Ghana’s Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has urged young women to take up ICT jobs to shore up the female presence in that industry.

According to her, coding, a major aspect of ICT, has been introduced into the curricula of basic schools and teachers are being trained to transfer knowledge and expose students to the functional usage of ICT in workplaces.

Speaking to Class91.3FM's Jerry Akornor after the National Girls in ICT Day ceremony in Accra, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the government is refurbishing community information centres to enhance access to the internet.

“We want to encourage and empower our girls and young women to consider careers in ICT. Teachers have been trained on how to teach the new academic curricula, including coding; they will be using community centres. We are renovating community information centres so they can go there for training in the absence of connectivity in their schools”, she said.

The Ablekuma West MP is of the view that there is a skills shortfall within the ICT sector.

She said Ghana can only achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 5, and 10 – reducing poverty, inequality and achieving gender equality through deliberate efforts, to whip up the interest of women to pursue ICT programmes.

Ghana joined the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) International Girls in ICT initiative to implement activities aimed at bridging the digital gender divide, expanding opportunities available to women in the ICT sector and encouraging education of girls in ICT. Over 4,000 students from selected basic schools in Ghana have participated in Girls-in-ICT projects expected to enable both girls and technology companies to reap benefits from greater female participation in the ICT sector.

Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com/91.3FM