Some Students Using Free Government Tablets to Watch Pornography – Haruna Iddrisu Tells Parliament

Some Students Using Free Government Tablets for Inappropriate Content – Haruna Iddrisu Tells Parliament

The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has expressed concern in Parliament over reports that some students are misusing government-issued tablets distributed under the Free SHS digitalisation programme.

Addressing lawmakers on Thursday, November 27, 2025, Mr. Iddrisu noted that despite the government’s huge investment in digital learning tools, some beneficiaries are using the tablets for purposes unrelated to their education — including accessing pornographic material.

He explained that the tablets form part of a $337 million contract he inherited, which provides for the distribution of 1.3 million learning devices to students across public senior high schools. So far, about 980,000 tablets have been deployed nationwide, with support from GETFund.

According to the minister, the devices were expected to enhance access to digital curriculum materials and support modern learning, but the lack of adequate customization and restrictions has opened the door to misuse.

“My attention this morning, Mr Speaker, was drawn to the fact that many of the devices are not customized and the students are using it for other purposes including pornography, which is not acceptable,” he stated. “There must be restrictions as to what the tablets can be used for, and they should be used strictly for purposes of study.”

Mr. Iddrisu emphasised that the curriculum is already uploaded onto the tablets to support digital learning as Ghana works toward a globally competitive education system. He stressed the need for stronger safeguards to protect the state’s investment in digital skills training.

“When you’re training students, you’re training them to become globally competitive, and therefore we have to take investments in digital skills, digital technologies, and their deployment much more seriously with increased investment,” he added.

He assured Parliament that measures would be introduced to restrict access to inappropriate content and ensure the devices are used strictly for academic purposes.

Meanwhile, under the previous government, 70,000 tablets were supplied to 30 schools as part of an initial batch of 450,000 devices ready for distribution in May 2024.

Speaking to the media in Accra in 2024, former Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum disclosed that each tablet was labelled with a unique serial number to identify its assigned student. The beneficiary schools included:

• Opoku Ware School, Bosomtwe Girls, OLA SHS–Kenyasi, St. James SHS, Bosomtwe STEM Academy, Osei Adutwum SHS, Wesley Girls, Abomosu STEM, Mamfe Methodist, Achimota SHS, Applied Technology Institute, ATTC, Awaso STEM, Kpasemkpe SHS, and OIC.

Other beneficiary schools were:

• Aburi Girls SHS, Nyakrom SHTS, St. Augustine’s College, Ghana SHTS, Ahantaman Girls SHS, Tarkwa SHS, Accra Academy, Mawuli School, Afua Kobi Ampem Girls SHS, Worawora SHS, Damongo SHS, Nandom SHS, Bolga Girls SHS, Notre Dame Girls SHS, and Koase SHTS.

The government expects the full rollout of the digital learning devices to significantly transform teaching and learning across the country — provided that strict usage controls are enforced.