One of the few individuals and institutions working round clock to ensure that young Ghanaians are computer literate is American trained dentist, Dr Quincy Attipoe.
He has set up Smile Village Foundation, an ICT Learning Centre based in Anyako in the Volta Region of Ghana. The project which was established to help the rural community learn the fundamentals in ICT.
It is equipped with about 60 computers, which are accessible to both adults and children within the community. There is also a commercial type printer and scanner to allow for scanning and printing of documents for the children.
It sits right therefore that Dr Quincy Attipoe was selected as MTN’s “Heroes of Change” contender for 18.
Thousands of selfless people are doing amazing things in communities across Ghana. The MTN “Heroes of Change” project seeks to unearth and celebrate these people.
The program will identify, celebrate and support the contribution of these heroes and heroines who are playing diverse roles in the development of our society.
“We contracted a full-time instructor to help with the teaching. It does not only serve the school where it is situated, but every child has access to it.
“We have even given learning opportunities to adults in the area and they are able to attend classes in the afternoon and evening sessions”, Dr Attipoe who is also the founder centre stated.
He said, “our project aims at bringing ICT education to kids in the villages to enable them to compete favourably with their counterparts in the cities”.
“With this as our vision, we will extend this project to all parts of the country soon. This will enable us to bridge the huge digital divide between rural and urban Ghana”, Dr Attipoe stressed.
He maintained: “The motivation is to help a child to compete in the ever-changing world. I had never touched a computer prior to 1999. On my first educational trip to the US in 1999, I was given an assignment to write a 10-page paper.
Achievement
Thanks to Dr Attipoe, the academic performance of school children in Anyako and its surrounding communities.
Previously school children there used not to show interest in the learning of ICT because of the non-availability of computers and qualified ICT instructors or teachers.
Teachers of the community primary and junior high schools attributed the children’s recent academic performance to the ICT centre.
“The children are improving academically because of their daily visit to the centre”, one of the community teachers said.
One of them disclosed that she used to perform poorly in school but, after she started going to the ICT centre, her grades in the school’s terminal exams are encouraging.
Nomination
For his immeasurable contribution to the community, Dr Atiipoe was nominated by the children and their parents to participate in this year’s MTN Heroes of Change program.
It currently airs on Adom TV on Saturdays at 7:30 pm as well as several media platforms including GTV every Sunday at 5:00 pm; TV3 on Saturdays at 4:00 pm.
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