The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization’s Girls-In-ICT Trainer of Trainers workshop has commenced at Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
100 teachers were selected by the Ghana Education Service from the 33 municipal and district assemblies for the five-day workshop.
The training, an initiative of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization, formed part of a deliberate step to bridge the gender gap in information and communication technology (ICT).
Over 1000 girls selected from the 33 municipal and district assemblies in the Eastern region are expected to receive 3 weeks of training on ICT in the region.
Addressing the beneficiaries, the Programs Officer at the Ministry of Communications and Digitization, Isaac Newton Ameza observed that despite the revolution of ICT and its numerous opportunities, women were still lagging hence the training, with the overall goal to encourage young girls to take up careers in the ICT industry.
Priscilla Hope, the Project Manager at the Ghana India Kofi Annan Center of Excellence In ICT, noted that the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation adopted the Girls In ICT initiative as a platform to equip girls between the ages of 9 and 15 with knowledge and skills in basic ICT and Coding.
Speaking with NET2TV NEWS, Isaac Newton Ameza disclosed that, the girls are taught how to use the computer to do coding and scratching where they can create games and websites for money.
To reverse the trend in order not to see women lagging, he said, the ministry had initiated aggressive steps to whip up the interest of young girls to take up studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Priscilla Hope also in an interview explained that the ICT revolution is fast transforming the entire world with a growing fear of Artificial Intelligence and revealed that a good number of Ghanaians, particularly adolescent girls and young women have limited digital skills and are disadvantaged in today’s digital economy. She indicated that the goal is to encourage the girls to take up careers in the ICT industry as well as become torch bearers in this life transformation agenda.
