Tech4Dev to sensitise 15,000 girls on STEM education through Techgirls Drive

Over 4,000 young girls between the ages of 8 to 20 from five secondary schools in Lagos were educated on the need to take up careers in STEM during a five-day school tour to commemorate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11.

The Tech-Girls Drive Initiative is an onsite grassroots advocacy effort under the Women Techsters initiative. It is designed to create awareness and spur the interest of young girls between the ages of 8 – 20 years to take up careers in STEM. It serves as an initial touch point for young girls who will eventually participate in Africa’s technology ecosystem.

The event took place from February 7 to 11, with visits to Onike Girls Junior High School, Onike, Herbert Macaulay Senior High School, Sabo, Yaba, Wesley Girls Senior Secondary School, Sabo, Yaba, Surulere Girls Senior Secondary School, Jibowu and Queens College, Yaba, Lagos.

Aside from the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, Tech4Dev also trained a total of 192 young girls on the importance of STEM education in commemoration of the International Girl’s in ICT Day on April 28, during a 2-day talk session.

The event took place at the Youth Powered Ecosystem to Advance Urban Adolescents Health, Obalende and Ikorodu as well as the Bimbo Odukoya Foundation, Ilupeju. Five secondary schools from the Ilupeju vicinity were part of the event at the Bimbo Odukoya Foundation.

Oladiwura Oladepo, Co-founder and Executive Director at Tech4Dev says she is delighted with the reach of the programs and hopes that more girls would consider careers in STEM.

“I am very delighted with what we were able to achieve during the course of these programs. Some of the girls we addressed were surprised that they could have careers in areas like technology and engineering which they’ve always thought were for boys.

"By the time we were done with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, over 300 girls had indicated interest in having a career in tech which to us is a huge achievement.

“Our goal is to have this advocacy spread across the 15 African countries where we have the Women Techsters Initiative programs and we hope that by the end of 2022, we would have successfully sensitised 15,000 girls.”