The 1997 Year Group of the Old Achimotan Association (OAA), as part of their 25th-anniversary legacy project, has launched an ICT Infrastructure and e-Learning project termed 'FTTX' Deployment on the Achimota School Campus.'

The aim of the project is to revolutionize teaching and learning in the school and in the country.This is to equip the students to be competent and be ‘living waters to a thirsty land’.

Speaking at the kick-off of the legacy project, OAA 97 President Akora Kwame Nkrumah Botsio said '' The COVID-19 pandemic was so unexpected. Suddenly we need to use the internet to learn, so our year group, in voting for our 25th-anniversary legacy project, had a number of projects in mind. We realized that, because of the times we are in, internet provision, together with an e-learning facility, is the most important thing now and we started working towards it.

With this e-learning project, the students will have screens and internet access in all the classrooms, so even when a teacher is not present in the classroom, that teacher would be able to teach students from his or her office. We are also using the google classrooms platform which is very interactive and works through the school’s website to enable each student to access the e-learning program with a unique email address. This, we believe will revolutionize education in Ghana and will also complement the Free SHS policy.

Speaking on the project’s overview, Akora Stephen Kemetse, the OAA 97 Legacy Project Chairman acknowledged that the Achimota School FTTX project is in fulfillment of an obligation that requires all year groups to complete a project in support of the institution to help its development.

“Anyone who completes Achimota School needs to come back after 25 years to complete a legacy project. We completed in 1997 and 2022 is 25 years so we decided to come back and give back to our alma mater by laying fibre optic cables around the school to enable the students have internet access.

By the 4th quarter of this year, we hope to have completed the project and put the system to use before our anniversary celebrations begin in March 2022,'' he added.

In his remarks, the OAA President, Akora Prof Ernest Aryeetey expressed how pleased he is with what the 97-year group is set to embark on. According to him, the project will help to put all the pieces together by helping the new ultra-modern science facility to be fully modernized.

''I'm very very happy about the choices you (97) have made and also happy about the scope because this project is doable. The benefits that will come to the students and the teachers indeed will be huge and something that can be finished before your celebration starts. You have chosen something that is very realistic and doable and that I encourage other year groups to emulate.''

On her part, the Headmistress of the school, Ms. Marjorie Affenyi, said the Legacy Project is dear to the heart of management of the school, and she promises the readiness of the school to support the executives and members of the OAA’97 in executing the project in record time.

''As a school with an enviable repute, it is not easy to report that we were exposed to the frailties of our readiness to online accessibility to teaching and learning. The question is, “What can be done to improve these damaging effects of not harnessing the potentials ICT holds for teaching and learning. Moving forward, it will be an understatement to say that Achimota school needs to be digitally aligned to the modern approach to the teaching and learning environment that befits her status.''

FTTXs are various technology and deployment options developed to enable the reach of fibre as close to the user location as possible to provide high-speed data and voice services.