Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Education Committee, Clement Apaak has suggested for the State foots the entire cost of laptops of teachers under the One Teacher One Laptop policy.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Wednesday, he said teachers should not pay a dime to get the laptops.

“I believe that in the 21^st Century, the State should be providing laptops free of charge to teachers at every level of the academic ladder,” he said.

Giving reason for his assertion, he explained that laptops and technology have become an integral component of teaching and learning across the globe.

“As I indicated earlier, you don’t deploy an act without the needed weaponry or accruement for the army to be able to execute the purpose for which the army exists,” he cited.

This comes against the backdrop of All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG)'s demonstration in Accra to protest the ‘one teacher- one laptop initiative’ by the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The group said it is displeased with government’s decision to deduct an amount of GH¢509 from the teachers’ professional development allowance as payment for the one-teacher, one laptop policy.

According to the Union, the deduction is being done at a time when a legal battle, that seeks to terminate the implementation of the initiative, is ongoing.

Mr Apaak said the current issue happened as a result of a “lack of adequate consultation between the teachers who seemed aggrieved about how the process had gone and the teacher Union leaders.”

He also questioned whether the nation I getting value for money with the 70% cost government has decided to bear with regards to “the laptops being fit for the purpose of which the initiate saw the light of the day.”

“We want to probe and ask the questions and to satisfy ourselves that this initiate is indeed one that we are getting value for money as far as the 70 per cent is concerned,” he indicated.