Ho, March 09, GNA - An Educationist has called on society to respond positively and holistically to the desire of students to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) for teaching, learning and training to be competitive on the global market.

Reverend Emmanuel Kingsley Dadebo, Head of ICT, Ministry of Education, Science and Sports who made the call, observed that most students and pupils were devoting much time to video games and other electronic based activities and less time with their books indicated that electronic medium must replace book-based teaching and learning. He was addressing a Summit of Heads of Schools in the Volta Region on the need to adopt electronic approaches to education. The summit organized by the management of E-toys and More, an organization that focuses on helping to "provide a digitalized learning environment for a digitalized generation" was under the theme, "Transforming Schools through E-Learning."

It was sponsored by Africa online, Ghana Leasing Company, Sedco Publishing, Computers 4Kids, SMS WEB and e-learning Solutions. Rev. Dadebo said there were several advantages to be gained but equally daunting challenges to be surmounted from adopting electronic approaches to teaching and learning in the country.

These include addressing the insufficient number of teachers, limited school infrastructure, developing the curiosity of students to discover things for themselves, easy access to study materials, reducing the cost of education to both parents and schools, the chance to study in the comfort of one's home, write examinations online and developing broad minded people.

He said the Ministry and Ghana Education Service would soon introduce a "portal school", skuul.ghana for the teaching of mathematics and science to address the shortage of mathematics and science teachers. "Efficiency in education is quality through little cost," Rev. Dadebo added.

Mrs Olivia Sosu, Volta Regional Director of Education said "the challenge of increasing capacity of schools in equipping and preparing their pupils for the next level is immense". "Schools should be transformed through technology, with E-Learning providing a massive way forward," she said.