Ursula Owusu-Ekuful at Cathedral Junior High School in Damongo
The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has toured some selected schools under the Girls-In-ICT Centre Training programme in the Savannah Region.
Some of the schools the minister toured are Cathedral Junior High School, St. Ann’s Junior High School, Jakpa Junior High School, Busunu Centre among others.
The Girls-In-ICT programme under the theme: “Digital Skills for Life” is aimed at inspiring and encouraging girls to pursue a future in ICT and to empower them by ensuring they have the necessary skills, confidence and support to achieve their goals.
The minister, in an interview with journalists after the tour, said the Girls-In-ICT programme has trained about 100 teachers as trainers to enable them also train the girls.
“After this programme, the teachers will go back and it will be part of the ICT training that they teach both the boys and girls, so we built their capacity so that they can sustain this programme beyond just the Girls-In-ICT programme,” she explained.
She indicated that the programme is targeting about 1,000 girls selected from various districts within the Savannah Region.
“The girls will undergo examination and the best 100 girls will be awarded with laptops and plaques, and I must say I am very much impressed about the instructions the girls have been given throughout their training. Some said they have never seen a computer before and through this programme they are seeing one,” she added.
The minister disclosed that the 20 top schools will be provided with ICT laboratories to enable the children continue building the skills they have been impacted with, and utilise the skills in their studies.
Madam Owusu-Ekuful however noted that the gap between boys and girls in ICT is huge, and for that matter the Girls-In-ICT programme will narrow the gap and encourage the girls.
“Fewer girls have computer skills or utilise them than boys do, so we want to introduce the girls to it and let them know they can also do it, and I am confident that no matter where they find themselves in life they can compete with their peers,” she stated.
The minister urged the girls to stay focused and take advantage of the training to better their lives no matter their status in society.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from, once you are given the opportunity, you can utilise it and excel,” she pointed out.
FROM Eric Kombat, Damongo