Ameyah Debrah | By Jacqueline Johnson Quaye |
The Helping Africa Foundation (HAF- (www.helpingafrica.org) under the leadership of Dr. Deborah Rose, on Thursday, October 27, 2021, dedicated an ultra-modern ICT facility to the Bomaa community in the Brong Ahafo Region as part of their efforts to promote IT education in Ghana.
The lab is the ninth of the Yamoransa Model Labs built across the regions of Ghana and was promoted by Nana Kofi Anane Amponsah Ex-Asantehene, New York.
The facility consists of a 48-seater fully equipped ICT centre known as the EDULab which is powered by the Asanka Device from Techaide Ghana (a Ghanaian technology company working in Africa for over a decade using ICTs to improve Education, support Youth Development, and facilitate Health Delivery- www.techaide.global ), a MAKERSPACE for Robotics, 3D Design & Printing, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and a Conference Room for meetings, training and workshops. The facility is also powered by solar to prevent the disruption of lessons during power outages.
Speaking to Ameyaw TV at the dedication on what motivated him to partner with The Helping Africa Foundation (HAF) to build this facility, Nana Kofi Anane Amponsah said:
“In our community, we were lacking a computer and science lab and our students were struggling as they couldn’t compete with the students from other cities. It had always been my wish to do this for the community to help the students because the world now revolves around technology and no knowledge of how technology works is very worrying. I am delighted to see the students learn in this facility.”
Addressing the media, the Executive Director of HAF , Mr. Japhet Aryiku said that, the Yamoransa Model Labs have been of immense support to ICT education across the county, in his remarks he noted:
“We have some statistics to show, as of this past quarter, 17,787 students have gone through our labs. We are in many communities so we are very proud. We are getting statistics in terms of the performance of students not only in ICT but the overall examinations that they have been taking because we have an Asanka device that has all the content that they need to study to pass for their exams.”
Speaking at the dedication ceremony, the Municipal Education Director for Tano North, Madam Veronica Adu-Saforo touched on maintenance culture and tasked both students and stakeholders to maintain the facility to benefit future generations of the community.
According to the President of the Helping Africa Foundation, Dr. Deborah Rose, the Yamoransa Model Lab project is a long-term plan that seeks to build an ultramodern ICT centre in all regions of Ghana as a way of making sure that the teaching and learning of ICT in schools go beyond theory. The ultimate goal of the project is to ensure that citizens of Ghana can become model world citizens and equipped enough to challenge other nationals in the world of technology.
The lab is managed by IMPLEMENTERS (www.TheImplementers.org) a project management non-profit organization that partners with charitable organizations, philanthropists and corporate institutions to positively impact communities. IMPLEMENTERS facilitated the implementation of the lab and will continue to monitor the use and impact of the project for the next two years before handing it over to the local authorities through a sustainable plan.