Ghana’s lockdown saw hundreds of Senior High School pupils and University students at home as part of measures to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
While the action taken by the government was in the right direction, it was also important for the youths to have certain opportunities to upskill themselves while at home.
As a Tech Lab aimed at enhancing digital transformation in Ghana and Africa, Ghana Tech Lab (GTL) partnered with Mastercard Foundation to upskill 1,451 youths and provided free mobile data on a need basis.
This was also to be able to enrol the participants in a 2 weeks free online training program during the lockdown period.
The GTL Lockdown Training program was one of the many free training initiatives by the Tech Lab over the past years.
This initiative was aimed to provide Senior High School students, University students, and entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn and upgrade their skills during the lockdown period.
It was also intended to give some reasons for the youths to stay at home during the period while they comply with the directives of the President of Ghana.
The training program, which was facilitated through the online platform Zoom gave opportunities to participants to choose one course from a list of two to partake in.
Senior High Students had the option to choose to be trained on social media management or mobile phone photography. University students were presented with an option to be trained in the introduction to AI or graphic design.
Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, were given the option to choose from business development for startups or accounting for startups.
About the GTL Lockdown Training Program
A total number of 4,591 applications were received across the country at the commencement of this free online training program.
Out of the total number, 4,081 applicants were selected to participate in the training program.
The training program lasted for 2 weeks with 880 hours of training time spent.
A total of 25 experienced trainers facilitated sessions with their trainees digitally through the virtual online platform Zoom.
During the training, a total number of 609 individuals were given data scholarships daily to assist them to participate in the training.
The training ended with 1,451 active individuals being equipped with digital skillsets in social media management, mobile phone photography, Introduction to AI, graphic design, business development, and accounting for startups.
The Lockdown Online Training program started on 6th April 2020 and ended on 17th April 2020. Active participants were given certificates upon the completion of the course.
