Girls-In-ICT Programme in the Savannah Region: A Path to Digital Empowerment for Girls

The Girls-In-ICT Centre Training programme in the Savannah Region of Ghana is providing an opportunity for girls to develop their digital skills and achieve their goals. The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, recently toured some selected schools under the programme, including 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. Through the programme, girls are empowered by ensuring they have the necessary skills, confidence, and support to achieve their goals. The programme has trained about 100 teachers as trainers, who will go back to their schools to incorporate the ICT training into their teaching. This will enable the programme to be sustained beyond the Girls-In-ICT programme.

The programme is targeting about 1,000 girls selected from various districts within the Savannah Region. The girls will undergo an examination, and the best 100 girls will be awarded with laptops and plaques. The top 20 schools will be provided with ICT laboratories to enable the children to continue building the skills they have been impacted with and utilize the skills in their studies.

For the most part, the gap between boys and girls in ICT is huge, and the Girls-In-ICT programme aims to narrow this gap and encourage girls. Fewer girls have computer skills or utilize them than boys do, so the programme aims to introduce the girls to it and let them know they can also do it. The Minister emphasized that no matter where the girls find themselves in life, they can compete with their peers.

In a nutshell, the Girls-In-ICT programme is providing girls with an opportunity to develop digital skills and empower them to achieve their goals. The programme is also aiming to narrow the gap between boys and girls in ICT and encourage girls to pursue a future in this field. It is essential to continue supporting and promoting initiatives that empower girls in their education and career paths.