Helios Towers advocates inclusion of PWDs in 1m coders programme

By Prince ASUMAH

The Managing Director of Helios Towers Ghana, Kweku Frempong, has called for the inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the government’s One Million Coders programme.

Speaking on the sidelines of the first-ever coding literacy event held at the Demonstration School for the Deaf, Mr. Frempong stressed the importance of including PWDs in national digital initiatives. “It is commendable to promote digitisation for the able-bodied, but it is far  more impactful to also carry along our less-abled brothers and sisters,” he said.

He further appealed to the business community to support the government’s coding programme to help ensure its success. Reiterating the call for inclusion, Headmaster of the Demonstration School for the Deaf, Setumte D. Ametewee, expressed concern over the apparent lack of allocation for students with disabilities under the One Million Coders initiative. He urged the government to put in place deliberate measures to include PWDs in the national digital development agenda.

“Once we are given the support, we can achieve a lot,” he said, requesting IT equipment such as desktop computers and projectors to enhance the teaching and learning of coding at the school.

The coding literacy event formed part of the Coding Caravan initiative, organised by the Institute of ICT Professionals Ghana (IIPGH) in partnership with the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications. Sponsored by Helios Towers Ghana, this year’s event marked the fourth consecutive edition since its inception in 2022.

Held under the theme ‘Breaking Barriers: Coding, Leadership and Inclusion for All’, the event aimed to highlight the need to extend coding literacy to students with disabilities across the country.

Engaging with the media, Research and Regulatory Manager for the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Louis Bobbie Osei, explained the rationale behind choosing the Demonstration School for the Deaf as the venue.

“We believe that beyond able-bodied students, special needs students also deserve to have access to this knowledge,” he said.

He also urged private entities to support the initiative to ensure students are provided with the tools to practise coding consistently. “We would like to call for support from private organisations to come on board; so this will not the only time these students learn about coding,” he added.

The Coding Caravan initiative aligns with the government’s broader aim of building Ghana’s digital capabilities through the One Million Coders agenda. With an estimated eight percent of the population identified as persons with disabilities, stakeholders say it is imperative that the initiative is extended to the disabled community in order to fully harness the nation’s human resource potential.

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