Over 480 schoolchildren are to benefit from an Information Communication Technology (ICT) laboratory refurbished by the Consolidated Shipping Agencies Limited (Conship) that has been handed over officially to the administrators of ASHMA Tsuibleoo Basic 1&2 School at Zenu, a suburb of the Ashaiman municipality.
The lab is fully set up with 10 laptops, a television set, desks, chairs and other ICT equipment, and is to enhance practical learning of ICT among the pupils – from which the school had been deprived until exactly eight years after its inception.
The ICT lab is part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and comes at a cost of over GH¢40,000, and is second to none among public schools in the whole Ashaiman municipality.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company M.C. Vasnani, in the company of Ben Nartey – a Board and Human Resource team member, at the handing-over ceremony told the B&FT that during the COVID lockdown time, private schools were leading the way when it came to ICT; hence, as a result, they deemed it necessary to come to the aid of public schools.
He said he believes the ICT lab came at an opportune time for the pupils, especially in this COVID era, and promised to do more as much as possible.
“We were informed today that the school was picked as a pilot programme for the ICT by government and they are awaiting this result, and we have made it possible for them.”
Mr. Vasnani said the school was carefully selected by the company’s Human Resource team after several visits to understand challenges faced by the school in teaching and learning information technology subjects.
“We have done several CSRs: we donated to the Tema General Hospital, LA Poly Clininc, and other areas like the Western Region; and now we have to go outside our comfort zone and give a helping hand to the less privileged in other communities like Ashaiman,” he noted.
Headmistress of the school, Ernestina Okoampah, expressed relief and gratitude to the company for the kind gesture, as the children can now have real access and chances to understand ICT better as a subject.
She described the gesture as timely since government is all about enrolling E-Learning in the public schools, in which area the school was chosen for the pilot program.
She explained that the ICT lab is the second in the Ashaiman Cluster of schools, and will promote effective teaching and learning of ICT.
“This is the second ICT lab in the whole of Ashaiman; however, the Conship Lab is ultra- modern and the best compared to the Ashaiman Cluster of Schools’ in terms of environment and quality.”
She pledged to ensure a proper maintenance culture, as previous efforts to get these facilities d fruitless.
The company is an indigenous one based in Tema, and is into freight forwarding, shipping and Customs brokerage, and has other operational branches in Accra and Takoradi while also being an offshore and inshore logistics services company with over 200 staff.
