Accra- The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE) embarked on an outreach programme to train young ladies in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
A statement issued by the Centre and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the young girls, drawn from selected junior and senior high schools, were also trained in leadership skills, as part of activities to mark International Women’s Day.
Globally, March 8 is set aside every year to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements.
It is also a day that marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
This year, the theme was “‘Breaking the Bias”.
The statement said AITI-KACE’s mandate is to coordinate and oversee an ICT system that produces globally competitive research and Innovation through quality-oriented and demand-driven learning for national development.
“Included in our mandate is to bridge the digital divide in ICT and electronics through individual and institutional capacity building.”
Dr Collins Yeboah-Afari, the Director-General of AITI-KACE, said as a promoter of IT, the Centre decided to work with a mission to “Forge women’s equality in tech and the best time to do this is to start training them in their earlier stages.”
“In this world that patriarchy has dominated and somewhat threatened the growth and development of women, we are comforted and encouraged by the many Ghanaian women today who, through their perseverance and determination, is getting rid of the obstacles, climbing the ladders, shattering the glass ceilings and scaling the walls,” he said.
“AITI-KACE saw it fit to educate, inform and enlighten our female future leaders on the need to be wholesomely equipped in the area of ICT relevant to their career choice.”
The interactive session was designed to achieve a greater degree of success in their pursuit of higher education and serve as a guide in their career path, Dr Yeboah-Afari said.
A team of female lecturers and staff from AITI-KACE took the opportunity to visit De Youngsters (Adenta and Nima branch) and Flagstaff House Basic School to train and mentor the young ladies in ICT.
It said in total, more than 352 female students took part in the training and mentoring session, which took place in the three schools.
AITI-KACE is Ghana’s first Advanced Information Technology Institute with a world-class research facility focusing on innovating products and services for individual and institutional advancement.
Source: Ghana News Agency