Samsung Unveils First Solar Powered Internet School In Ghana

Ghana’s first Solar Powered Internet School (SPIS) has been launched in a junior high school in local Dago community. This will foster ICT integration in the country’s educational sector. The SPIS initiative is powered by the Samsung, the government of Ghana and the Korean Education and Research Information Service (KERIS). It offers teachers and students in rural areas – with little or no access to decent electricity – better access to the internet, boosting opportunities for extensive research. The Solar-powered school is a 40ft shipping container equipped with desks, Samsung Laptops, a multi-purpose Samsung printer, internet access, Wi-Fi cameras, rubber fold-away solar panels that can last up to 9 hours and a 50-inch electronic board that permits cross-group collaboration between and among teachers and students across geographical boundaries. The SPIS is part of Samsung’s Citizenship program. The plan will see the birth of mobile classrooms filled with ICT gadgets in rural towns. Samsung hopes to use this initiative to empower at least 2.5 million students through ICT by 2015 in Africa. It had previously launched the project in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. Mr. Harry Park, the MD of Samsung Electronics West Africa said the SPIS will broaden the perspectives of children living in impoverished communities, allowing them to see the huge potentials offered by an ICT-driven education. Samsung intends to roll out more SPIS in other parts of the country in coming months. *Source ventures-africa]]>