The Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) spent time with pupils/students of East Airport International School (EAIS) in Accra as part of the Institute’s 1st Anniversary Celebration on March 7th 2018. The non-profit professional body was setup a year ago to serve as a connector of ICT professionals from educational institutions, corporate organizations, start-ups, Government (Ministries, Departments & Agencies) and the civil society organizations to create a vibrant ICT ecosystem.
In line with its objectives of equipping professionals and students with skills in emerging technologies needed for entrepreneurship and employment in today’s fast moving technological world, the institute engaged the students of EAIS in an open forum to discuss coding (computer programming) for children. The Vice Principal Mr. Benjamin Boakye-Dankwa opened the ICT talk session and introduced IIPGH team to the staff and students. The Ag Executive Director Mr. David Gowu led the discussion; the pupils from upper primary and secondary of the school were excited about the idea of learning how to code which will enable them to be more creative. The coordinator of the IIPGH Coding Instructors Mr. Emmanuel Gadasu thrilled the students with concepts, simple activities and ideas that can make them creators of their own cartoons, Apps for kids and other interesting ICT applications if they learn how to code.
East Airport International School (EAIS) is a leading international Co-Educational School providing a British Curriculum based on the Private School System. The pupils/students beautifully dressed in their Blue & white school uniforms asked questions and some expressed interest in developing their own Apps. It was a fun-filled atmosphere and interactive session where the students were allowed to engage with the ICT Professionals from IIPGH in the areas of ICT new trends. The hour long session ended with closing remarks from the Head of Primary Mrs Anita Yeboah.
The Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana is embarking on a major program to get as many children of school going age to learn coding. The institute wants to help children develop interest and skills in computer programming at an early stage. This will make them to be creators rather than consumers of ICT products and applications. There are weekend classes in communities where children are supposed to bring their own laptops (NOT tablets) and are taught coding from the fundamentals by seasoned ICT professionals from IIPGH. The coding class will also give the children problem solving skills and nurture their minds towards computational thinking that would lead to innovation. More information on the coding class can be found on our website: www.iipgh.org
The institute being a professional body with a big pool of ICT professionals, experts and consultants is ready to support both public and private schools roll-out coding as a basic course in schools across the country especially schools that already have the computers. In addition, IIPGH is willing to make available the expertise at its disposal to advice the ministry of education, government agencies and other stakeholders on best practices and public policies that would make effective use of ICT in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
