Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has called for the award-winning Methodist Girls High School robotics club to be replicated in various secondary schools across the country.
Such a step, she said, will enable club members to train other girls who can go on to train others and ensure expanded interest in science and technology but especially robotics by girls in Ghana.
According to her, this will lead to more clubs being created in different fields to provide the innovation that will jump-start the country’s developmental drive.
The Methodist SHS for the second time in a role won the World Robotics and Coding Competition, known as CoderZ Juniors League in the United States.
Hon. Abena Dapaah made the call at the celebration of the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child on Monday, October 11, 2021, in Accra.
She averred that though the world is said to be in the digital age, large sections of the population made up of mostly girls have not had their world changed by these advancements.
The celebration, she said, should therefore draw the attention of parents to the need to show gender equality in the opportunities provided for their children in technology, especially the girls in the STEM field.
She appealed to stakeholders to use the celebration to also encourage increased investment in closing the gender digital divide, access to devices, connectivity, skills and safe use of the internet and paying particular attention to girls.
She said, “The girls from Mamfe Methodist and Aburi Girls Schools have shown the way hence the need for the rest to follow.”
“Ghana is blessed with women trailblazers in the technology field and our girls should use them as role models as they explore the digital world for career opportunities.”
The Sanitation Minister, who has recently been designated the Caretaker Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, stated that the demographics of people engaged in commerce in Ghana shows females are in majority, however, statistics show their share of online business is proportional because of lack of access to digital resources such as smart devices, internet connectivity as well as low literacy rate.
The government, she said, is doing everything possible to pull up the girl-child and cited Vice President Bawumia and Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, as the force behind the digitisation of the country.
She urged girls to have a huge appetite for technology and to explore opportunities that the digital space offers but cautioned against the negative dangers of using the internet.
“Young girls and children have recently become victims of criminal activities facilitated by the internet such as kidnapping, human trafficking, pornography and identity theft.
“Some have suffered cyberbullying to the point of attempting suicide while a huge number of people have lost huge amounts of money in scams and activities of mobile money for fraudsters,” she warned.
She called for personal security for all users of the internet but especially for the girl-child who is most at risk.
Source: Mypublisher24.com/Osumanu Al-Hassan