The training for this year’s Girls in Information Communication Technology (ICT) for Senior High Schools (SHS) on Cyber Security and Data Privacy, which is aimed at 100,000 girls across seven regions, has begun, according to Deputy Minister Hon. Ama Pomaa Boateng.
Northern, Bono East, Bono Ahafo, Volta, and Oti are the benefiting regions.
The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization (MoCD) in conjunction with the Ghana Education Service (GES), Huawei Technologies, Ghana, and the Ministry of Education (MoE) organized the initiative.
Ms. Boateng emphasized the value of ICT and Cyber Security in her speech at the St. Mary Girls Vocational Institute, a TVET institution in the Northern region, as well as in developing successful online enterprises.
Mrs. Boateng urged the students to broaden their business concepts and use reliable and safe social networking sites, financial apps, and courier services to reach out to potential customers.
She added that using digital technology constantly to carry out tasks and boost productivity in real time was essential for both daily living and entrepreneurial abilities.
In order to safeguard themselves as digital citizens and to develop healthy digital habits, she recommended the pupils to pay attention to Ghana’s Cyber Security Act and the Data Protection Act.
The Deputy Minister claims that women now have the option to study and work remotely at their discretion.
“You may now take your classes online and earn a degree from any nation in the world in the convenience of your own home,” she stated. These are all possibilities of ICT growth, including remote interviews, e-health, e-banking & payments, online meetings, and the ability to buy and sell goods and services through online platforms regardless of location.
She counseled the students to show a strong interest in learning ICT skills in order to engage in e-commerce and select career options that would enable them to become globally competitive in the digital sphere.
Mrs. Boateng cautioned pupils at the Tamale Girl’s SHS to exercise caution when sharing information online because posts on social media platforms might be deleted at any time.
The Deputy Minister claims that there are several predators in the online world who hide behind the internet; as a result, kids should refrain from downloading apps and rejecting online friend requests from complete strangers.
She gave the pupils stern warnings not to transmit or post any images of themselves in their underwear.
Because employers increasingly check a prospective employee’s past through their online activities and posts, she advised that inappropriate content uploaded online could harm a person’s reputation and could hinder his or her employment in the future.
The Deputy Minister stated that the Ministry has implemented the Girls-In-ICT initiative with the goal of offering basic ICT skills, encouraging more girls to pursue career paths in the ICT, and promoting girls and women in the usage of it safely in order to close the gender digital gap.
The MoCD and its partners were thanked for the timely training by Rev Sister Cynthia Anabire, principal of St. Mary’s TVET in Tamale.
She had nothing but praise for the tools offered to help the pupils receive ICT education.
“We appreciate the pupils’ cyber security awareness program. I am optimistic that the kids’ cyber security training would help them stay secure online with all of these laptops offered by TVET “She spoke.
60,000 Senior High School girls from St. Louis, Yaa Asantewaa Girls, Krobo Girls, Adventist Girls, Holy Child, Wesley Girls, Afua Kobi Girls, St Mary’s, St Monica’s, Mamfe Methodist Girls, St Roses, and Kumasi Wesley Girls were educated last year thanks to a partnership between the Ministry and Huawei and the Ministry of Education.
Artificial intelligence and cyber security were taught to these beneficiaries.
Our Lady of Mount Camel Senior High School, St Ann’s Girls Senior High, Our Lady of Providence Senior High, Notre Dame Girls Senior High, Ola Girls Senior High, Serwaa Kese Girls Senior High, Tamale Girls Senior High, E.P.C Mawuko Girls Senior High, St Catherine Girls Senior High, and Kyabobo Girls are some of the beneficiary schools for this year’s training in the seven regions.
