With the third Ghana Education Service (GES) academic term for basic schools in full swing, Telecel Ghana Foundation is rolling out the fourth cohort of its growing DigiTech Academy by extending its reach to five new regions to train 500 students in advanced digital skills.

Part of the Telecel Ghana Foundation’s Connected Learning initiative, the DigiTech Academy is a 12-week after-school programme designed to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education by providing hands-on technical training for upper primary and junior high school students.

Through weekly in-person sessions, young learners are introduced to robotics, coding and web application development, gaining practical experience that results in building functional digital solutions to solve their community challenges at the end of the 3-month training programme.

The new cohort, scheduled to begin in the first week of May, will run in Yendi in the Northern Region, Sawla in the Savannah Region, Nalerigu in the North East Region, Effiakuma in the Western Region, and Enchi in the Western North Region.

As with previous cohorts, teachers in participating schools have also undergone training ahead of the student sessions, delivered by the implementing partners Mingo Foundation and Asustem Robotics.

This approach ensures that knowledge is retained within schools, enabling educators to continue guiding students beyond the programme’s duration.

“We believe every child, regardless of where they live, deserves the opportunity to understand the digital world and the skills needed to build innovative tech-driven solutions,” said Rita Agyeiwaa Rockson, Head of Foundation, Sustainability and External Communications at Telecel Ghana.

“With every new cohort, we are building a pipeline of digital talent and strengthening the role of teachers in sustaining this knowledge.”

In the Effia-Kwesimintsim municipality, local leaders signalled strong support for DigiTech Academy during a courtesy visit to one of the beneficiary schools, St. Anthony of Padua Primary and JHS.

Philip Fiifi Buckman, member of parliament for the Kwesimintsim constituency, was joined by the District Director of Education, Gloria Biney-Gontor and officials from the Education Directorate to formally welcome the programme to the municipality.

“I encourage all the students selected for the training to focus on making the most of this opportunity. It will help you solve problems and understand digital skills, beyond social media, to build solutions for our community and nation,” Mr Buckman said. 

“You have my full support, and I am grateful to the Telecel Foundation for choosing Kwesimintim to build the confidence of our children.”

Delivered in partnership with the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana STEM Centre, the Telecel DigiTech Academy complements classroom learning by aligning with the national curriculum and supports broader national efforts to strengthen digital literacy.

Telecel DigiTech Academy began with a pilot phase of just 50 students at Ho Dome in the Volta Region and has grown into a national initiative that has impacted over 2,000 learners.

With a strong emphasis on inclusion central to the initiative, up to 70 per cent of beneficiaries are female, part of a broader effort to address existing gender disparities in STEM fields.

In previous cohorts, graduates have developed prototype solutions ranging from smart irrigation systems for local farms, firefighting robots, smart spectacles for the visually impaired, basic e-commerce platforms for traders, flood detection systems, and automated security alarm systems, among others.

As Cohort 4 students begin their journey, expectations are already being built toward their final project showcase in July, where learners will present capstone projects, each designed to solve real problems within their communities.