The Minister of Communications and Digitization Ursula Owusu-Erkuful has encouraged young girls to pursue courses in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The Minister believes ICT was not only designed for men but women could also step up their game and be change-makers in the field of ICT.
She was speaking at a training program organised for selected young girls in basic computing.
The training was organised to help demystify the fear of studying ICT.
The girls were selected in all twelve districts of the region.
The Girls in ICT initiative is to train five thousand young girls and five hundred Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers in basic computing, coding, and scratch HCML among others by the end of this year.
Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said the initiative forms part of measures to bridge the gender digital divide existing in the ICT sector in the country.
She admonished girls to reinforce themselves and work hard to achieve their dreams, thus, prioritizing ICT education to enable them to attain higher heights.
For her part, a lecturer at the Department of Computing and Information Sciences at the Catholic University College of Ghana, Audrey Asante, encouraged the girls to make a difference in the field of ICT.
She exposed them to the opportunities existing in the ICT sector and ultimately get them to pursue careers in these fields as the whole world migrates to increase the use of digital platforms.
About the training
The Girls in ICT (GIICT) programme was introduced in 2012 by the International Telecommunications Union to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICT.
As part of the training programme, the girls are introduced to scratch and basic structures of programming applications, after which they participate in a competition.
This competition is expected to test the depth of knowledge and ICT skills acquired during the training period, including website design, development of games, coding, and simple ICT applications.
By the end of 2021, the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Huawei Technologies- Ghana, also educated 60,000 female Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Ashanti, Central and Eastern regions on Cyber Security as part of the Girls-in-ICT Programme.
The Ministry has targeted 5,000 girls to benefit from the training this year in the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah and Northern regions.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
