As part of the grand efforts of the Ministry of Education to boost the delivery of education through technology, the Minister for Education, through the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS), has completed a digital TV platform dubbed Channel MOE and is preparing to launch it next month.
At a pre-launch conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of CENDLOS in the Channel MOE studios, Mr. Nana Gyamfi Adwabour said, “With our vision to make technology an essential tool in education service delivery at all levels and increase access to all, CENDLOS is ensuring a blend of Ghana’s educational system with cutting-edge ICT solutions to drive inclusivity, equity, and quality distance education at all levels. Channel MOE is one of the many innovative approaches we are employing to attain our digital inclusion objectives.”
“Long before we established this digital TV, we designed and deployed innovative solutions like the iBox system, the Learning Passport, and the iCampus to give underprivileged students access to quality educational content without internet connectivity and its associated economic burden. Our iBox has browsing capabilities without the need for the internet, and it has compatible software and e-content in four formats – text, audio-visual, interactive practicals, questions and answers – for offline learning,” he revealed previous milestones. “Also, with the partnership of Plan Ghana, Dubai Cares, FCDO, and UKAID, CENDLOS constructed, furnished, and commissioned five (5) multimedia content production studios to ameliorate learning content quantitatively and qualitatively. The facility, fitted with ultra-modern studio equipment and related digital technologies for electronic content production, has the capacity to undertake the production of both online and offline content,” he said.
According to the recently adjudged CEO of the Year in the Category of Technology and Innovation at the Ghana CEO Awards, the focus of CENDLOS is to lead in delivering innovative edtech solutions towards the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 – inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning for all, in Ghana. “And, we are engaging all relevant stakeholders to help drive the focus to actualization,” Mr. Adwabour appealed.
On what makes Channel MOE different from other online educational platforms, he said, “Certainly, there are a lot of online media channels in Ghana now, but none is specializing in offering comprehensive curriculum-based educational content which is strategically skewed towards the attainment of training our students to develop at least one digital skill to be a functional citizen in this 21st century. Channel MOE is here to improve inclusivity, equity, and quality of distance education delivery. It is here to inform today and to transform the future of our students.”
The Manager of Channel MOE revealed that the digital TV shall serve all pupils and students from primary to tertiary with educational resources prepared by professional educators and other content creators. “We are mainly leveraging innovative digital solutions to expand the frontiers of distance schooling with special attention to inclusiveness, equity, and quality. The main difference between Channel MOE and other platforms is that Channel MOE is solely dedicated to delivering comprehensive distance education based on authorized content of the Ghana Education System,” he explained.
He said that after the launch of the digital TV, “Channel MOE shall engage with stakeholders, construct more strategic partnerships, and use dynamic marketing online and offline to drive viewership and sustainability.”
In March 2023, the Ministry of Education launched its Digital Transformation Programme, MOE Access, under the theme, “Unlocking Access to All” to give the entire educational landscape a policy direction towards the provision of inclusive, equitable, quality education and lifelong learning for all. CENDLOS is the pivot of this transformation, being the leader of the country’s open learning policy making and implementation.