80 women and girls from across the country have been trained In ICT and Mechatronic technology to bridge the gender technological gap through boosting the innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial skills of female technicians.
At the graduation ceremony of the trainees in Abuja, the Director-General, National Centre for Women Development, Dr. Asabe Vilita-Bashir said the training programme was designed by the federal government to enhance the skills of young females in science and technology.
Dr. Asabe further explained that the programme would provide skilled resources and a balanced workforce in the manufacturing and services sectors as well as provide economic opportunities for women and girls.
“The graduates were exposed to various skills in ICT, mechatronics design and Development, Artificial Intelligence, car engine architecture and the diagnoses and troubleshooting of faults in cars using OBD2 compliant Devices.” She said
According to her, “This new crop of Female Technicians being launched into the services and manufacturing sector will break the gender barriers and provide excellent, affordable and productive services, while being empowered economically.”
The Head of ICT department, Johnson Morris explained the importance of mechatronics and how the female technicians were introduced to the technicalities involved in the use of mechatronics technology.
“ what we did in the class was to show the student different devices that has the mechatronics technology, we showed them how to design and build it, we looked at the car structured, we were able to break down the entire engine, explain to the students how it works and relate it to mechatronic technology” he said
One of the participants, Hanna Gadafi from Nasarawa state said “I intend to be a mechanical engineer to practice it and see how I can enhance myself through productivity.” Another participant from Taraba state also said she I learnt so much about car diagnoses, the ICT software, excel. I learnt so much about mechatronics and it will help me in the future” she said
Highlights of the 10 days training in mechatronic were the distribution of car Diagnostic tools, stipends for transportation and trade test 3 certificates to the female technicians as a start-up kit.
Reporting by Azizatu Sani; Editing by Tina Oyinsan