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ABC News
ABC News
National

Ghana man goes viral for teaching computers — without computers

A viral photo of a teacher in Ghana explaining how computers work — without computers — has resulted in a promise by Microsoft to send him new computer equipment.

Information and communication technology (ICT) teacher Richard Appiah Akoto shared a photo of himself using a blackboard to show his students how to use Microsoft Word.

"Teaching of ICT in Ghana's school is very funny," Mr Akoto said in a Facebook post.

The post was shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, and gained prominence after being picked up by international websites and tech enthusiasts.

"This is not my first time [of drawing it]," he told Quartz.

"I have been doing it anytime I am in the classroom."

After a tweet reached Microsoft, the company pledged to send Mr Akoto a computer and give him access to its education material.

"Supporting teachers to enable digital transformation in education is at the core of what we do," the software giant said in a tweet.

While the post has become a source of inspiration for teachers in Africa, it's a reflection of an under-resourced public school system.

In Ghana, there have been calls for a national conversation about fairer distribution of resources to struggling rural schools.

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