Six schools in Ghana benefitted from the first phase of the NEPAD e-school Initiative that was adopted as a priority continental undertaking aimed at ensuring that the youth participated effectively in the global information society.

They are, Walewale Senior High School, Acherensua Senior High School, Ola Girls Senior High School, St Augustine’s Senior High School, Wa Senior High School and Akomadan Senior High School.

A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said Ghana was set to launch the new phase of NEPAD e-schools initiative this year to harness Information Communication Technology (ICT) in schools in a bid to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

It said improving on key lessons learnt from the first phase of the initiative and from best practice worldwide, a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model had been built into the e-school initiative to help tackle some of the challenges and constraints experienced in the NEPAD demonstration project.

These include finding the most feasible cost model by which schools could be financed by the banks and other leasing companies for ICT equipment, applications and maintenance.

As part of the launch a two-day Public-Private Dialogue Forum has been scheduled in Accra from Monday, March 26-27 which would bring together over 100 participants to discuss a new e-school PPP model.

It would be attended by internet service providers, financial institutions, government departments, ECOWAS, Chamber of Commerce, bilateral and multilateral institutions, Ministry of Education, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and other stakeholders.

The statement said between 2004 and 2009, over 16 African Governments including Ghana, and a consortium of 50 private sector companies organized into five groups partnered with NEPAD e-Africa Commission to demonstrate the best practice concept of a NEPAD e-school by implementing in over 80 community schools in the 16 countries.

It said some demo projects were implemented in the ECOWAS Region including pilots in schools in Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Mali which led to the realisation that the e-school initiative must at some point involve the private sector for it to be successful.**