Sam George Rules Out Individual Data Bundles for One Million Coders Trainees
The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, says the government will not provide individual data bundles to every participant in the One Million Coders Programme, citing the scale and cost of such an arrangement.
He said the government was instead concentrating on providing computers and internet connectivity at designated learning centres to enable participants to undertake their training.
Mr George made the remarks during an interaction with students at the Kwadaso Regional Information Centre in the Ashanti Region, where some participants raised concerns about internet access and connectivity speeds.
“We are not going to be giving bundles to individuals. It would be impossible for us. It’s actually unrealistic for us to say we want to give bundles to everybody who is learning,” he said.
“That’s why we have the learning centres. And the learning centres have devices and connectivity here.”
The minister acknowledged that some participants might prefer to study remotely using their own data bundles but said the government was prioritising resources for facilities that could serve multiple learners.
He also addressed concerns about the speed of internet connectivity at the centres, promising to engage the implementation team to investigate the problem.
“For especially our RICs, we’re supposed to have some dedicated capacity, working with NITA to ensure that the capacity here is good,” he said.
Mr George added that he would work with the relevant team to identify the cause of the connectivity challenges and determine how the internet speed could be improved.
He also indicated that the ministry would consider feedback about power outages at learning centres, although providing generators for all centres would be difficult because of the number of facilities nationwide.
The minister further defended the government’s position on data prices, claiming that standard data bundles had become cheaper than before the current administration took office.
He urged participants to make effective use of the available learning centres and continue their training through the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.
The engagement was part of his working tour of the Ashanti Region to inspect One Million Coders Programme centres and assess the experiences of trainees.
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