‘Next Bawumia’s government will make coding a core subject in our basic schools’ – Ursula Owusu-Ekuful

By: Godfred Amoaful

The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful says the next NPP government will ensure that coding becomes part of the subjects students in various schools undertake.

“If coding isn’t already part of the school curriculum, the next Bawumia administration will ensure that coding is part of our national curriculum. He has said publicly that artificial intelligence, data analytics, and coding are tools that our children need to have at their fingertips, because this is what will enable them to be like their peers in other countries.”

“Maybe it’s too late to introduce it now, but the next Bawumia administration has said that it will make it part of its agenda to include coding as one of the core subjects in all schools,” she noted. 

She maintained that there are a lot of prospects in the field of ICT that girls can harness to better their lives and embrace the new paradigm of technology and science. 

“The gaming industry, for example, is very lucrative, and it’s growing. So it’s something that we want these kids to consider. The tutorials they are going through can help them begin creating their own computer games.”

“Almost all the problems around us, if we apply some technology, we can work towards solving them,” she emphasised.

The Minister said this when touring some basic schools in Accra to ascertain the level of preparedness of the students towards the Greater Accra Regional “Girls In ICT”, GIICT, competition scheduled for Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

She said, considering the enormous benefit of science and technology in the modern world, governments are considering the inclusion of coding in school curricula to improve IT knowledge and skills among students. 

The ‘Girls In ICT’ GIICT initiative aims to break the occupational barriers that hinder women and the girl child from taking up opportunities in predominantly men’s fields. 

The GIICT in Ghana gained its origin from the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Resolution 70, which established the International Girls-In-ICT Day initiative.

The aim of Resolution 70 is to advocate for gender mainstreaming and the promotion of gender equality, as well as the empowerment of girls or women through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). 

The Girl In ICT Ghana’s initiative has been in existence for the last four years. It has the mission of imparting ICT knowledge to 1,000 girls each year across all regions. 

Students from all districts in  Greater Accra will partake in this year’s regional competition from next week. The best three to 100 students will be given cash prizes and personal computers. 

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Akuful emphasised that technology has the potential to change a country’s economic fortunes and that, requires the needed attention from all stakeholders. 

She added that the digital age calls for a concerted effort towards improving technological knowledge to position the workforce of the country to compete in the job market.

On the issue of sustainability, the Minister noted that the sector is prioritising a trust fund to generate sponsorships for future endeavours.

Mrs Owusu-Akuful further said she is optimistic that the initiative will achieve its mandate through private government partnership. She therefore called on the private sector’s involvement to make the initiative attractive for other countries to emulate.

More stories here