A section of the beneficiaries in training session
About 5000 female school children drawn from five regions of the country are set to commence training in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) under the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation ‘Girls in ICT’ programme.
At least, 1000 girls are selected from each of the five regions, namely Bono East, Bono, Ahafo, Savannah and Northern regions for the programme to be introduced to basic ICT skills and coding this year.
Over 60 percent of the girls to be trained have no prior knowledge or experience in the use of computers.
The sector Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, in a press statement, noted that the training in coding will give the girls the opportunity to explore the world of technology through the creation of websites, computer games, interactive arts, mobile apps, and animation stories, using various programming languages.
Same opportunity
“I wish to provide all girls, who desire digital skills anywhere in this country, the same opportunity that these girls have received. We have a very ambitious goal and there is so much work to be done in giving our young people the right skills. For this reason, I am working closely with the Ministry of Education to ensure that we mainstream practical ICT education in the curriculum of all schools,” she said.
According to her, the essence of the initiative is to ensure that Ghana achieves the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, and Ghana’s ICT4AD Policy on bridging the gender digital divide through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and its agencies, including GIFEC, NCA and the Kofi Annan ICT Centre of Excellence.
After the training, beneficiaries would be made to participate in a competition aimed at testing the knowledge and ICT skills acquired during the training period, including website design, development of games, coding and simple ICT applications.
Initiative
The ‘Girls in ICT’ programme was introduced in 2012 under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union to empower and encourage girls and young women to acquire digital skills and consider studies and careers in the growing field of information and communication technologies.
Ghana has adopted this initiative and observed it on a regional basis, gaining momentum and being in schools in Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Volta, Western, Western North, North East, Central and Oti regions.
The training of 1,000 girls from districts within the selected region involves a mentorship session that provides a platform for women working in the ICT field to share their personal life stories and professional experiences with the young girls’ focuses. It also focuses on encouraging and guiding young girls in their future career choices.
It is a programme where the best 100 girls are brought to Accra for a week to tour Mobile Network Operators (MNO)’s, ICT firms and interact with women in the workspace.
In spite of a break in the programme owing to the COVI-19 pandemic, it has been revived this to assist beneficiaries regain lost time and move forward equipped for life’s careers.
She announced that prizes such as laptops, modems, etc, will continue to be awarded to girls who excel in the competition, with ICT labs being established in the schools from which award-winning girls hail from.
So far, the Ministry has trained 200 teachers in Bono East and Bono, as part of these celebrations for the sustainability of this programme.
About 300 teachers will be trained in the Ahafo, Savannah and Northern Regions this year, according to the Ministry.
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