By Bernice Bessey
At no cost to them, 820 youth have been trained in Information Communication Technology (ICT) by Soul Food Ministries ICT College, a non-denominational and non-religious organisation.
The college, which is run by a church, Soul Food Ministries International, used three months to train the youth in Hardware, Networking, Windows 2003 server, Cisco Certified Network Administration (CCNA) and Linux SLES. The rest are Novel Netware, SQL, and Network and Information Security.
Graduating the students recently in Accra, the Director of the college and also a founder of the church, Pastor Eddie Letsa, said Africa lags behind in development because of technology. He said it is technology that has drawn a thick line between the Black Continent and others classified as developed.
Pastor Latsa noted that if the youth are empowered through technology, they can be employed or employ others to bridge the poverty gap, and also reduce the burden of unemployment in the country. The Head Pastor, who also is a computer whizz, observed that world development strives on technology to grow, and it would be beneficial if the youth especially, are given a change in ICT training.
He said within five years, the college had been able to train and graduate a total of 7,785 people for free. “Today, these graduates have achieved another great milestone in their lives by the benevolence of Soul Food Ministries international, as they have been offered practical computer training free to enhance their livelihoods,” he said, beaming with a smile.
He, however, warned the graduands and citizens against internet scam, adding: “Any good thing also has a bad side. If you use it well, it will be to your advantage.” To the internet fraudsters, he said, one day they would account for their deeds, and posterity would judge them.