Tackle negative impact of new digital media - Dr Letsa charges education stakeholders
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has admonished stakeholders to play critical roles in ensuring that the girl-child escapes the clutches of the negative impacts of the new digital media.
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Dr Letsa, who gave the admonishment at the launch of the 40th Anniversary of the Mawuko Girls Senior High School (SHS) in Ho, said the digitalisation was a two-edged sword hence the need to create awareness of the dangers involved in the use of digital tools and the internet.
"Today, most of our girls, instead of exploring the educational content of ICT to improve quality of life, take to social media for the bad reasons, including the display of nudity to the world.
This must end, if we should benefit wholly from digitisation," she said.
Speaking on the theme: "40 years of empowering the girl-child in a challenging digital world: a shared responsibility ", the minister said the capacity and skill set required in the era of the fourth industrial revolution were essential and must be acquired by every child.
"In a country such as Ghana, where the female population far outnumbers the male population, it is crucial to enhance the capabilities of girls to meet the global standard of advancement into technology," he said.
He, however, bemoaned the low spate at which girls enrolled in digital technology programmes in the country.
"According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 1,555,305 girls did not use any ICT device in the three months preceding census night in 2021.
“This translates into 37.8 per cent of girls that did not use an ICT device within that period.
This should bother every well-meaning Ghanaian," Dr Letsa said.
Challenges
Dr Letsa identified a myriad of challenges that continued to militate against the girls' achievement of digitalisation and their exploration of STEM.
He identified deficiencies in technological literacy, information asymmetry on the appropriate use of technological tools, inadequate infrastructure, parental control and regulation on the use of ICT tools as some of the challenges.
The minister charged all stakeholders of Mawuko Girls SHS to accomplish the vision of providing quality education to young girls in a digitally competitive environment as foreseen some 40 years ago by the founding fathers of their school.
Infrastructure in focus
The school, established in October, 1983 by the E. P. Church and granted boarding status in 1997, commenced with 36 girls and two volunteer teachers and is presently home to 139 teachers and 2,795 girls including 2511 boarders and 248 day students.
The Headmistress of the school, Ernestina D. A. Peniana, said the celebration would focus on critical infrastructural needs of the school and also used as an opportunity to highlight the importance of educating the girl-child, while marketing the school as a symbol for gender parity in education.
She said the school's contribution to Ghana's manpower needs could not be overemphasised and cited notable individuals who began their path of excellence at the Mawuko Girls SHS including Ghana's first female helicopter pilot, Selase Yaaya Agbenyefia, an officer in the Ghana Air Force.
She, however, indicated that as the school grappled with infrastructural challenges, this year's anniversary celebration would be used as an avenue to appeal for the construction of a 25-seater water closet toilet and wash facility to improve sanitary conditions of the girls.
In a brief address, the Chairman of the school's governing board, Peter Logo, called for an all-hands-on-deck approach in tackling the school's infrastructural challenges while urging benevolent individuals and organisations to donate to the school towards a good cause in creating a congenial environment to foster teaching and learning.