The Government has entered into negotiations with ICT 30 Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in The Netherlands, to procure 70,000 computers for schools and teacher training colleges in the country, within the next five years.

Priority will be given to institutions with physically-challenged persons.

The minister for education and sports, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, made this known at the 60th anniversary of the Akropong School for the Blind during which he announced President Kufuor?s pledge to make available a 55 seater-bus to the school.

The minister said the decision to procure such a large number of computers was in fulfillment of a programme currently being pursued under the Ghana e-Schools and communities/NEPAD e-mail initiatives for such educational institutions.

In line with the programme, he said, the ministry had already contracted a foreign firm ORDINA Public BV, which according to him, was undertaking feasibility studies for the establishment of computer laboratories in all the 38 teacher-training colleges in the country which would be supplied with 15 per cent of the computers to train teachers for the blind.

He said the initiative would bridge the digital gap between the blind and others who were struggling for more advantage and empowerment.