of the 62,000 laptops to teachers in Senior High Schools under the project.

According to GES, phase one of the One-teacher One-laptop project which was launched on September 3, 2021, is expected to be completed on December 17, 2021.

In a press statement signed by the Head of Public Relations, Cassandra Ampofo, the Service said, “the TM1 laptop has a training component; so far, 260 GES District ICT Coordinators have been trained with certified Microsoft ICT tools to provide technical support to teachers.”

GES added that digital online training and learning modules will commence in the coming weeks for every teacher, noting that the training will include digitizing lesson notes, using online tools for learning management and supporting learners.

The Service also revealed that phases two and three for the Junior High and Primary schools will commence in January 2022 when schools re-open.

This comes after some aggrieved teachers have accused the Education Ministry, Ghana Education Service (GES) and some teacher unions of conniving to illegally use their monies to purchase laptops for them.

According to them, there were procurement breaches in sole-sourcing the ‘One Teacher, One Laptop’ contract to K.A. Technologies Limited.

Speaking on PM Express on Tuesday, the President of the Innovative Teachers Union alleged that the company has no track records in manufacturing laptops to warrant an award of such a deal.

Mr. Stephen Desu contends that government as an employer has the responsibility of providing teachers with laptops as part of their working tools.

Also, some aggrieved members of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) in the Volta Region have described the ‘1 teacher, 1 laptop’ initiative as fraudulent.

According to them, the initiative is a well-orchestrated fraudulent deal to rob the poor teacher of their minimal income.

They have, therefore, requested that all deductions made from their Professional Development Allowance and their Tier 2 money to pre-finance the initiative be refunded.

The teachers questioned why the leaders of the various associations didn’t inform them about the negotiations but agreed to some terms with the government and even awarded contracts, without their consent. 

Meanwhile, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice of Ghana and three others, including two state institutions have been sued over the one-teacher one laptop initiative.

According to the suit sighted by JoyNews, the Trade Unions, Innovative Teachers, and All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG), have jointly sued the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Attorney-General, and the Education Ministry over a move to award a contract on the initiative to the 1st Defendant, K.A Technologies Ghana Limited.

The plaintiffs are demanding that the sole-sourced contract awarded to K. A Technologies Ghana Limited, be annulled on grounds that it is contrary to sections 40 a, b, c, d, and e of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663).