Eight trainees have successfully passed out of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) Microsoft IT Academy with certificates in Digital Literacy after undergoing a five-day programme from November 9-13.

The eight (four males and four females) were drawn from the Department of Community Development, the Local Government Service (LGS) Secretariat, the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) Secretariat, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), the Ministry of Women and Children (MOWAC), the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and Public Agenda.

The trainees took lessons in Computer Basics, the Internet and the World Wide Web, Productivity Programs, Computer Security and Privacy, and Digital Lifestyles. Thereafter, they took online certificate tests, the results of which were instantly released together with codes for the certificates.

IT officers at the Academy say this is the third successful pilot training programme and it demonstrates the readiness of the Academy to take off fully early 2010. Mr Ransford Addai Kyeremeh, an IT Assistant, told Public Agenda that due to the success of the pilots, the IT Academy is "likely to be launched by early next year."

According to him, this batch of trainees "was not naive about the computer"; they asked relevant questions.

He said overall, the programme has been successful because trainers were able to take the participants through the entire literacy module.

On behalf of the ILGS management, Mr Addai Kyeremeh thanked the participants and urged them to duly apply the skills they acquired. He also urged them to inform others about the programme.

Mr Isaac K. Atinyo, a trainer, also spoke about the success of the training. He said the trainees embraced the programme very well and "acquired a lot of computer skills instead of computer theories."

Miss Evelyn Abena Darko, Stores and Procurement personnel at the MLGRD, said she had benefited from taking part in the training. According to her, the experience she had gained would make a vast difference in her usage of the computer.

"I now know how to use the internet very well in research. I can also now use the spreadsheet and power point."

For Mrs Gladys E. Keteku of the LGS, she will now be able to update files and organize files on her computer in order to create space and increase speed. "I can also check for viruses."

The ILGS has been certified by Microsoft to establish the ILGS/Microsoft Academy aimed at providing Information Technology capacity building services to public and private institutions, workers, students and individuals as part of efforts to expand the frontiers of digital literacy in Ghana.