As part of efforts to streamline the teaching, and promotion of Educational Technology in the country, the government is set to launch a national Ed-Tech Policy in June.
The policy, among other things, is expected to bolster the integration of Educational Technology (Ed-Tech) across the nation, promising to reshape the future of learning and teaching.
The theme for the discussion was ‘Gaining market access for Ed-Tech Entrepreneurs’ held in Accra by the Mastercard Foundation.
Nana Gyamfi Adwabuor, the Executive Director of the Centre for National Learning & Open Schooling (CENDLOS), emphasised the critical role of Ed-Tech in the post-COVID era, highlighting the government’s commitment to fostering a collaborative ecosystem involving civil society organizations, private sector players, industry experts, and academia.
Mr Adwabuor stated: “The times we are in, Ed-Tech is the name of the game especially when it comes to education that is post-COVID. So, the wisdom of the education minister, they know start-ups will come up and there has to be an engagement between the stakeholders.
“So, with the implementation of this policy, we have engaged most of the CSOs and a lot of the private sectors, industry, and academia. The reason why it hasn’t been launched yet is that the minister wants us to do a lot of in-depth engagement and some of them will happen soon. Also, he wants us to benchmark the policy with another country or another place that has also introduced an Ed-tech policy. So, we are going to benchmark the policy before we launch it,” he stated.
Anyela Perbi, the founder and CEO of Perbi Cubs, who was also a panel in the discussion, underscored the challenges faced by Ed-Tech initiatives, such as inadequate funding and internet connectivity issues.
She pointed out a disconnect between the solutions offered by Ed-Tech companies and parental understanding of their benefits, stressing the need for better communication to bridge this gap.
“Most parents want the best for their children and for their children to succeed but there seems to be a break between understanding what we do and how it connects with what is best for their children.
Meanwhile, Stephen Kweku Owusu, the Deputy Director General at the Ghana Education Service (GES), highlighted the importance of adhering to established standards and guidelines.
He clarified that the GES operates under a centralised system, with the Director General overseeing all schools nationwide. This, according to him, is the reason why startups in the education sector are made to go through lots of bureaucracies.
“We have our own standards and guides. You cannot just get up and walk into our schools and talk to a headmaster and have access to our school, we run with certain policies. With us in Ghana, we have a centralised system of GES, the director general is the overall manager of all our schools and therefore whatever happens in any of the schools wherever it is, the director general should be aware.
“Our guidelines and policies are just to make sure that we are so efficient and also to do the right thing. Also, so that we are able to monitor whatever that is going on,” he added.
The Programme Lead for Education & Skills at Mastercard Foundation, Larisa Akrofie also advocated for strong cross-sector partnerships and urged Ed-Tech entrepreneurs to work closely with educators and learners to gain insights into the real-world learning environment.
Akrofie’s vision extends beyond viewing Ed-Tech as a mere solution, encouraging a reimagining of education itself.
“I touch heavily on the importance of cross-sector partnerships and collaborations among Ed-tech entrepreneurs, people in academia, government agencies, educators and learners as well. But today, I really want to focus on our fellowers being Ed-Tech entrepreneurs.
“I really encourage you to work closely with educators and learners because they really provide you with the realities on the ground; the learning environment. So, it is really important that you get to work more closely with them. We need to look beyond Edtech as just a solution but also as a way of reimaging what education looks like,” she added.
