Ghana’s education sector has been formally designated as Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), making its defense essential to national security and development. This declaration was made by Divine Selase Agbeti, Acting Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), during the inaugural National Cybersecurity Education Conference.
Mr. Agbeti highlighted the significant cyber threats currently eroding institutional integrity and student welfare, including the proliferation of admission scams, cyber-bullying, data leakages, sextortion, and the challenge of forged academic credentials.
”Our education sector has been designated as Critical Information Infrastructure, and its protection is essential to our national security, stability, and development,” he stated, affirming that, guided by the Cyber Security Act 2020 (Act 1038), the CSA has prioritized education within Ghana’s national cyber resilience strategy.
The CSA is driving several major initiatives aimed at embedding cybersecurity principles into teaching, learning, and institutional governance. The Authority recently participated in the Ministry of Education’s technical working group to review the ICT in Education Policy, ensuring that cybersecurity, data protection, and digital ethics were central to the framework.
He urged the Minister for Education to prioritize the policy’s finalization, noting that its implementation “will mark a major milestone in securing Ghana’s digital education ecosystem.” Furthermore, the CSA contributed to the development of Ghana’s EdTech strategy, successfully integrating cybersecurity principles to ensure digital learning environments are safer and more trustworthy.
A critical partnership with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is also underway to establish a National Cyber Security Competency and Qualification Framework, designed to create a structured learning pathway from basic cyber literacy to advanced professional certification.
The Acting Director- General revealed that a draft Memorandum of Understanding has been submitted to GTEC to formalize this collaboration, with GTEC being urged to expedite its finalization. Finally, recognizing the CII designation, the CSA is collaborating closely with the Ministry of Education to establish the Education Sectoral Computer Emergency Response Team (Edu-CERT).
This structure is expected to facilitate coordinated responses to incidents such as data breaches, ransomware, and online abuse across all universities and colleges.
Divine Selase Agbeti reported remarkable progress in the national effort to build a cyber-aware society. Through capacity building and awareness creation initiatives, the CSA reached over 5.6 million adults between January and October 2023, a significant jump from 102,000 in 2022.
However, he stressed that the task ahead requires greater integration. “Cybersecurity can no longer be limited to IT departments or computer science labs. It must become as essential as literacy or numeracy,” he asserted.
The Acting Director-General emphasized the need for cross-disciplinary integration: “When a nursing student learns to protect patient data, when a business student grasps privacy in E-commerce, and when a teacher trainee is prepared to guide children safely online, that is when cybersecurity truly becomes embedded in education.”
Concluding his address, Divine gbeti commended the Ministry of Education, GTEC, and Accra Technical University for organizing the landmark conference. He expressed hope that the gathering would become an annual event to foster collaboration and bridge the gap between cybersecurity education and professional practice.
Story By: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
