MTN trains girls in ICT to solve societal problems

MTN Ghana has organised an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) training programme for girls to equip them with skills to identify and solve problems in different vocations and professions.

The programme, which was held in Accra on Friday, for girls from the ages of 10 and 15 years, was also to commemorate the “International Girls in ICT Day” 2019 on the theme: “Expand Horizons, Change Attitudes”.

Ruth Badoo, the Senior Manager of MFS Operations and Service Delivery, MTN Ghana, said with regard to women who took up careers in technology, there were deficit because of paranoid around technology and women.

She said it was for this reason that MTN Ghana made girls the focus of the training to bridge the gap that existed between men and women in technology.

Traditionally, she said, women were reserved to take up challenging or difficult roles, however, things were changing because women were now developing interest in doing things that were traditionally a preserve of men.

Ms Badoo said the programme would educate girls to understand that technology was not just a career in itself, but involved everything.

“The whole idea is that technology is an enabler or a tool, and there are so many problems in this world that we need to solve, so let’s make use of the technology we have and learn to solve our daily basic problems in our society with it,” she said.

She disclosed that MTN had year-round programmes for girls, women and boys, adding that, it was necessary not to leave boys behind in the quest to equip the skills of girls in technology.

Ms Eunice Annor, the Manager of Learning and Development, MTN Ghana, advised the girls,to offer other professional courses instead of ICT and educate their parents on the importance of ICT.

She emphasised that the girls could enlighten their parents to know and appreciate the beauty of ICT, saying, it could be used to learn vocational skills even on the platforms like YouTube and asked them to develop interest, and think of how to employ ICT to develop initiatives and solve societal problems.

Ms Annor cautioned the girls to use social media networks wisely and asked them to report persons requesting for personal information from them and shun gifts from unknown persons.

During the training programme, the girls asked for explanations on why there were perceptions that women in ICT were anti-social and unable to find themselves husbands, how to develop passion for ICT and opportunities in the fields of technology.