Girls Tipped on Digital Inclusion

Women experts from different telecommunications companies have challenged girls to aggressively compete for space in the digital world. 

While celebrating the International Girls in ICT day at Wanyange Girls SSS, women scientists from the American Tower Company-ATC, MTN, Airtel and Lyca mobile challenged girls to break the barriers to lead modern technology.

The scientists comprised AI experts, robotics engineers, app innovators, and creative engineers, among others. 

This year's celebrations were celebrated under the theme of "digital inclusion for all," geared towards opening the minds of the girls to embrace underlying opportunities in the technology industry.

The girls in ICT Day is commemorated every last Thursday of April, and ATC Uganda partners with different telecommunication companies to share inspirational experiences with different students across the country. 

ATC also offered computers and science textbooks to the girls as a means of enabling them to boost their learning. They were also taken through career mentorship sessions where they opened up about their experiences in the digital spaces and how best they can expound on skills uptake. 

Stella Ssekweyama, the head of human resources at ATC, says that such mentorship sessions transform the mindsets of young girls to embrace technology with passion. 

Ssekweyama says that such sessions break stereotypes, which, over time, limit innovations to only males, sidelining the girls who also can excel in digital spaces. 

Ssekweyama says that related outreaches in secondary schools and universities alike have enabled them to identify a fresh breed of talented women whom they encourage to embrace the digital career opportunities. 

She argues that holding digital clinics in schools is a key driver in promoting technology advancements amongst the youthful populations, most of whom should leverage the same to create meaningful employment. 

Mariam Ndagire, the AI and robotics engineer at Stanbic Bank, says that girls will achieve more if they focus their minds on pursuing ICT-related courses.  Ndagire says that they organise annual STEM-related competitions in schools, where they identify outstanding innovators and, in turn, support them to pursue their career paths.

Ndagire says that such competitions have increased science uptake in their partner schools, with some registering over 70% of learners offering STEM subjects at A-level, all through to university.

Martha Anyayo from Airtel Uganda says that part of their corporate social responsibility has been centred around extending internet coverage to rural schools.

She says that this initiative is geared towards boosting research amongst learners, which she terms as a mind opener for them to explore the different digital career opportunities at an early age.

She says that over 130 schools in the different districts across the country have benefited from this program, but they plan to support 1000 learning institutions by 2030.

However, the girls raised concerns over limitations to technology uptake resulting from their parents' failure to rate the same as a career. 

Hellen Nabirye, a senior six student, says that, despite embracing some apps and desiring to pursue the same as a career, her parents insist on supporting her to pursue medicine. 

Nabirye says that this has derailed her from fully embracing innovation, as her parents don't view it as a form of science and are only locked in either engineering or medicine. 

Rehema Namukose, a senior three student, says that her career dream is to innovate a communication app, geared towards rallying young people to actively participate in the mitigation of the diverse effects of climate change and related apps, but her parents instead want her to pursue medicine. 

She says that, despite introducing them to the advantages embedded in such less-exploited fields, the parents continue to discourage her from pursuing a career path of her choice. 

The Deputy head teacher of Wanyange girls SSS, Sarah Awebwa, says that they hold career mentorship sessions where parents are exposed to different career paths, a norm she credits for unlocking their minds to embrace the underlying opportunities therein.

Awebwa also says that they hold education fairs, where learners display their innovations, which she credits for transforming parents from limiting their children to only medicine and engineering to a wide range of science courses in the ICT industry. 

Awebwa says that frequent engagements with parents are slowly creating a mindset change, which creates open space for learners to pursue productive career paths of their choice amidst support from different stakeholders.