At a brief ceremony held at the Cedi Conference Centre on campus, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, presented laptops to the beneficiary students.

This brings to over 300 laptops that have been presented to beneficiaries, since the first distribution exercise in August 2022.

Two separate events were previously held for 50 students in the Department of Computer Science and 75 presented to Graduate Students by the West African Genetic Medicine Centre (WAGMC).

Significant initiative

In a welcome address, the Director of the Public Affairs Directorate, Dr Elizier Taiba Ameyaw-Buronyah, noted that the 1S1L was a significant initiative in the university’s journey towards enhancing educational opportunities for students as well as enhancing the UG student experience through digitalisation.

She recounted the launch of the initiative on April 20, 2022, as part of the vice-chancellor's visionary three-pronged tech-driven initiatives, which sought to equip students with a crucial tool for academic and personal growth.

“To ensure equitable access to technology, a select number of laptops will be presented, entirely free of charge to the beneficiaries, taking into account the academic performance and financial need of the students.”

“This assistance, facilitated through the Student Financial Aid Office, aims to eliminate financial barriers to our students' success,” Dr Ameyaw-Buronyah added.

Equipping students

Outlining the purpose of gathering at the ceremony, Chairperson of the 1S1L Implementation Committee, who doubled as the Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Prof. Peter Quartey, said it was the vice-chancellor's vision of ensuring students were equipped with digital tools to improve the teaching and learning process.

The Head of the Selection Committee, Prof. Ernest Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah, provided insights into the selection process.

Eligibility

He explained that students eligible for the laptops were primarily undergraduates and graduate students involved in academic research.

“An application process was conducted, with students ranked based on their grade point averages”, Prof. Tweneboah-Koduah detailed.

In presenting the laptops to the beneficiaries, Prof. Amfo said  "my vision as vice-chancellor is for us to train students who are critical thinkers, who are technologically adaptive and culturally sensitive and ready for industry in the 21st century”.

“The student should be digitally set no matter your discipline to make ready for industry after school," she stressed.

Gratitude

She also expressed her satisfaction with the progress made with the implementation of the initiative and the number of students who had so far benefited from the initiative.

Prof. Amfo expressed gratitude to the benefactors who generously donated to support the initiative and also commended the 1S1L Implementation Committee for their dedicated efforts in leading the charge for the implementation of the initiative.

Prof. Amfo further acknowledged the pivotal role played by the Students Financial Aid Office in the selection process, ensuring that deserving students had access to this essential tool for their academic journey, and the Public Affairs Directorate for supporting the initiative.

The Presidents of GRASAG-UG and UGSRC, Claudius Angsongna and Frank Tsikata respectively, in separate remarks, expressed their appreciation to the vice-chancellor, donors, and the members of the 1S1L Implementation Committee.

The UGSRC President, Mr Tsikata, for his part, announced that plans were advanced for the SRC to support the initiative by making some donations to the vice-chancellor’s Office.