Girls in ICT: 11,981 girls and 1,200 teachers trained so far, says Ursula
The initiative is aimed at encouraging young girls to embrace information and communications technology, expose them to ICT career opportunities and inspire them to take up courses in Stem subjects
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has declared that under her leadership since 2012, the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation has trained over 10,000 girls and young women in ICT.
The minister disclosed that since the introduction of the Girls in ICT programme in 2012 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), to create a global environment that encourages girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICT, approximately 11,981 girls and 1,200 teachers across Ghana have been trained in digital skills.
Speaking at the climax of this year’s Girls in ICT Day initiative in the Northern Region, the sector minister said that digital technology is indispensable in the modern world and, therefore, encouraging young girls today is her priority.
“We have to encourage more girls and women to overcome the stereotype surrounding ICT through this targeted initiative and narrow the gender divide,” she said.
She said the Akufo-Addo government is pushing the Digital Ghana agenda across the country, embracing the people of the Northern Region.
As Ghana moves from a manual to a digital economy, digital skills will be a pillar of its success, the minister said.
Speaking to this year’s theme, “Digital Skills for Life”, Owusu-Ekuful said Ghana has to create the right environment to promote the training of more girls in digital skills and to equip them to participate in the fast-emerging digital economy.
The beneficiary metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the region include Karaga, Kumbungu, Mion, Nanton, Sagnarigu, Savelugu, Tamale and Tolon.
The others are the Gushegu, Kpandai, Nanumba North, Nanumba South, Saboba, Tatale, Yendi and Zabzugu Districts.
Invest in the sector
The chief executive officer of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication, Prince Ofosu Sefah, noted that GIFEC has pursued its mandate using three main platforms – the rural connectivity programme, the cyberlabs programme and the ICT capacity programme.
He said he is proud that the agency has experienced unprecedented investment over the past few years.
In his own address, the host minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Shaibu, emphasised the need for more collaboration between the government and private organisations.
Christiana Wehle Awiah, a 14-year-old pupil of St Paul’s Catholic School in the Tamale Metropolis, emerged the overall winner of the Girls in ICT initiative in the Northern Region. She received a cash prize of GHC3,000, a laptop and a plaque and her school will have an ICT lab built for it.
The first and second runners-up also received cash prizes and an ICT lab each for their schools.
Ninety-seven other girls received certificates and laptops, as did 100 teachers. The Girls in ICT programme is now expected to move to the Eastern Region.
Reporting by Tahiru Abdul-Washiru in the Northern Region
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