Education Ministry Drops Move to Formulate ICT Policy

The Ministry of Education and Sports has decided to drop the idea of drafting an Information and Communications Technology-ICT in education policy.

After years of work, the policy which was intended to improve the standard of teaching and help the country’s children get to speed with modern trends of learning in the digital age had reached the consultation stage.

The ministry was expected to present the draft to interested groups and stakeholders for evaluation before sending it to the cabinet.

Dr. Jane Egau Okou, the Director for Higher, Technical, Vocational Education and Training at the education ministry, says that the ministry chose to rely on the current National ICT strategy rather than developing a sector-specific policy.

She says that the new development was suggested in their most recent sessions with some officials and experts observing that developing another policy be a duplication of the existing frameworks.

“The recent thinking is that instead of going for a full policy, it’s like we are duplicating what the national policy is already talking about. So why not ride on the big national policy?” Dr. Jane adds.

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, which forced the closure of classrooms, actors in the education sector mostly educational institutions began relying on digital tools to ensure continued learning.

The State Minister for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, halted the move saying that the use of smartphones by learners within the school environment would only be effected after the government develops a policy that would guide ICT gadgets by learners.