This initiative, focusing on digital skills like AI, coding, and robotics, aims to amplify girls’ exposure to STEM careers and bridge the gender disparity in the tech-driven world. Concurrently, teachers received training on gender-responsive STEM education, ensuring a comprehensive approach to fostering girls’ involvement in STEM and ICT fields.
In a groundbreaking collaboration, UNESCO and Prada have united to propel the Keeping Girls in the Picture campaign, an initiative aimed at fostering the education of girls in the ICT and STEM fields in Kenya.
From August 14 to 16, 2023, over 200 girls from Kajiado and Kwale Counties participated in ICT-STEM bootcamps at Moi Isinya Girls High School and Waa Girls Secondary School. The participants delved deep into the world of artificial intelligence, coding, robotics, 3D printing, and other pivotal digital skills of the modern age. Notably, the majority of these girls were venturing into the realm of coding and engineering for the first time.
The bootcamps had three primary objectives: to familiarize learners with core concepts in AI, coding, and robotics; to amplify their exposure to potential STEM careers via experiential learning and mentorship; and to advocate for gender responsiveness and increased self-confidence in STEM domains.
The program culminated in an enriching interaction between the students and established women leaders in STEM and ICT. Such mentorship opportunities are vital, given that the STEM sector is predominantly male-led.
A student from Moi Girls Isinya High School voiced her experience, stating: “We’ve learned so much, particularly about mobile app development. Even if I’m not a computing expert, I can now confidently interact with a computer. I’m eager to share my newfound knowledge with peers.”
Parallel to the students’ activities, over 40 teachers from the two counties were trained on Gender Transformative STEM and Digital Skills Education, using UNESCO’s specialized gender-responsive STEM manual. This holistic approach underscores the importance of integrating ICT in classrooms and mitigating factors that deter girls from pursuing STEM-ICT subjects.
Launched in 2020, UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, under which this campaign falls, seeks to address the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic on education worldwide. The “Keeping Girls in the Picture” campaign has, over time, rolled out numerous tools to amplify public awareness about preventing growing gender disparities in education.
At the opening of the program, distinguished guests, including Elizabeth Otieno, Deputy Director, Ministry of Education, and Ms. Scheherazade Feddal of UNESCO, emphasized the indispensable role of STEM in driving innovation.
Women constitute only 29.3 percent of global scientific researchers, proving initiatives like these as pivotal. As Africa steers into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, tapping into the potential of women in STEM and ICT becomes not just beneficial but essential for holistic development.
