‘Encourage girls to go into ICT’

THE Director-General of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence, Ms Dorothy Gordon, has urged parents to encourage their female children to pursue courses in Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
She said parents usually influenced the courses their children pursued and, therefore, called on them to challenge their daughters to take up ICT courses, which were now dominated by males.
She was speaking at the launch of the sixth Computer Science Students Association (COMPSSA) Week of the University of Ghana.
It was on the theme, “Bridging the digital divide in the nation; The role of the computer scientist”.
Ms Gordon observed that ICT was used to enhance all facets of the economy, including commerce, agriculture and security.
She stated that ICT should be people-centred and development-oriented, while it should be possible for people to create and use the information to enable the country to realise its full potential as far as development was concerned.
She advised the students to study hard and make use of every opportunity that came their way “to enable you to set up your own businesses to help in the development of the nation”.
She called on ICT-based organisations to put a mechanism in place for computer science students to take up attachment programmes in their firms.
The General Manager of Omatek Computers Ghana Limited, Nana Benneh, said Omatek would collaborate with the Computer Science Department at Legon to set up an engineering centre, a replica of its factory, on campus for the practical training of students.
“This will provide opportunity for research and development,” he said.
The President of COMPSSA, Mr Frederick Gyasi-Awuah, noted that access to ICT was crucial to the lives of people, adding that “those without access risk being further marginalised, as society becomes increasingly dependent on electronic ICT systems”.
“It is important that we address the challenges that brought about the digital divide and provide its entire people with the right tools they need to be part of the information society,” he added.
The president noted that the number of computers and books at the Computer Science Department was insufficient for the number of students taking up the course.
“We also need projectors and our own building for the department,” he said.
As part of the week-long celebrations, the association will organise a clean-up exercise and donate some items to the University Hospital.
They will also have an ICT seminar, a debate, a sports festival, among others, to climax the celebrations.