• A six-week STEM course with focus on girls has started to get more of them into the sector

• The initiative is being undertaken in Accra and in Kumasi to serve girls in both cities

• The girls were selected from senior high schools in the two regions; Greater Accra region and the Ashanti region

Some female students have benefitted from a six-week STEM initiative aimed at making its study more attractive, increase awareness in career opportunities that exist in the world, and garner private sector support.

The V-STEM project, according to the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Mr. Ben Hassan Ouattara, demonstrates the company’s commitment towards education and helping young people, especially the girl child to catch up on science and technology in this era where technology is driving our culture.

Making this known in a statement, he said that as part of the steps to bridge the gap, the company decided to collaborate with the African Business Center for Developing Education (ABCDE) and Soronko Academy to advance the teaching of coding among young ones.

"This year, we decided to partner with ABCDE under their agreement with Soronko Academy to give these young ones an experience in ICT to increase their interest in STEM. Each batch will undergo a six-week coding Programme after which they will be given internship opportunities to further boost their career interest in STEM,” he said.

The senior high school students from Accra and Kumasi were taken through Information Communication Technology (ICT) training, sponsored by Vivo Energy Ghana, the marketers and distributors of Shell-branded products and services in Ghana.

This is under a partnership programme with the African Business Centre for Developing Education (ABCDE), an NGO facilitating educational services and Soronko Academy, a leading technology and digital skills development centre in Ghana.

The first batch of students who graduated on Friday, May 21 2021 were taken through Full-Stack Web Development as a basis for an Advanced Technical Course. The curriculum had a flow of practical hands-on applications, interactivity, teamwork and mentorship sessions.

According to the statement, the students were selected from the Accra Wesley Girls Senior High School, Archbishop Porter Girls, Chemu Senior High School, Samuel Senior High School, University Practice Senior High School and Wesley Grammar Senior High School while the second batch of students will be selected from the Ashanti Region.

Ben Hassan Ouattara further explained that the oil and gas industry is one of the key sectors that heavily depends on STEM and with the training of more young girls, it will become a great booster to the sector.

Mr. Clifford Nii Afadi Tetteh, the General Manager of ABCDE, urged other corporate organizations to support the ICT initiative, especially for women and girls as it goes a long way to create the balance desired in the industry.

“Over the last 10 years, the ABCDE has been championing and facilitating educational initiatives in the country. We have done this through the benevolence of corporate organizations like Vivo Energy Ghana and other individuals. We urge all companies to support this initiative,” he said.

Ms. Delphina Agyare, the Project Manager of Soronko Academy, explained that they are excited about the project because it is in line with the Academy’s mission to pioneer the way for young people, especially women and girls to realize their economic potentials and equip them with the technical and soft skills needed to attain dignified, fulfilling jobs and overcome the gender gap in technology.

“The operations under this sector requires people with STEM background to research and develop innovative products and technological energy solutions for the common good of humanity. It is therefore imperative that we encourage the study of STEM to prepare students towards meeting the demands of a tech-driven economy, which is being fast-tracked by COVID-19,” she stressed.