KINGSTON, Jamaica – Last Thursday evening when most of her friends were watching cartoons or playing online games, 10-year-old Ariana Young was learning the basics of creating these digital resources. The fifth grade student of Naggo Head Primary in St Catherine joined her female schoolmates for an introductory coding workshop sponsored by the Universal Service Fund (USF).

The activity was launched in celebration of Girls in ICT Day on April 22 and was executed throughout May as part of the agency’s Child Month celebrations. Two-hundred girls from grades three to six in St Catherine, Clarendon and St Elizabeth participated in the programme. The USF provided sponsorship in the amount of $100,000 towards the activity.

Marketing and Public Relations Manager at the USF, Deleen Powell, said the agency was excited to support the activity, as with early exposure to the practical application of technology young minds can be opened to career options within the field.

“We are on a drive to ensure Jamaicans transcend being consumers of technology and become innovators capable of improving our quality of life through the development of ICT based solutions,” Powell said.

She added that the USF’s sponsorship is part of the agency’s efforts to ensure no one is left behind during the fourth industrial revolution. According to the International Telecommunications Union, while girls outperform boys across the world in reading and writing skills, they continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Helping to bridge this divide is the organisation that coordinated the Hour of Code, STEAMHouse. CEO Godiva Golding said she was grateful the USF saw the value in providing access to computer science and technology education for girls who may have not been otherwise exposed.

“Since launching the programme on Girls in ICT Day, we have seen over 200 girls go from having no idea about coding to learning basic concepts and creating mini-games and animations of their own,” Golding said.

Grateful for this exposure was Collington Powell, principal of one of the participating schools, Friendship Primary. Powell said the workshop has built on the foundation laid through the school’s curriculum and extracurricular programme, which includes a science and robotics club.

“Our robotics club has been in existence for three years and comprises about 12 students each year who are handpicked based on their interests and aptitude. We are happy that we were able to participate so we could have even more students being exposed to the practical side of ICT,” Powell said, noting that approximately 100 of his students from grades three and five participated in the activity.