The Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says the government is committed to continuing its efforts to make the country’s public libraries lively and connected spaces for life-long learning.
He made the statement in a speech delivered on his behalf by Gifty Twum Ampofo, Deputy Minister of Education in charge of TVET, at the virtual convocation of the first graduates of the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) and Coursera Workforce Recovery Program.
He indicated that “Our public libraries across the country will continue to be supported as we have done over the past few years and make them connected and lively spaces for life-long learning. We are currently equipping public libraries with computers and connecting them to the internet to enable them offer more opportunities for our citizens who do not have their own devices and computers to also benefit”.
Commonwealth of Learning and Coursera entered into a partnership with the Ghana Library Authority (GhLA) to roll out an initiative to support Ghanaians to enrol on over 3,800 carefully curated courses online delivered by top universities and companies.
This initiative seeks to offer 50,000 commonwealth citizens an opportunity to attain new skills to enhance job prospects in this COVID-19 period.
The project, launched in May 2020 by CoL and Coursera, already has 12,227 Ghanaians enrolled.
The Tuesday virtual convocation witnessed the recognition of over 2,000 Africans who have graduated from their selected online courses. Ghana had the highest number of graduates of over 1,200.
The Minister of Education advised selected Ghanaians to make use of the opportunity to “acquire new skills to make you relevant for the job market or start your own enterprises.”
The Executive Director of the Ghana Library Authority, Hayford Siaw also said pledged that the Authority will ensure that all Ghanaians have access to opportunities for self-development in order to be attractive on the job market.
He indicated that he was excited that Ghana had the highest number of beneficiaries on this programme and is hopeful of further working with CoL and other development partners to offer more of such opportunities in future.
Joining in the convocation were the President and CEO of COL – Professor Asha Kanwar, Coursera CEO – Jeff Maggioncalda, Botswana’s Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology – Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe, Namibia’s Minister of Art, Education and Culture – The Honourable Ms. Esther Anna Nghipondoka and Ghana’s Minister of Education – Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh who was represented by Mrs. Gifty Twum Ampfo, Deputy Minister, in charge of TVET.