Move to boost the number of educated girl child in Nigerian most populous state-Kano, is greatly being affected by the current low penetration of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in the state.
This trend is heavily manifesting in the number of female candidates from the state failing public examinations, which is subsequently reducing their chance of gaining entrance into Higher Institutions of Learning.
A study conducted by Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) through the support of a private not for profit organization- Association for Progressive Communication (APC) has revealed.
Presenting the report to the public during a stakeholders meeting on ‘State of Access To Internet By Public Girls Secondary in Kano State’, it was uncovered that low penetration of access to ICT was preventing most of the girl child in the state from making meaningful contribution to societal development.
Giving insight into the nature of the challenge, Maryam Ado Haruna, who is the CITAD coordinator of the project, highlighted the fact that greater number of women in the state are being left behind in the digitalisation project in the country.
Maryam stated that the report revealed that most of the public girl secondary schools in the state have neither computers nor computer learning facilities, thus denying the students the opportunity to key into the digital age.
According to her, the study, which was conducted in the three senatorial districts of the state, indicates that over 90 percent of the public girl secondary schools are affected by absence of computer learning experiences.
She added that the lack of ICT learning environment was more pronounced in most of the Arabic Secondary Schools across the state, where some of the students have almost zero ICT capabilities.
She added that in some few cases where limited ICT capability was available to the students, internet capabilities where deployed in social media tools, such as: chatting on internet devices.
As a way forward, Maryam disclosed that the report suggested that all stakeholders, particularly, the state government must provide the necessary environment conducive for the learning of ICT.
She noted that the report also suggested that stakeholders, in particular, the school managements must as matter of priority put in place supportive measures to encourage the learning of ICT in all the Girl Secondary Schools.
In the same vein, the Civil Society Groups focusing on ICT empowerment must scale up advocacy and public awareness programme to get the state government to invest in the provision of computer and other ICT related enhancing device to the girls secondary schools.
