GIFEC equips 450 visually-impaired with ICT skills
Four hundred and fifty visually-impaired persons have been trained in basic specialised Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to provide them with requisite knowledge and basic skills to participate effectively in the information and knowledge society.
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Additionally, the training is to empower them to perform various tasks independently, in managing daily activities and communicate effectively through email, instant messaging, and social media platforms.
It was organised by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), an agency under the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation in partnership with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD).
Under the programme dubbed "Introduction to Computer Basics for the Visually Impaired (ICBVI)", the beneficiaries were selected from 13 regions of the GIFEC Community ICT Centres (CICs) on Computer Fundamentals to undergo a three-week intensive training in ICT.
The component is designed and implemented by Cisco and stFoundation to provide basic specialised ICT knowledge to persons with visual impairment.
Employment
Speaking at the national climax of the ICBVI training in Techiman in the Bono East Region, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GIFEC, Prince Sefah, said the training had offered them the knowledge to access a wealth of information available online, including educational resources, news, and entertainment for personal development.
Mr Sefah said GIFEC and its partners, rolled out the visually impaired and other ICT programmes to provide digital skills to citizens, especially, those categorised as marginalised, unserved and underserved communities.
Telephony sites
Prince Sefah said GIFEC was establishing 2,016 rural telephony sites under the Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project to expand mobile network connectivity to unconnected remote communities.
He said to-date 1,010 sites had been built out of which 625 had been activated, explaining that the remaining 1,006 would be completed this year to bring the total number of rural sites built under the current government to 2,600 compared to 78 under the previous government.
Mr Sefah said the Cyberlabs Programme had equipped 1,400 centres out of which 1,107 were in schools, 285 Community ICT Centres (CICs) and eight community-initiated projects.
Free WiFi
He said the government would soon implement the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project (GDAP) to provide Fibre-Connected Free WiFi at 120 CICs. Mr Sefah said the centres would also be equipped with computers and solar panels, to reduce their reliance on the national grid.
He said GIFEC was facilitating the flagship project of the Ministry’s Girls in ICT Project, to train 3,000 girls and 300 teachers in basic ICT and Coding each year. Prince Sefah said so far, the project had trained about 13,000 girls and 1,100 teachers in basic ICT and Coding, adding that GIFEC ICT Skills for Entrepreneurial Women Empowerment (ISEWE) with UNESCO had provided basic ICT and entrepreneurship skills for 720 girls and women entrepreneurs.
Digital age
For his part, the Bono East Regional Minister, Kwasi Adu-Gyan, said in the digital age, access to ICT was fundamental to success and advancement. He said although ICT could advance the country’s socio-economic development, the benefits of that development might not necessarily spread to all sections of the society.
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