The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE) has introduced over 100 students of Yaa Asantewaa Girls’ Senior High School to the Youth in Mobile training.

The Ghana's Youth in Mobile Application Development programme seeks to train secondary school students to develop mobile applications known popularly as apps. This forms part of activities marking AITI-KACE 10th anniversary celebration which also includes engaging with different stakeholder groups around Ghana to deliver innovative Information and Technology (IT) training packages.

A statement issued by Nana Fosu Nyante, the AITI-KACE Business Liaison Officer and copied to the GNA, said this training takes young Ghanaians from being consumers of technology to becoming creators of technology solutions. It said the introductory hands-on session was enthusiastically received by students who were so absorbed that they did not want to stop to have lunch.

The statement noted that young women would now continue their journey to becoming mobile apps developers by following the specially developed AITI-KACE Online Course on Youth Mobile App Development.

The Director-General of AITI-KACE, Dorothy Gordon praised the school leadership for their commitment to providing 21st century skills to the student body.

She said, “By demonstrating their commitment to mastering technology, Yaa Asantewaa Girls have proved themselves worthy of the Queen-mother of Ejisu after whom the school is named. Given her legendary warrior spirit and intelligence Yaa Asantewaa might have been an IT professional had she lived today. We want to see more young women taking up the opportunities that IT offers. “

The statement said, through its online distance education training programmes, AITI-KACE was ready to support schools which had the infrastructure to make this kind of training a reality for their students.

It said the idea was to make quality IT training accessible to as many Ghanaians as possible and in particular to encourage women to be part of the business of IT as well as to develop apps that are designed to provide solutions for women.

It said Ghana had seen a rapid increase in the use of mobile technology in recent years with penetration crossing the 100 per cent mark. The statement said there had also been the rise in the use of internet-enabled phones, adding that these developments had led to an increased demand for mobile computing and application development skills by companies looking to leverage the opportunities mobile technologies offer.

It said many mobile applications were supporting health care, education and job creation. The statement said the series of workshops and online courses were aimed at encouraging the next generation of ECOWAS leaders to exploit the opportunities that IT offered and to pursue careers in the fast growing Information Communication Technology sector.

The AITI-KACE, Ghana's first Advanced Information Technology Training Institute was established in 2003 as part of an overall strategy to support the growth of the ICT sector.

AITI-KACE's mandate is to provide a dynamic environment for market-oriented training of ICT professionals. The Centre facilitates the use of ICT through strategic collaboration for on-line learning, support to e-Government, and research and technology innovation for socio-economic development within ECOWAS and beyond.