A modern Information Communication Technology (ICT) center has been built at Nkrankwanta in the Dormaa West District of the Bono Region.
The collaborative effort between the Dormaa West Member of Parliament, Vincent Oppong Asamoah and Helping Africa Foundation (HAF) and their partners is to help students to expand their knowledge in STEM education through practical experience.
The center, named the Yamoransa Model Lab 12, is expected to benefit of over 1,500 Basic and Junior High school students in the community.
The MP provided the building and received the lab equipment funded by HAF and managed by implementers.
The Center has two EDULabs with a combined 58 computers powered by an ASANKA device from TECHAiDE that enables access to educational materials without the use of the internet.
It also has a maker space with 15 laptops for Robotics which includes EV3 legos, Arduino for coding, Ozobots, Virtual Reality, and 3D Printer.
The facility also consists of a conference room, a center manager’s office and washrooms, powered by solar, and a borehole for electricity and water accessibility.
Speaking ahead of the dedication and handing over to the Ghana Education Service at Nkrankwanta, Vincent Oppong Asamoah urged his constituents not to allow their political affiliations to frustrate the development of their constituency.
He added that since the government alone cannot provide all their needs, political party members need to collaborate to woo more partners to help drive the developmental needs of the people.
The MP admitted that he got support from his political opponents.
Mr. Oppong Asamoah said after putting in over GHS600,000, he would not sit by for the lab to deteriorate.
“I will help them in the management of the facility to maintain the quality. The most important thing is that our children should benefit from this project, and I would be happy with the impact it would have on them after 15 years.”
The executive director of the HAF, Japhet Aryiku, said they are using the initiative to demonstrate to the government that, “this is an effective tool for education and should be embraced and some money put into it in the budget to cover all the constituencies in Ghana”.
Mr. Aryiku noted an agreement that will see the foundation maintaining the facility for the next two years with plans to teach the community how to raise money to maintain it thereafter.
He added that the Ghana Education Service is paying for the teachers and center managers.
The short ceremony was also attended by the chiefs, District Chief Executive, Clergy, political party members, and the Dormaa West Director of Education, Kwadwo Bofah, who assured maximum benefit would be derived from the facility.
The HAF is a New York-based public charity dedicated to improving health, education, and social welfare conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Since 2014, the foundation has built 13 active Yamoransa Model educational labs in 12 Regions – Central, Greater Accra, Ashanti (2), Northern, Eastern, Volta, Oti, Western, Ahafo, Bono East, Western North, and Bono Regions, with the remaining 4 regions expected to be completed by 2024.
