ICT Day: Govt Urged to Close 36% Boys, Girls Gap
Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
Girls’ rights organisation, Plan International Nigeria, has called on governments at all levels to close the 36 per cent information, communication technology (ICT) gap that exists between boys and girls in the country.
The organisation attributed the huge margin to cultural assumptions that some types of facilities are better suited for boys compared to girls which it argued must change through deliberate interventions by the government.
Plan International Nigeria’s Policy Research and Influencing Manager, Mr. Tunde Aremu, stated this yesterday in Abuja in commemoration of the 2023 Girls ICT Day which was organised by Plan International in partnership with TechHer.
He said safer spaces needed to be provided for girls to have access to technology, digital education in the fulfilment of their dreams.
Speaking to a gathering of students at the event predominantly girls from eight schools which featured ICT themed debates and quiz competition, Aremu said the cultural bottlenecks needed to be attacked and modified for access into technology for the girl child.
“What research has shown is that in terms of access to digital facility between men and women, in terms of GSM technology and digital access, there’s that wide margin, about 36 percent between boys and girls, between men and women in the country,” he said.
“We feel that some of these are often occasioned by cultural prescriptions and assumptions that some type of facilities and professions are better suited to the male child, the belief that some men sit better in some professions than women.”
He said government has to be deliberate in addressing the challenges as “there is need for policies that will drive in closing the gaps. But then, it’s not just about policies because they are statements if intentions.
“Conscious efforts of demands in those driving the affairs of the country to consciously invest in it, then it’s a major challenge. Beyond investment, we must consciously step out and create safer spaces where these girls can have access to technology and make use of them,” he added.
In her address to the students, Guest speaker, Adesola Ayo-Aderele, who is a lead of the Project Female Experts Source Guide Development, said there are many scholarly opportunities that knowledge about technology has created in which they can be part of.
While advising against the negative exposure that comes with technology, Ayo-Aderele encouraged the students to shore up their skills and convert them to technological use, adding that no one with knowledge of ICT and its certifications ever stays jobless.
Six top winners emerged from the debates and quiz competition and they went home with different prizes and gift items. They will also be part of a six-month mentorship programme on ICT by Plan International and TechHer.
