Girl Child Education Officers from three districts in the northern region have called on young girls to pay serious attention to Information Communication Technology (ICT) education.
The officers said the current generation has no excuse not to become ICT experts. According to them, there are several NGOs and government interventions in ICT in almost all the districts in the region now have ICT centers and students only need to make good use of the facilities.
They are however cautioning the girls to use any ICT knowledge acquired for the betterment of their lives and not indulging in Internet fraud. “You are lucky that there are NGOs helping you to become ICT experts unlike some of us and some of your teachers who are ICT challenged”, Tamale metro girl child officer told the pupils drawn from some selected basic schools in Tamale Metro, Savelugu/Nanton Municipality and Sagnarigu district.
She also made passionate appeal to parents to pay special attention to their children’s education.” Don't just send your child to school without monitoring what goes on or what he or she does in school’, she appealed.
A female lecturer at the University for Development Studies, Madam Patricia Formadi said it is wrong for people to think that ICT is the sole reserve for men.
She told the pupils that the world is now a technological world and everyone must be ICT inclined. The international Day of girls in ICT which coincided with an annual Savanna Signatures ICT girl’s day brought together some parents, teachers and other major stakeholders in education.
Madam Patricia advised students especially, females not to let people’s perception dumpen their spirits in their quest to acquire ICT education.
On the negative use of the ICT tools, the lecturer appealed to pupils and students not to spend much of their time on social media like Facebook and WhatsApp because it will affect their learning negatively.
The girl child officer for Savalugu/Nanton municipality Sulemana Sanatu underscores importance of ICT education for girls and urged parents to encourage their children to take information communication technology.
She commended Savanna Signatures for equipping the young girls with ICT knowhow adding it will guide the girls to go through every process of their education. Madam Sanatu appealed to the NGO to consider extending their support to schools. ’’Please don’t leave us because if you do, our girls will found themselves wanting’’ Madam Sanatu appealed.
With the number of school girls opting to study technology-related disciplines on the decline in most countries worldwide, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU ) said it is committed to championing the catalytic role a tech career can play in creating exciting, far-reaching opportunities for women and girls.
To help inspire girls to consider a future in technology, ITU established ‘Girls in ICT Day’ back in 2010 with over 100 countries and supports the global organization of activities every year on the fourth Thursday in April.
Addressing basic school pupils in Tamale at a forum to mark International Girls in ICT which falls every 4th Thursday of April, Executive Director of Savanna Signatures, an ICT centered NGO, John Steven Agbanyon said his outfit will continue to empower young girls to take up ICT.
Hundred girls were selected at the primary school level and twenty girls from junior high school level.
Empowering young girls Mr Agbanyon explained was to bridge the widen gap between girls and boys access to ICT because girls access to ICT was limited.
The young girls have been taken through computer programs such as programming encoding which is the high a level at the universities and expressed the hope the few selected will encourage their peers and examples in their communities that after all ICT should not be a male dominated area.
A Junior High School form tow student from Tiyumba JHS, Ms Abdallah Nazira who shared her experience with Zaa News said the training boasted her confidence in public due to the filed project activities.
Ms Nazira and her colleagues trained for the past one year created their blogs where they write topical issues for the rest of world to read.
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