The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has stated that the quest of the Ministry to develop community ICT and cell sites across the country will ensure most Ghanaians will have access to mobile networks.
She disclosed that the establishment of more than two thousand centres and sites is in progress and on track to make this venture a reality.
Delivering a keynote address to climax the National Girls in ICT programme on the Techiman Campus of the Valley View University in the Bono East Region, she stated the Ministry is focusing on the construction of ICT centres and rural telephony sites across the country to aid in the teaching and learning of ICT courses for girls and the youth in general.
She said, “This will provide an opportunity for girls and young women in the country to gain knowledge and exposure to technology.”
“As previously mentioned, the theme for this year is, ‘Access and Safety;’ and to address the access issue in Ghana, the Ministry through GIFEC is implementing our Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, which forecasts the construction of more than two thousand sites for connectivity nationwide. “
“Since 2020, over seven hundred sites have already been built and many communities have been connected. By the end of next year, all sites would have been completed,” she added.
Since the beginning of the girls in ICT programme in 2012, this is the first time that five regions are celebrating the programme separately within a year, a development the Minister describes as exceptional.
One hundred girls from all the eleven districts in the Bono East Region received laptops as rewards while others received cash awards and some incentives for their schools including coding clubs, and fully furnished ICT laboratories among others.
Hon. Ursula Owusu urged the Regional Coordinating Council to take ownership of the facilities and ensure their proper maintenance.
Some best performing teachers and regional officers also received laptop rewards for their efforts.
Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Eric Mensah Bonsu re-emphasized the importance of technology in the economy and urged the beneficiaries to be empowered by their training.
Afua Brown-Eyeson went through some sections of the Cyber Security Act, Act 2020, with the children and entreated them to stay away from unfriendly people on the internet, so they will not become victims of their demands.
The Deputy Minister for Education in charge of TVET, Gifty Twum Ampofo, encouraged the participants to study hard and take advantage of some government initiatives like the Free Senior High School Initiative.
She also emphasized on the need to study beyond the classroom to enrich their minds and develop a global perspective.
“The world is becoming a global village” she mentioned, “One needs to make use of technology to make progress”.
She encouraged the girls to take research seriously, both in and out of school. She also admonished them to make the most of their training and the President’s Free Senior High School programme.
Certificates were also presented to all one thousand beneficiaries from the region.
Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful together with the Bono East Regional Minister Kwasi Adu Gyan announced the Bono Regional Representatives as the next host of the Girls in ICT programme.
The programme is expected to begin in a few days.
Source: MyPublisher24.com