By Teboho Serutla
Lesotho joined the rest of the world in celebrating International Girls in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Day on Friday.
To mark this day, girls from different high schools and GEM Institute were awarded for their participation in the continuous initiative effort of empowering girls into ICT studies and projects.
The celebration also saw the launching of a book titled ‘Love at first click’. According to ‘Matauli Mokete, a GEM Institute student, the title of the book was inspired by the love for communication technology devices that girls show at first sight.
The book is a compilation of essays that the high school students wrote during last year’s ICT celebration.
The essays are mainly related to empowering women and girls into ICT practices and raising awareness of the importance of ICT to girls.
The students also showcased some of the ICT skills they acquired with the aid of their coaches; these skills include invention of Apps, games and robots. However, due to limited resources for presentation and transportation, most of these inventions could not be displayed.
Eight high schools were part of this celebration and the awards were certificates, trophies and stationery.
Six graduates from the GEM institute were also awarded certificates for their participation.
This year’s celebration was under the auspices of GEM Institute, and Lesotho National Commission for UNESCO; financial support came from the American Embassy.