The Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation has started preparations to train 2,000 girls and 200 teachers from the Northern and Savannah Regions in September and October respectively under the GIRL'S-IN-ICT Project.

This will enable the Ministry to achieve its target of training 5,000 girls and 500 teachers from Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah, and the Northern Region by the end of 2022.

The Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who disclosed this at a press briefing, stated that 3000 girls and 300 teachers from 29 Districts of Bono and Ahafo Regions were trained in Basic Computer Skills, Fundamentals of Programming, Scratch, HTML and Cyber Security under the theme 'Access and Safety" as of May 2022.

She noted that this year marks 10 years since the GIRL'S-IN-ICT Project was launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and celebrated annually in Ghana.

She indicated that the programme this year doubled the number of girls trained in previous years to encourage girls to pursue careers in the ICT industry.

"In order to continue encouraging girls to pursue careers in the evolving lucrative ICT industry and in recognition of many more girls in deprived communities who need to be exposed to the programme, we have scaled up the programme this year and plan to double the number trainees to 5,000 girls and 500 teachers from Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah and the Northern Region," she stated.

She said 51 cyber laboratories have been set up for top-performing schools since 2017 to ensure continuity of the benefits of the programme.

"For the 2021 and 2022 editions of the GIICT, 100 ICT laboratories are being set up for the top-performing schools and 1000 laptops have been awarded to girls and teachers.

"A mentorship programme has also been included to facilitate the interaction of women in the ICT profession and academia with these young girls to inspire and educate them with their personal life stories and experiences.

"The Ministry is hoping to give out 550 laptops, along with protective bags to the best-performing students and teachers by the end of this year alone," she added.