Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, has yet again supervised the distribution of a hundred and thirty-nine (139) laptops to a select number of students at the University of Ghana as part of her ‘One Student, One Laptop Initiative’ (1S1L).
This contributes to the total count of over 300 laptops distributed to recipients since the inaugural distribution exercise in August 2022.
Earlier events included two separate ceremonies, with 50 laptops given to students in the Department of Computer Science and an additional 75 presented to graduate students by the West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC).
The very recent distribution, which was held at the Cedi Conference Centre on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, saw delegates from the University of Ghana in attendance.
Addressing the event participants, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah mentioned that this ceremony marks the third distribution of laptops to students since the launch of her digitalization initiative, aimed at providing students with essential technological skills and enhancing the UG student experience through digitalization.
“We thank the chair and members of the implementation committee. They took the concept, developed it and ran with it and I think this is the third distribution ceremony, if we discount the one we did exclusively for graduate students,” she said.
Meanwhile, a student is eligible for the University of Ghana Vice Chancellor’s One Student, One Laptop initiative if they are a Ghanaian undergraduate student of the university in Levels 100–300 or a Ghanaian postgraduate student enrolled in a research degree programme (i.e., an MPhil or PhD) and have completed one year of their programme.
The student is expected to be able to demonstrate limited family income and/or insufficient funds to acquire a laptop and should be a needy student with a competitive CGPA.
Also, the VC announced in an interview with JoyNews in October this year that her outfit is far advanced, with plans to build a computer assembly plant on the school’s premises.
She said this initiative is far advanced and will fully become operational within a year.
“We are actually looking to assemble laptops right here on campus. So, we’ve gone through the process of selecting the companies and signing the agreements, so very soon we should break ground for the assembly plant.
“Right at the beginning, we are getting ready to supply; we’ve signed that agreement. Getting the assembling plant and all will take a bit of time but at the same time we’ve also signed the agreement to start that so I believe that within a year we will be able to move over to get the laptops assembled here,” she said.