Coding Caravan 2023 Promotes Digital Skills for Girls in Ghana

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT), in collaboration with the Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) and the International Girls in ICT Day 2023, recently commemorated the Coding Caravan 2023. The initiative, dubbed “Digital Skills for Life,” aims to equip young children with digital skills and raise awareness of the benefits of ICT and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Mrs. Esther Quaye-Sowah, Director of Education for Birim Central Municipality, stressed the importance of collaboration to promote the competencies of the girl child in STEM, emphasizing that 200 basic schoolgirls from different institutions were chosen for the program. According to her, Ghana cannot be left behind in the global push towards STEM education for socio-economic development.

The Ministry of Communication and Digitization is driving the coding caravan initiative to accelerate Ghana’s digitization efforts towards STEM education, with a focus on the female child. The initiative has the potential to reduce gender disparity in Ghanaian society, as stated by Mrs. Quaye-Sowah.

The Deputy Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization, Mrs. Ruth Kyere Fekaah, revealed that the ministry plans to provide basic computer literacy training to 5000 girls by the end of 2023. She added that it is crucial for girls and women to take advantage of the pace of innovation in ICT by pursuing a career in the field, as the ministry launched the Girls in ICT project to boost their interest in ICT education.

Mr. Kenneth Ashigbey, CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, noted that the number of women participating in ICT in the nation was quite low. He stressed that encouraging girls’ engagement from an early age is necessary to overcome the gender gap in the ICT field. He urged society to invest in ICT education to find solutions to current challenges and also to encourage young schoolchildren to use ICT tools equitably and beneficially.

For the most part, the Coding Caravan 2023 initiative seeks to raise the interest of young children in ICT and STEM education. The IIPGH is also collaborating with Vodafone Ghana to teach over a thousand females coding throughout the year to increase education and visibility about ICT and STEM. As a significant duty, the IIPGH believes that providing ICT education to every Ghanaian is essential.

Source: GNA