‘Women need more opportunities to participate in ICT’

The  Vice Chancellor of the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS) at Wa in the Upper West Region, Professor Philip Duke Osei, has called for more opportunities for women participation in Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to enhance their economic conditions.

He said a huge gap existed in the ICT sector and it was important for government, stakeholders and non-governmental organisations(NGOs) to ensure that girls and young women were supported to participate fully in the digital space.

The Vice Chancellor made the call when the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, visited the University on Tuesday to interact with the management as part of a three-day visit to the region.

He explained that the expansion of the ICT sector in recent years was an indication that if properly harnessed the sector could be used to promote the development of human resource potentials to help solve problems in the country.

“ICT is a critical area in the field of study and women are equally keen in studying ICT and it would be a great pleasure to have sponsorships that would support women in this critical areas to complement government’s efforts at bridging the gender gap in accessing ICT education and tools,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor said the limited number of girls in ICT was a challenge and must be corrected in order to get more of them involved in ICT and called for all hands to be on deck in order to bridge the gender gap.

“I would like to encourage females to generate interest in pursuing careers in ICT, right from the primary school through to the tertiary level for diversified job opportunities,” he said.

He used the opportunity to appeal to the High Commissioner to assist the university to deepen collaboration with other tertiary institutions in the country and beyond.

Ms Thompson indicated that the United Kingdom (UK) would continue to partner the government of Ghana and tertiary institutions to enhance quality education in the country.

“We want to deepen our partnerships and provide more opportunities to collaborate as we work together towards shared development objectives in the various universities,” she said.

She commended the management of the university for introducing more development-oriented programmes and said it would help develop the human resource base of the region.

FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK, WA