ICT PS Zawedde cautions students to use internet carefully and wisely

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, Dr Aminah Zawedde, has cautioned female students to use the internet safely and wisely in order to benefit from it.

Speaking at the celebration of the International Girls in ICT Day at Kololo Senior Secondary School in Kampala on Thursday, Dr Zawedde said the internet has the capacity to uplift students’ lives if well utilised.

“Don’t go for bad things on Tiktok, use internet to get the best for yourself. We have seen a lot of online marketing and if you adopt such methods, you will start making some money for yourselves as you develop,” she said.

Dr Zawedde also stressed the importance of online safety. She urged the students to be aware of the potential dangers such as cyberbullying and online predators.

“Do not use internet to abuse each other, there is a mudslinging campaign on internet where people abuse others resulting into mental challenge, among others. Kindly desist from such practices if you want to benefit.”

This year’s International Girls in ICT Day highlighted the importance of encouraging girls to pursue careers in technology. Dr Zawedde said that more girls and women in all sectors are needed to embrace technology.

“Digitisation is here to help us save time like how your teachers who used to have a pile of papers while preparing your reports now do it using computers at the comfort of their homes in case they are not able to come to school. A lot more can be eased by use of the internet. We are looking at allowing you people to come with your phones and laptops at school but as that comes, be disciplined with your gadgets as you still use them from home,” she said.

Kololo SS in Kampala has a population of 5000 students where 52 percent are girls and the rest boys, according to Mr Edward Kanonya, the head teacher.

Mr Kanonya said that an unstoppable development would be witnessed if more girls and women in all sectors embrace technology.

“ICT is a key, an eye opener and thus in this country without ICT you can’t open any sector because it plays a key role in the development,” he said.

The latest statistics from WomenTech Network shows that women make up 35 percent of the tech workforce in Uganda compared to 9 percent in the early 2000s.

SOUCE: MONITOR