NO fewer than 100 female students from 25 secondary schools across Ondo state have been selected to benefit from the girl child Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Programme initiated by the wife of the Ondo State governor, Mrs Betty Akeredolu.
Speaking during empowerment programme, Mrs Akeredolu said the programme was borne out of the need to empower the girl child in the use of ICT and to shrink the gender gap in the ICT sector.
According to her there is a prolific use of technology in almost all aspect of human activities hence the need to equip the girl child with knowledge of ICT to give them advantage to be key players in the global space.
Apart from this, she said “Improving the young ones especially young women, is the best way to empower a nation. I believe that if we give our girls access to technology and right tools, development will follow”
The wife of the governor said the programme was organised during the summer holiday to get the girl child who are susceptible to some social menace busy and to broaden their horizon and prepare them strategically for the ICT world.
She said “with this programme we are encouraging our young women to pursue education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our girls must overcome cultural and social barriers that women face.
“Again as the world continues to rely on information and communication technology it has become crucial that the voice of our young women are represented in the digital world”
Mrs Akeredolu noted that there is gender divide where women are disadvantaged in gaining skills to use ICT in a meaningful way saying girls saying girls must not be left behind in the ICT driven world to address the gender bias and improve the degree of interactions the girl child of Ondo state has with computers.
“We must aim to promote gender equality in ICT careers, so that our girls and women are cultivated as innovators developers, leaders and decision makers in ICT spheres. Empowered young women could play a big role in reducing poverty in their communities.
The programme was organized by the state government in conjunction with an ICT firm SAO limited
In his remarks, the representative of the SAO Limited, Mr Tope Runsewe disclosed that students would be trained on computer appreciation, introduction to Microsoft office suite, making simple design with coral draw among others.
He added that the students would also be trained on various skill acquisitions during the training.
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