STEM

The Country Director, Stella Denis
Odyssey Educational Foundation, OEF has said it was imperative for the girl child to be grounded in Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, STEM in order to make a positive difference in the tech world.

Denis, who spoke during the launch of the Technovation Technology and Entrepreneurship for girls’, held in Abuja said the empowerment of the girl-child in technology would improve the esteem of the girl-child.

She explained that the Odyssey Educational Foundation has put a lot of effort into the Technovation Girls project over the last eight
years, creating over 1500 apps and instructing over 1000 students.

She said: “We have committed to promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and application among young people, especially girls in Nigeria. We pursue the mission to promote STEM education and application with a view to catalyzing technological advancement and industrialization, while reducing the gender gap in low and middle income economies in the African region.

“Our approach is by staging intervention programs aimed at equipping especially
underprivileged young girls in public schools with 21st century technological skills. We
target the public schools because we realized that children from remote and
under-served communities are mostly found there.

“The wonderful initiative “Technovation Girls” encourages young women to use
technology to make a difference in the world. Girls have created smartphone apps over
the years to address issues in the community, including inadequate education, hunger
and poverty, gender inequality, corruption, and environmental challenges.

“I have to admit that one of the finest ways to learn how to code, develop products, collaborate with others, and begin thinking like an entrepreneur is through project-based competitions like Technovation Girls.

“Our girls’ confidence has increased
as a result of their involvement in this project, which has also given them skills in
teamwork, research, public speaking, and presenting.”

On his part, the assistant Cultural Affairs Officer, United States, US, Embassy, Peter Burba, while describing the initiative as best of its kind, said it would boost the girl-child’s Image, not just in Nigeria but in Africa.

He said that Nigeria has been implementing the Technovation program since 2013 and currently has six Technovation Regional Ambassadors.

He said that with the involvement of the girl-child in tech, the country is bound to experience major development in its economic, social, and political sectors.

“Technovation Girls Challenge 2023, a great initiative of the Odyssey Educational Foundation. Last year I had the good fortune to launch Technovation, and I understand one team of Nigerian girls went on to become regional winners, 1 in all of Africa.

“This is not the first time the U.S. Embassy has financially supported the Technovation Girls Challenge, which aims to train girls between the ages of 10 to 18 to use technology and employ those skills in solving problems in their community.

“Nigeria has been implementing the Technovation program since 2013 and by our latest count Nigeria has six Technovation Regional Ambassadors and three of the ambassadors are alumni of U.S. government exchange programs.

“Nigerian girls have a successful history in this program. In 2015, a group of Nigerian girls—Team Charis—won the 2015 Technovation challenge in San Francisco with their mobile app, Discardious, designed to solve the problem of waste disposal in Nigeria.

“In the broader context though, the participants in this program will learn skills that provide them with better chances to excel in their education and offer the opportunity to find meaningful employment.

“Women’s inclusion in the workforce, and in important fields like Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (or STEM for short) is key to a society’s economic, social, and political development.”