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Tamale, Ghana – Adwoa Wiafe, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer (CCSSO) of MTN Ghana, has pledged the company’s firm commitment to the government’s “Girls in ICT” initiative which is equipping basic school girls across the country with digital skills.
According to Ms. Wiafe, the company was determined to strengthen its strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and other stakeholders to realize the vision of the program for young girls.
“MTN Ghana remains firmly committed to the ‘Girls in ICT’ program. We are determined to strengthen our strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Communications & Digitalization, other relevant state bodies and fellow private sector players in helping to realize the vision of this program for our young girls. If ICT and digital skills are the future of our society in the 21st century, then it is only right that all relevant stakeholders join hands and collaborate in this noble enterprise.”
The CCSSO said these when she delivered a speech at the climax of a weeklong ICT and mentorship boot camp organized by the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation in partnership with MTN Ghana for one thousand (1,000) girls selected from several primary and junior high schools in all 16 local assemblies in the Northern Region.
Ms. Wiafe said MTN Ghana over the years had provided support for the initiative because of its interest in digital inclusion and belief in diversity.
“Over the years, MTN Ghana has been proud to be associated with this important program, for which we have provided, and continue to provide, significant support. Our interest is premised on our inclusion focus – digital inclusion; gender equity – our belief in diversity and inclusion.”
She added: “In our view, partnerships between government and the private sector can bridge the digital divide and create space for innovations that enhance the trajectory for our country by ensuring equal access to education and information.”
Ms. Adwoa Wiafe praised the young school girls saying “I would like to congratulate all our 1,000 wonderful young ladies for their participation in this program. The skills you have acquired are crucial to your future, and I urge you to continue down this path and keep upgrading your skills, because technology is evolving quickly, and you need to adapt to its new opportunities.”
In her speech, Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful commended MTN Ghana for its funding support since 2021 adding “the three years support is ending this year and so we’re coming to you again.”
She appealed to “parents, guardians, community leaders and teachers to guide and support these young girls because they can’t they can’t do it without our collective support and they can be the best versions of themselves despite the cultural and traditional barriers some of us of girls face.”
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful also urged parents and older siblings of the girls who were rewarded with laptops not to take it away from them so that they could continue to practice what they had learned and improved on their skills.
Since 2012, the Girls in ICT initiative according to the minister had benefited 11,981 young girls and 1,200 teachers. “And we are determined to roll this project out on a regional basis across the country. In each region, best 100 girls receive their own laptops, the best 10 teachers and all district girl child coordinators are also given laptops.”
The initiative seeks among others to teach young girls across the country some basic ICT skills so as to adequately prepare them for future career choices.
It is also part of the government’s strategies to ensure that Ghana achieved the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5.
The girls were selected from schools in the Mion District, Karaga District, Tolon District, Kumbungu District, Savelugu Municipal, Tamale Metro, Nanton District, Sagnarigu Municipal, and Kpandai District.
Others came from schools in the Tatali District, Gushegu District, Nanumba South, Nanumba North, Yendi Municipal, Saboaba District, and Zabzugu District.
The girls were introduced to ICT programmmes such as coding, software development, cyber security, web design and data analysis among others at various training centres in Tamale and the other districts’ capitals.
All the 1,000 girls were given certificates of participation whereas the best 100 girls were given laptops.
The top 3 of the 100 each received a plaque, cash prizes and fully furnished and equipped ICT labs in the schools they attend. They were Christiana Awehli Awea of St. Paul’s R/C JHS in Tamale who took the first position, Amanda Daal of Kpandai Girls Model JHS who came second and Husinatu Nasara Mohammed of Tamale SDA Main JHS, third position.
In June, a total of 1,000 primary and junior high school girls were selected from seven districts in the Savannah Region and trained in the aforementioned computer programmes.
The “Girls in ICT Project” is also supported by the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence, ATC, German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and KODRIS Africa.
By SavannahNewsOnline.Com/Joseph Ziem
