By Jesse Ampah Owusu, GNA
Accra, July 11, GNA – Miss Paulina Yayra Abena Quao, a Junior High School (JHS) Two student of St Sylvanus R/C in the Ga West Municipality, has won this year’s Girls in ICT Greater Accra competition.
Paulina had 100 per cent scores emerging the first among one thousand JHS and Upper Primary School girls who participated in the competition.
She was presented with a cheque for GHs3,000, a plaque, a laptop and a certificate, as well as a travel opportunity to the United States sponsored and facilitated by the Diaspora Africa Forum.
She was followed by second placed Delma Saeed, a JHS Two student of Accra College of Education Demonstration in Ayawaso West Municipality with 99 per cent and third placed Nicole Addy, a JHS Two student of Services Basic School Michel Camp in Kpone Katamanso Municipality with 98 per cent.
The second placed received GHS2,500, a plaque, laptop and a certificate, whereas, the third placed received GHS2,000, a plaque, a laptop and a certificate.
In all, the best 100 students among the lot each received a laptop and a certificate at the end of the competition.
Miss Paulina Quao expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Communications and Digitilisation for her enrollment onto the competition, as well as her teachers for training and equipping them with ICT skills.
She said she was going to explore and learn more in the ICT space to grow her interest and skills to be able to become a programmer in the future.
She added that she was hoping to form a Girls in ICT club in her school together with her colleagues to sustain their interests and enable them build future careers in the space.
Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitisation, said the initiative since it started in 2012 had 13,981 students and 1300 teachers benefited.
She urged the beneficiary students to build on the foundation they had been given and continue to practice and learn to become well-grounded professionals in the ICT space in future.
She said the initiative was challenging gender stereotypes, and building the confidence and critical thinking skills of the beneficiary students.
The Minister later launched the Ghana Girls in ICT Trust to sustain and institutionalise the initiative.
“The Trust will deliver a pipeline of trained and empowered girls and women while creating an enabling national environment for young women in ICT and STEM,” she explained.
The Minister presented special awards to Mr Henry Kofi Rockson Junior, a teacher at Weija MA 3 JHS for opting to help in the training, and Madam Theresa Mills, a sign language interpreter, for interpreting and being with a hearing impaired student throughout the training programme.
Also, Suwaibatu Hamidu Gumah, the hearing impaired student from Tetteh Oklu State School for the Deaf, and Beatis Tetteh, a JHS1 student from Kubekro KK MA Basic School, who lost her mum prior to writing her exams in the competition.
The best performing teachers in the training programme were also rewarded with certificates and laptops.
GNA