Fred Ezeh, Abuja
African Scholars Care Initiative (ASCI), has concluded plans to place no fewer than 100 girls on four to six weeks comprehensive training on Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The objective of the training, according to the founder of the ASCI, Oueen Joy Onumajuru, is to expose the young girls to the huge opportunities in ICT which, apparently, has redefined global businesses and other socioeconomic operations.
Minister of state for Science and Technology, Mohammed Abdullahi, Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen; Director General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli; are among several public and private individuals that attended the flag off of the event held in Abuja, on Monday.
Minister of state for Science and Technology, Mohammed Abdullahi, in his remarks, appreciated the desire of the founder of ASCI to empower the girls with the knowledge of ICT which has become a toolkit for relevance in the 21st century technology driven world.
He said that the Ministry was willing to assist in providing a platform through which the girls will get adequate knowledge they required to make global impact as regards technology.
He said: “We will collaborate with the founder and other partners to provide some level of support in terms of expertise and funding. We have programmes in Federal Ministry of Science and Technology which they can identify with, and exploit them for the benefit of the girl child.
“We have interest in the empowerment of women and girl child, particularly in terms of education in order to take them off the streets and make them useful to themselves, their families and the society.”
Minister of women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, in her remarks, appreciated the ASCI for such empowerment opportunity for the girl child. She insisted that women need knowledge such as ICT to remain relevant and useful to themselves and the entire society in the 21st century world.
She promised to support ASCI in any effort that will herald the empowerment of girls and women which is key to self discovery and emancipation.
The Founder of ASCI, Oueen Joy Onumajuru, in her remarks, expressed concern with the poor interest of women in ICT related engagements, which has created wide gap between the men and women in the world of ICT.
She explained: “Selected girls would be given comprehensive free training on ICT in various areas, notably, digital marketing, artificial intelligence, cyber security, block chain technology and many more. Afterwards, we would set them up on entrepreneurship journey which they would never regret.
“We received over 200 applications, out of which 100 would be selected for the training based on already established criteria.
“We have partnership with several reputable private companies that would absorb the trainees after the training. They would provide them with platforms to further strengthen their ICT skills for more competitive opportunities, locally and internationally.”