Education
The Zonta Club of Ibadan I, on Wednesday, organised a sensitisation programme in Information Technology (IT) for female students of St. Louis Grammar School, Mokola Ibadan, to mark the International Day of the Girl-Child.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the theme for this year’s celebration is: “My Voice, Our Equal Future”.
The President of the club, Dr Mrs Olajumoke Akere, said noted that gender inequality and cultural beliefs had impeded the progress and prowess of the girl-child in Nigeria.
Akere also said posited that no society could succeed where the girl-child was held back from attaining her full potentials.
According to her, it is this situation that motivates the club to continue advocating for gender equality as a way of bringing the girl-child up to the same level with her male counterpart.
“We are here to educate, encourage and inspire you all to go for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related career in order to break the norm and close the gender gap in these fields.
“STEM creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, enables innovators and the next set of innovations, which are key to sustaining growth and economic stability.
“We believe that this career awareness programme will dispel stereotypic mindset, break cultural norms, close gender gap and keep more girls in STEM,” she said.
The the Facilitator of the exercise, Ibilola Afolabi, said that the roles of girls in STEM could not be over-emphasised, as more girls were needed in the areas.
Afolabi said that girls globally needed encouragement and tutoring so as to pursue their goals without fear of disparity.
“We need more girls in the Information Technology (IT) industry because when look at the world today, coding and robotics are the order of the day.
“Everybody keeps asking about what robotics is all about because the word sounds so big and everyone is scared of going into it. If we come down to the local rice that we eat on daily basis, it takes automation to get those grains separated.
“The whole world is digitalised. The girl-child, irrespective of the school she attends, needs to be engaged. There are lots of organisations that are patterning to support the girls.
“There are so many free coding programmes that are available for the girl-child to learn and benefit from.
“Our vacuum cleaners, blenders, fans and the rest work with the help of automation. So the aim is getting the world better with the help of the girl-child,” she said. (NAN)
oct 14 2020 @ 17:32 GMT
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