Teachers trained to protect children, young people online
Eighty-eight information and communication technology (ICT) teachers drawn from 16 districts in the Greater Accra Region have benefitted from a day’s training programme geared towards protecting children and young people online, in recognition of teachers’ crucial role at the forefront of Internet safety.
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The training, organised by J. Initiative (JI), a child-focused non-governmental organisation (NGO), with support from tiGO and Facebook, aims at equipping the teachers with vital information regarding child safety online, as well as appropriate and responsible digital media use by children and young people, and the need to incorporate these information into their ICT lessons.
The Head of Corporate Affairs of tiGO, Mrs Gifty Bingley, said there was a growing concern by all stakeholders in Ghana and around the globe regarding how children should be protected online.
Raising awareness
She said tiGO’s decision to partner JI to raise awareness was something the company considered important and a responsibility it had towards subscribers, and urged other service providers to join the effort in protecting children and young people online.
Addressing the teachers, the Executive Director of the NGO, Mrs Awo Aidam Amenyah, said the organisation deemed it necessary to organise the programme because the content being discussed were the gaps identified in the current ICT curriculum for schools.
“Before planning this session we had reviewed the ICT curriculum and realised the main gap was around safety and protection issues for children and young people, especially,” she said.
She said the safety of children and young people on the Internet was key, and that “as partners of the Ghana Education Service, we thought it wise to fill the gap”.
Creativity
For his part, the National Examination and Community Participation Co-ordinator of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Richmond Ayitey, charged the teachers to take whatever they were taught seriously and be creative in incorporating it into their ICT lessons since it bothered on child protection online and the future of children.
Asked about their interest, the Facebook Public Policy Manager for Africa, Ms Akua Gyekye, said: “At Facebook, we believe that Internet safety is a shared responsibility. We work with partners around the world, such as the J Initiative in Ghana, to ensure that people understand how to start conversations about how to stay safe online and have a safe experience online. Teachers are at the forefront of Internet safety and we hope that the recent training session will help us all build a safer Internet together.”