By Priscilla Oye Ofori /Emelia Nkrumah, GNA
Accra, Feb. 14, GNA – Ms Ama Fordjour, Head of Resource Mobilisation and Partnership, Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling, has urged women and girls to challenge themselves in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
“There is nothing as good as challenging yourself and others because what men can do, women can do it better,” she said.
Ms Fordjour gave the advice at the Vodafone Ghana Foundation’s STEM training in commemoration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and as part of their ‘‘February Birthday Stars’’ celebration.
The training brought together about 150 girls who were given training in STEM fields, including electronics, web designing and robotics and participated in a competition.
Ms Fordjour, who is also an Engineer, noted that STEM had become an open field for women and girls with some excelling in their pursuits.
She advised them to be focused and ignore the stereotypes of women in STEM.
Madam Jacqualine Dufie Mpare, Head of Agency Banking for the Ecobank Group, advised the girls to utilise and cherish every opportunity that they were presented with because it was time bound.
‘‘Opportunity comes but once so please make good use of this training because no one knows tomorrow,” she said.
Madam Dufie Mpare, also a Gospel musician, encouraged them to build and nurture relationships, and have ‘‘character’’ in order to get a strong network that would lead them to the next level of their career.
‘‘Somebody is going to have to introduce you, handle you, and there are certain doors you would open but there are others that somebody inside at that level would have to open to you,’’ she said.
Reverend Amaris N.A. Perbi, the Head of Vodafone Ghana Foundation, said 30 of the girls who would emerge winners after the training would be given sponsorships on STEM.
He added that they would be mentored through the Foundation and Vodafone HR on talent and resource management to propel them on a career ladder into technology and engineering.
Vodafone Ghana Foundation ‘‘Birthday Stars’’ is an initiative where celebrities and staff celebrate their birthdays every month by undertaking a human development project.
For the month of February this year, the Foundation partnered Stacy Amoateng, a media personality, musicians Jacqualine Dufie Mpare and Kwame Eugene, born in February, to motivate and entertain the participants.
GNA
(The Daily Searchlight appears every day on the newsstands and for sale 24 hours every day and all week on www.ghananewstand.com. Visit www.ghananewstand.com for a wide variety of newspapers published in Ghana and from across the world.)
