First Ghana Power Compact’s Internship and Mentoring Program unveil

By
Yaw Ansah, GNA

Accra, June 22, GNA
– The Ghana Power Compact’s Internship and Mentoring Program, an initiative for
young ladies in tertiary institutions offering Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) and Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET)
has been launch in Accra.

Beginning with a
cohort of 50 young ladies, the Internship and Mentoring Program seeks to
support female students in Technical and Vocational schools to gain practical
skills relevant for the job market in the power sector.

Also, the initiative
being pioneered by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) Compact II,
aimed at attracting more females into the Energy Sector by supporting them to
pursue STEM degree and diploma courses and aid them to make career choices.

Over the next two
months the beneficiaries would be attached to companies in the STEM industry as
intern where they would be introduce to the world of work and given the
exposure they need to learn work flow and practical experience.

 Madam Otiko Afisah Djaba, Minister of Gender,
Children and Social Protection who launched the project, noted that some
societal beliefs and attitudes about girls’ inability to perform well in
science and math courses had accounted for low rate of enrolment in STEM
programs.

The Minister
commended MiDA and MCC for its key role in promoting gender and social
inclusion in the Compact and contributing to reducing poverty through economic
growth in the country.

Madam Djaba urged
the beneficiaries to take advantage of the opportunity and make the best out of
it by learning, observing rules and regulations as well as asking probing
question to understand the rudimentary.

“Consider yourselves
as ambassadors and advocates of this programme because your experiences will
form useful learning for all of us. You are change agents and game changers,”
she said. 

Mr Martin
Esson-Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of MiDA likening the Internship and
Mentoring Program to the parable in the Holy Bible where Jesus gave some people
talents to work and multiple it advised the cohort to make good use of the
opportunity.

Just as a father
advising his daughter, the Chief Executive said, “If you work hard, support
management, learn your role quickly, make meaningful contributions, obviously
somebody will spot you and give you another opportunity and that is how you can
gain a meaningful employment one day.

“You are the group
going to blaze the trial and ask others to follow; if you don’t do the right
thing you discourage us. If you do well it will encourage us to extend it to
300 other ladies able and ready to support the development of the country,” he
said.

Mr Ben Edwards, a
Senior Official of MCC, remarked that the MCC Compact does not only provide
support to project by maintaining roads and building power infrastructure but
also invest in people and institutions.

He explained,
“Building a new road with proper care may last for just a period but empowering
young ladies by helping them to be equipped with technical skills and
vocational as well as building business relations with the right industry will
benefit them for a life time.”

Madam Carlien
Bou-Chedid, Immediate Past President of Ghana Institute of Engineers, stated
that the world continue to change and it would be impossible to operate without
acquiring a good knowledge of STEM.

“This field is the
most important area in the world and entering this field for you will enable
you contribute to the development of the country. You are at an advantage
because this program is going to help you to meet people in the industry,” she
noted.

Madam Bou-Chedid who
is an engineer dispelled the long held beliefs that women did not perform well
in STEM and advised the students to make good use of the opportunity.

Dr Cherub
Antwi-Nsiah, Director Gender and Social Inclusion of MiDA pioneers of the
initiative, were planning to extend internship to first six month of the
Graduate’s National Service, adding that it was targeting over 300 female
Interns by the end of the Compact in 2021.

GNA

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