Virginia Palmer opening the facility with Ashutosh Singh as others look on
ATC Ghana has commissioned a digital community centre for the Ghana Girls Guide Association to help improve the digital literacy of children.
Speaking at the opening of the centre at Achimota in Accra, CEO of ATC Ghana, Ashutosh Singh, said the learning centre is expected to provide access to ICT services and training to basic school pupils.
He said the establishment of the digital community centre is one of the key flagship initiatives in the company’s quest to drive the development of highly skilled professionals for Ghana’s telecommunication industry.
The CEO further added that the digital communities established by the company has computer learning centres that utilises uninterrupted power supply and broadband connection from its towers to provide access to network connectivity.
According to him, the provision of the digital centre will help train and sustain the provision of its services as the leading provider of telecommunications infrastructure that supports network connectivity, hence the need “to strategically position the digital communities to pique the interest of pupils in ICT at a young age”.
He said since 2018, ATC has completed such fully equipped centres in areas such as Battor, Savelugu, Asuom, Jamasi, Bawdua, Berekum, Akontombra among others.
Mrs. Mamle Andrew, Chief Director at the Ministry of Education, said the partnership between ATC Ghana and Girls Guide was not only marking a significant step towards bridging the digital divide, but it’s empowering girls across the country through access to ICT education and information.
She indicated that the digital centre also falls in line with the STEM policy agenda of the Ministry of Education and positions young children to fit perfectly into digital age.
She further commended ATC Ghana for continuously investing in ICT to enhance the digital skills of young children while urging the young girls to take advantage of the facility to learn and develop their ICT skills.
For her part, US ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer also lauded ATC’s long-standing efforts to expand digital inclusion across the country, especially its collaboration with the Ghana Girl’s Guide Association.
She said the US is still committed to supporting girls as equal partners in the work force to help strengthen Ghana’s economy, adding that the provision of ICT training to girls would equip them with technological skills that will enable them become key drivers of individual business and social transformation.
Girls Guide Association, which started over 102 years ago with about 75 members in Accra, now has over two hundred thousand girls and young women across the country.
Present at the commissioning include the commissioner of the Girls Guide Association and students from various schools in the locality.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah