Enrollment in ICT-oriented courses low in Ghana – NCA Boss

Mr Paarock Vanpercy, Director General of the National Communications Authority, says the promotion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool for development, must embrace all genders.

He said even though ICT has become a lucrative sector in terms of job creation, business growth and rewards, career in ICT had somehow become mainly dominated by males.

Mr Vanpercy made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by Mrs Florence Martey, NCA Deputy Engineer, at a “Girls in ICT” Marathon training programme on Wednesday in Accra.

The “Girls in ICT” programme, which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service was on the theme: “Mainstreaming Girls in ICT – the critical missing link for development”.

Mr Vanpercy said in most developing countries including Ghana, enrolment in ICT-oriented courses from junior through senior high schools to the tertiary level, was very low, low enough to be considered insignificant, adding that the low percentages of girls in ICT sector prevailed both in the formal and informal sectors.

He said the International Telecommunications Union on April 8, 2011 declared the fourth Thursday of April each year as the “Girls in ICT Day, noting that in 2012, Ghana celebrated the Day with the launch of a Committee for Girls in ICT, which was charged with the mandate of becoming female ICT role models for young girls through mentoring, policy advocacy and training.

Mr Vanpercy said over the past three months the Committee had taken 160 girls between the ages of 10 to 17 from different basic schools in Accra for training under the “Girls in ICT” Marathon training programme.

He said the NCA under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications was proud to be a partner to the project; declaring that it was the hope that the project would be made accessible to all girls in the country.

He urged other agencies to support the initiative and ensure that females also received the needed impetus and opportunities to succeed in an environment, which was gradually becoming ICT driven.

Mrs Evan Lokko, former Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, who chaired the function said, “When you teach a girl ICT, you teach the whole world”.

Source: GNA