Princess Kumi, 11-year-old girl from the Prang RC Primary School in Pru West was named the overall best student, out of a thousand students from the Bono East region.

She was recognised at the Bono East regional celebration for the Girls in ICT programme.

This event was held at the Techiman campus of Valley View University. She went home with three thousand cedis, a plaque, a laptop and a personal cash donation from the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Madam Ursula-Owusu Ekuful.

The Girls in ICT is an initiative by the International Telecommunication Union that has been enhanced by the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation.

Under the theme, ‘Access and Safety’, this year’s event will be taking place in five regions. Five thousand girls and one thousand teachers will be trained in security. This has become necessary due to the growing concern of cyber security in the country, continent and the world.

The Bono East Region is the first of five regions to host the event this year. Eleven best performing schools will be receiving ICT laboratories from the Ghana Electronic Fund for Communication (GIFEC) as part of their reward in the entire exercise.

The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful thanked parents and teachers for supporting the girls. She encouraged the beneficiaries to continue pursuing their interest in ICT and Science with the aim of becoming experts in the field.

“We thank you all teachers and parents because it’s not all girls that have the opportunity to go through this training. I’m personally delighted by the achievements in the programme so far and I will say kudos to you all” she reiterated.

All the one thousand girls from the region received certificates of participation in the training. The Chairman of the occasion, Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, urged the government to sustain the programme in order for more girls to benefit. He applauded the government and the Minister for the gesture and requested for more of such programmes to promote the learning and teaching of ICT in the region.