UWR: Jamiat Al-Hidayat Girls Senior High School gets modern ICT training centre

Ferdinand  | EducationGhana | May 24 | UWR: Jamiat Al-Hidayat Girls Senior High School gets modern ICT training centre

Nassco Feeding Minds, in partnership with Deloitte, has inaugurated a modern ICT training centre at Jamiat Al-Hidayat Girls Senior High School to promote digital literacy and skills development among girls and young people in the Upper West Region.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, the Co-founder and Executive Director of Nassco Feeding Minds, Banasco Seidu Nuhu, said the facility forms part of the organisation’s efforts over the past 12 years to contribute to digital education and equip young people with skills needed to compete in the 21st century.

“We are particularly excited about this computer centre because it is the very first training centre we have established in a Girls’ senior high school,” he said.

According to him, the organisation believes girls’ education is essential to national development and was encouraged by the strong support received from the school’s Management, teachers and Parent-Teacher Association.

The Executive Director noted that the organisation had partnered with global institutions including Cisco to provide internet security systems that would block inappropriate online content and protect students while using the internet.

“We are very conscious about the challenges and some of the hazards the internet can pose to young people, and we have put in enough steps to protect them,” he stated.

He said although digital literacy had become compulsory in schools, government alone could not provide all the needed facilities and resources, making it necessary for organisations to support education delivery.

He explained that the organisation was also transforming its training centres into skills development hubs where young people could pursue careers in software engineering and access remote work opportunities through its NASCOTech initiative.

“It is one thing providing the facility and another thing getting the results that you intend to achieve,” he said, adding that the organisation would continue to support the students through coding clubs, ICT competitions and Olympiads to spark their interest in technology.

He further disclosed that the facility would not only serve students of the school but also young people in the Wa Municipality through various digital training programmes, including a six-month coding programme open to the public.

In a speech read on behalf of the Wa Municipal Director of Education, Madam Sophia Dimah Nandzo, described the project as a transformational initiative that had opened new opportunities for girls.

“What was once a standard space has now become a modern ICT centre, thanks to the generous partnership between Deloitte and Nassco Feeding Minds,” the statement said.

She urged learners to use the centre to learn coding, conduct research and compete globally, while encouraging school authorities to ensure every girl leaves the school digitally literate.

The Municipal Education Directorate also pledged its support towards maintaining the facility to serve future generations.

The Girls Prefect of the school, Afina Patricia Dadzie, expressed gratitude to the donors for the support, saying the computers would greatly improve ICT practical lessons.

“Though you will be taught in class, you will not have the feeling of how it is. But with this, you become computer literate and more advanced,” she said.

She assured the organisation and partners that learners would make good use of the laptops and the ICT centre.

By Ibrahim Abubakari Wangara