As part of the Digital Transformation Centers (DTC) Project, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), are collaborating with stFoundation to provide Basic Computer Skills training, for the visually impaired.

The training dubbed "Introduction to Computer Basics for the Visually Impaired (ICBVI)", seeks to train sighted and visually-impaired teachers on how to instruct visually impaired pupils in the fundamentals of computers from November 13 to 24, 2023.

According to the Administrator of GIFEC, Prince Sefah, “GIFEC is committed to ensuring the use of the resources of the Fund to provide access and enhance the capacity of citizens in underserved and unserved communities, including Persons with Disabilities.”

He said the DTC has already trained over 14,000 citizens and is on track to train about 3,000 more by the end of the year, adding that by early 2024, about 20,000 citizens would have benefited from the project- 30% of whom are from marginalised groups.

Again, he added that GIFEC has over the years provided laptops to special needs students at the University of Cape Coast and the Wesley College of Education, as well as equipped the ICT lab of the Akropong School for the Blind, and articulated plans to update ICT resources at the Department of Assistive Technology of the University of Ghana.

Mr Sefah said GIFEC has adopted the DTC’s Coding for Kids training project and is extending it to cover more communities in the country.

Similarly, he said, GIFEC plans to study, adopt and scale up the ICBVI project, in addition to other generic projects.

For his part, Senior Project Manager at ITU, Robyn Fysh iterated the desire of the DTC Partners and stFoundation to scale up efforts to extend digital skills to marginalised and underserved communities across all 16 regions of the country.

She expressed her excitement to have expertise and courses to offer instructors skills and knowledge for training in their communities and Community ICT Centres.

Madam Fysh wished participants a fruitful learning experience and hoped that trainers and facilitators would own skills to be able to provide quality learning experiences and facilitate quality learning outcomes for visually-impaired persons in their communities.

Also, Head of the Department of Assistive Technology of the University of Ghana, Mr Alexander Bankole Williams, said “We are delighted that this is one of the greatest efforts coming across Ghana that seeks to actually posit the availability of digital knowledge in the hands of blind and partially-sighted persons in our local communities.” He hoped that participants would pay attention to the knowledge being imparted and ensure skills are adequately delivered for the maximum transformation of the digital landscape.

He said the goal of the Training of Trainers is to equip participants with the requisite knowledge and skills to facilitate the training of more persons with Visual Impairments across the country from 2024. 50 more trainers will be trained by January 2024.