‘Yamoransa Model Lab 7’ Inaugurated at Nkonya Ahenkro

THE ‘Yamoransa Model Lab 7’ equipped with 50-seater computers with a conference room has been inaugurated at Nkonya Ahenkro in the Oti Region, to help prepare Ghanaian students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

It has a MakerSpace, specially designed by TECHAiDE, a technology company that also includes a 3D printer, Augmented/Virtual Reality System, Arduino, Legos, and other Robotics equipment. The computers are also installed with over 30 pieces of educational software to address the curriculum requirements of Primary through Junior High School levels.

The ‘Yamoransa Model Lab 7’ is an initiative by the Helping Africa Foundation (HAF) and Friends of Yamoransa (FYF), as part of efforts to enhance effective teaching and learning in the area of technology. The computers also have an ASANKA device on them that provides educational content over wi-fi with a distance of half a football field around the facility and because of the lack of reliable electricity in many villages, the facility fully runs on solar energy to provide continuous power.

Inaugurating the facility, the District Chief Executive of Biakoye, Madam Comfort Akua Attah, said technology had made the world a global village and that the Yamoransa Model Lab in the Biakoye District was the one of its kind in the Oti Region to drive home that awareness. She said many schools in Ghana were yet to be furnished with ICT laboratories, although it was being taught as a core subject and urged the youth of the beneficiary communities to take advantage of the ICT lab to change their mindsets about information technology which had been a preserve of some portions of our society.

Mr Japhet Aryiku, Executive Director of HAF emphasised that education was the bedrock of every country’s human resource, especially girl child education and cautioned girls in the area not to engage in premarital sex.

Dr Deborah Rose, President of HAF said the work of her outfit was complementing the government’s efforts to expand and promote ICT education in Ghana. She expressed the hope that the Yamoransa Model Lab 7 will promote effective teaching and learning in the area to upgrade the students’ knowledge in ICT education.

The Chief Executive Officer of TECHAiDE, Mr Kafui Prebbie, charged the facility management committee to effectively maintain the lab and give children the opportunity to use it without any restrictions. Madam Roselyn Kafui Ofori, the Biakoye District Education Director said the selfless contribution of the HAF and FYF was the greatest asset any society could have and that the facility will make the students technology-savvy and keep them abreast with the techniques that teaches ICT not only as a subject but also, the integration of ICT skills for learning other subjects.

Nanai Okotor Kwame Tegyi II, Paramount Chief of Nkonya Traditional Area and Chairman of the ceremony said, with ICT driving the world today, another great window of opportunity had been opened for both children and teachers to improve upon teaching and learning and thanked the HAF and FYF for the gesture.