Computer awareness in our schools is relatively a newly introduced course. It came as a recommendation of the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE). When it was pioneered in our schools not a lot of teachers had undergone direct training to the levels of Diploma or Degree. As such, the Ministry of Education embarked on a national Induction Course on IT for teachers who had been selected to undergo the training from various schools. It follows therefore that if one teacher had been trained at the expense of the taxpayer, he or she ought to gain or be given the opportunity to lead the computer department in schools as a matter of first come first serve. He or she possesses the requisite skills and that is why they hanged in there.
Many of us have started the computer awareness programmes in our schools and we have done successfully and satisfactorily. It ought to be remembered that during the training, Senior Education Officers and Principal Education Officers were in charge of it on behalf of the Ministry of Education. These officers were honest and bold enough to inform teachers that in five year's, time, almost every attendant would reap the benefits. This came as a response to our suggestion that computer awareness should be remunerated accordingly. It boggles one's mind to find that when advertisements for promotions came out, the same teachers who had persevered for a good number of years without remuneration for the aforementioned positions were turned down. Most had even acted on the posts for the first time since their commissioning. WHY? Is it a question of poor planning? Or is it that the relevant people who are supposed to promote teachers are reserving these lucrative positions for their younger brothers and sisters still at colleges and universities? We are in the dark but we are watching. Remember the legitimate expectation principle?
