The Telecel Ghana Foundation is running its most ambitious classroom programme to date, with the third cohort of its Digitech Academy currently active across 19 schools in five regions simultaneously, as the Foundation deepens a national drive to equip young Ghanaians, particularly girls, with practical Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills.
The ongoing cohort, which runs from January to March 2026, is reaching learners in the South Dayi district of the Volta Region, Mfantsiman in the Central Region, Jirapa in the Upper West Region, Goaso in the Ahafo Region, and Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, with the Foundation projecting that up to 500 students will complete the programme by its close.
The regional rollout runs alongside a high-profile activation at La Cluster of Schools in Accra, where the Foundation recently placed robotics kits directly in the hands of about 100 pupils, 70 percent of them girls, as part of its Grow Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (GrowGirlsInSTEM) initiative, timed to coincide with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Each student at the Accra session took home a free robotics kit, extending the learning beyond the classroom.
Komla Buami, Director of External Affairs at Telecel Foundation, said the early intervention model is a deliberate response to a well-documented pattern. “Many young girls are just as curious about STEM, but they often lose confidence as they grow older,” he said. “By introducing them to hands-on experiences at this age, we help them stay curious and understand that STEM careers are truly possible for them.”
The data underpinning the Foundation’s urgency is clear. According to the United Nations (UN), women represent only 35 percent of all STEM graduates globally, and hold just 22 percent of STEM jobs. The UN has identified the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), social sciences, STEM, and finance as the four-pillar approach needed to accelerate inclusive and sustainable development for women.
Since the GrowGirlsInSTEM programme launched in August 2023, the Foundation has trained over 150 girls in Accra and Takoradi through earlier iterations of the initiative. The multi-region Digitech Academy expansion now signals a deliberate shift from city-centric pilots toward nationwide coverage, targeting communities where access to technology education has historically been limited.
Headmistress of La Wireless 5 Primary and Junior High School (JHS), Mrs. Angelina Appiah, welcomed the hands-on approach. “Our students are usually more interested and engaged during hands-on sessions than in purely theoretical lessons,” she said, adding that the availability of STEM training kits had given her students a fundamentally different quality of learning experience.
Telecel Ghana Foundation said the Digitech Academy expansion and the GrowGirlsInSTEM initiative form part of its Connected Learning pillar, a strategy designed to ensure that geography and gender do not determine who gets to participate in Ghana’s digital economy.
