A Ghanaian politician has urged the West African country’s government to place ICT as well technical and vocational skills in its education and skills development programmes in a bid to boost the economy.

Chief executive for the Akatsi-North district in the Volta region of Ghana, James Gunu, said that without such programmes in place, the country would lag behind.

He said blending ICT with the educational system, which must also be of quality, accessible and affordable, was the stimulant the country needed to advance.

“Technology helps eliminate human factor and bureaucracy, reduces corruption, strengthens human security and removes hunger and poverty,” he said during a presentation entitled ‘The role of Information Communication Technology in Educational Development at the Development Festival in the Akatsi-South District of the Volta Region’.

“It (technology) helps accelerate development growth, brings education to global standards, builds trust in the governance system, enhances job creation and makes life easy and living simple,” added Gunu.

According to him, the main challenges facing Ghana presently could be linked to what he says is the country’s inability to practically use ICT and bond it with technical and vocational skills training and development.

Meanwhile, the Akatsi-South member of parliament, Bernard Ahiafor, pledged to donate five computers for a proposed computer laboratory for a community school in the region.