Bayelsa concludes ICT entrepreneurship training for 100 secondary schoolgirls

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

Some 100 secondary school girls in Bayelsa have successfully completed a three-month training on mobile applications development targeted at solving problems in their neighbourhoods.

The training was sponsored by the Bayelsa Education Development Trust Fund (BEDTF) and Odyssey Educational Foundation to groom participants for Technovation, an international challenge for girls.

Speaking at a ceremony where the 100 female students showcased their mobile software applications, Acting Chairman of BEDTF, Prof Francis Sikoki noted that the fund was saddled with the responsibility of supporting education at all levels.

He noted that technology and knowledge have assumed a driver’s seat and hence the need to introduce coding and robotics to 12 model schools across Bayelsa.

Speaking at the event which served as a South-South regional pitch event for Technoovation, a global innovation and entrepreneurship challenge for girls, Dr Alice Atuwo, Executive Secretary of BEDTF urged the participants to leverage the platform to conquer their terrain.

She noted that the training was a result of the fund’s quest for collaborations and partnerships and will serve to close up the gender imbalance for females in the technology space in Bayelsa.

She explained that the 100 girls into 20 groups in junior and senior categories are competing at the quarter-final stages of the 2023 Technovation competition where three teams, one from the junior category and two from the senior category will progress to semi-final stages.

Team FINZ from Government Model Secondary School Twon Brass emerged winners for the junior category with a mobile application for booking boat rides.

In the senior categories, team Unique Girls from Government Model Secondary School Ogbia came tops with the IMC tracker application to address irregular menstrual cycles amongst girls and women.

The students of Ijaw National Academy under the auspices of team INA came second with an application to tackle youth unemployment and encourage skills acquisition.

Mrs Stellar Uzochukwu-Dennis, Programme Director, Odyssey Educational Foundation said that the winners will proceed to the semi-final stages of the global competition with competitors from other countries in an online platform.