The Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation is anticipating to train 10, 000 girls in ICT within 7 regions.

It will take places in Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah, Northern, Western North, and North East regions between 2021 and 2022 as part of the Girls-In-ICT (GIICT) project.

The Girls-In-ICT project which was inaugurated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has been in existence for close to a decade now and thousands of girls have benefited from the initiative in the past years.

In a press briefing on Sunday, the Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful stated that the Ministry has been able to train 5, 000 girls in basic computer literacy 2021.

According to the Minister, government has doubled the number of girls trained for the past 9 years by training 5, 000 girls and 500 teachers from 5 regions in a year and has trained 3,000 girls and 300 teachers from 29 Districts in three regions namely; Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions so far within the first quarter of 2022.

“By the end of 2021, approximately 5,000 girls had been given basic computer literacy and exposed to digital innovations to encourage their interest in ICT education. Government continues to work to bridge the gender digital divide by encouraging and empowering girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector through the Girls-In-ICT (GIICT) programme.”

“In 2021 2000 girls from the Western North and North East Regions were trained in Basic Computer Skills, Fundamentals of Programming, Scratch and HTML.”

She added that “…we have scaled up the programme this year and plan to double the number trained in the previous 9 years in one year by training 5,000 girls and 500 teachers from Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah and the Northern Region.”

“By the end of May, 2022, 3,000 girls and 300 teachers from the 29 Districts of the two Bono and the Ahafo Regions were trained in Basic Computer Skills, Fundamentals of Programming, Scratch, HTML and Cyber Security under the theme ‘Access and Safety’.”

This, she said is to bridge the gender digital divide by encouraging and empowering girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector through the Girls -In-ICT (GIICT) programme.

She further indicated that 51 cyber laboratories have been set up as well as 1,000 laptops distributed for top-performing schools since 2017, and 100 ICT labs have been set up for same between 2021 and 2022.

“To ensure continuity of the benefits of the programme, 51 cyber laboratories have been set up for top-performing schools since 2017. For the 2021 and 2022 editions of the GIICT, 100 ICT laboratories are being set up for the top-performing schools.”

“Furthermore, a total of 1,000 laptops have been awarded to girls and teachers since 2017. The Ministry is hoping to give out 550 laptops, along with protective bags to the best-performing students and teachers by the end of this year alone,” Mrs Owusu-Ekuful indicated.

She also stipulated that 15,000 plus girls in second cycle Girls schools have been trained in cybersecurity and cyber hygiene in selected schools in the Eastern, Central and Ashanti Regions.

“An equal number will be trained this August in the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Northern and Savanna Regions,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Minister has assured the public that the Ministry has started preparations to train 2,000 girls and 200 teachers from the Northern and Savannah Regions in September and October respectively to complete the target for the year.