By Ewoenam Kpodo
Ho, Oct. 18, GNA- The Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, said the government will uphold international certification standards under the One Million Coders Programme (OMCP), even if it makes it more demanding for beneficiaries.
Interacting with trainees during a monitoring tour of OMCP learning centres and rural telephony projects in the Volta Region, Mr Samuel Nartey George, the sector Minister explained that lowering standards would render certificates unrecognisable internationally and jeopardise remote work opportunities being secured for graduates.
The Minister was responding to a concern raised by a beneficiary training to become a cybersecurity expert under the programme, who said the course was too demanding.
The Minister insisted that the government would not compromise on international benchmarks for certification and that it was in the best interest of trainees.
He disclosed that the government was in talks with Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, including a Kenyan firm seeking to establish a centre in Ghana to employ 5,000 people, to create internship and remote job placements for graduates.
Mr George said the courses under the OMCP were deliberately selected based on the skill demands of these companies and urged beneficiaries to progress beyond the beginner level to the advanced level, noting that the job market required advanced competencies.
He added that the training modules were self-paced and free, allowing trainees to complete them with their own login outside the learning centres, and advised those with general academic backgrounds to complete the specialised ICT-focused versions to be fully ready for the world of work.
The tour also saw the presentation of 200 Lenovo laptops featuring Intel Core i5 processors, 16GB RAM, 512GB solid-state drive storage and Windows 11 operating systems to University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho under the OMCP.
This was aimed at equipping future healthcare professionals with skills to complement their clinical training as the university prepared to expand technology-based learning for its students, he said.
“The medical field is changing very fast. Telemedicine is a big part of the world today, where you have doctors sitting in John Hopkins and carrying out surgery 7,000 miles across the ocean using robotic arms,” the Minister said.
He highlighted the need for healthcare professionals to combine clinical knowhow with technological knowledge to keep pace with advances in medical practice.
Prof. Lydia Aziato, the Vice-Chancellor, UHAS was grateful for the support, saying the selected OMCP learning pathways would complement professional health sciences training and help students develop proficiencies in digital literacy, data analytics and emerging technologies.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo
Reporter: Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA
Email: [email protected]