Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has raised serious concerns over the misuse of government-issued tablets by some Senior High School students, revealing that the devices are being used to access pornographic content and other non-academic material.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, November 27, the Minister disclosed that out of the 1.3 million tablets procured under a $337 million contract for the Free SHS programme, approximately 980,000 have so far been distributed to schools across the country.
However, he lamented that a significant number of these devices have not been properly customised with restrictions, allowing students unrestricted internet access.
“My attention has been drawn to the fact that many of the devices are not customised, and students are using them for other purposes, including pornography, which is not acceptable,” Mr Iddrisu told Parliament.
He stressed that the tablets were meant exclusively for academic and learning purposes to enhance digital education under the Free Senior High School policy.
“Government is taking a very high view of this development. There must be restrictions on what these tablets can be used for; they should be used strictly for the purpose of study,” the Minister emphasised.
Mr Iddrisu assured lawmakers that steps are being taken to immediately address the situation by ensuring all remaining and deployed tablets are fully customised and restricted to educational content only.