BookFusion app launches in AI, digital literacy boost

The Ministry of Educational Transformation on Wednesday launched BookFusion, a new digital reading application aimed at fostering collaboration among students, teachers, and parents while enhancing technological skills and cognitive development across home and school environments.

The development comes as the ministry outlined plans to begin delivering laptops to first-form students.

BookFusion, part of the Skills for the Future 2 programme, is an app designed to integrate learning across the classroom and the home.

Asha-Akua Stoute, communications specialist with the programme, said the platform allows parents to read along with their children, teachers to assign educational resources, and students to access materials that support both cognitive and recreational development.

Stoute said: “BookFusion allows for collaboration between students, teachers and their parents. So BookFusion is now integrative in that it allows parents to also read along with their children, teachers to give their children resources that help them develop cognitively as well as recreationally, and we find that the BookFusion platform definitely does that for us.”

The Ministry of Educational Transformation has also issued laptops to all first-form students, preloaded with security protocols and the ministry’s portal.

“The internet is a wide, wide, and scary place, and we’ve ensured that security protocols have been administered on the platform and on the devices to control the type of materials that the students are viewing, as well as to ensure that the students are using educational materials,” Stoute added.

While students are encouraged to experiment with AI, the goal is not to let technology complete their assignments for them, she said.

“We’re not encouraging that, but we do encourage students to play around with AI, use it for positive things, try to figure out why AI can work for them within the educational system, and build careers out of it.”

Stephen Savoury, project coordinator with Skills for the Future 2, speaking at the launch of BookFusion, said the focus is on creating an inclusive education environment.

He said: “Our curriculum reform is about moving from rote memorisation to relentless curiosity. From ‘What is the answer?’ to ‘What is the question?’ We are integrating critical thinking, digital literacy, and emotional intelligence into the very DNA of every lesson.”

“We are not preparing students for yesterday’s factories. We’re empowering creators for tomorrow’s unknown challenges.”

He stressed that fully inclusive education is essential. “It must be the non-negotiable principle of our system. Our focus on inclusive education means we will identify and dismantle every barrier—physical, linguistic, socioeconomic, and learning-based. We are building a system where a child’s potential is never limited by their circumstance.”

Savoury also revealed plans to transform classroom infrastructure: “An infrastructure that inspires. We will transform our classrooms from crumbling boxes to dynamic, technology-rich hubs of collaboration and innovation. But this isn’t just about shiny new buildings, ladies and gentlemen. It’s about creating environments that scream to every child who walks in: ‘You matter. Your future matters.’”

He announced upgrades to the ministry’s technology system: “This new system will give a principal the data to support a struggling teacher, a policymaker the insight to allocate resources effectively, and a parent a clear window into their child’s progress.”

Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw said the platform will also help teachers organise their learning materials.

“This platform strengthens the hands of our educators. It allows teachers to curate materials, organise resources by theme or ability, and support differentiated learning within the classroom,” she said. “Teachers can share resources, lesson ideas, and reading lists with each other, creating a culture of collaboration across schools.”

(LG)