Over five thousand artisans nationwide are to receive Information and Communication Technology training from the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications.

The programme which is being run free of charge under a Digital Inclusiveness Project would soon be launched in Cape Coast in the Central Region.

Potential targets include carpenters, hairdressers and auto mechanics, in collaboration with the respective artisan groups.

With the help of Community Information Centers spread across the various districts, municipal and metropolitan areas, artisans will receive free ICT training within two weeks.

Administrator of GIFEC, Kofi Attor, told Nhyira News the project will equip artisans with ICT knowledge to boost productivity as they learn new and improved trends.

“Within two weeks, they [artisans] will have to go home with some knowledge on how to use the ICT. We don’t want the Community Information Centers to just stand in there as a middle class thing. We want it to be relevant to the economic needs of everybody. There’s always the best practice somewhere.  If you Google carpentry in China, I am sure you will get something. The people would not be paying for the training. We will be pay for the training; go in there and use the computer to assist your work within two weeks”. Mr Attor revealed.

GIFEC has been implementing several ICT-related projects which seek to reach and leverage the capacity of overlooked groups and individuals as it covers underserved areas.

He projects include Community Information Center, Rural Telephony and School Connectivity.

GIFEC is also seeking to equip about 64 libraries across the country with e-learning materials.

As part of the package, 28 librarians recently underwent training at the John Agyekum Kuffuor ICT Center Nkwantakese in the Afigya Kwabre District of the Ashanti Region.

Mr. Attor believes the Library Connectivity Project, in partnership with the Ghana Library Board, will make libraries more relevant. More than fifty libraries have been connected so far under the project.

“What we are doing to add some value to the library is to put computers into the libraries so that people who are doing research and people who are going to study can complement e-arrangement (electronic arrangement) with the physical library. It makes library research a little more interesting”.