Coders Programme: Gov’t reserves 50,000 digital training slots for PWDs 

The government has set aside 50,000 fully funded training slots for persons with disabilities (PWDs) under the national One Million Coders Programme to boost digital inclusion.

Announcing the initiative at the 2025 International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) in Accra, Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, said the allocation would be shared across all 16 regions to ensure equity.

“This allocation is to ensure that PWDs are not left behind in Ghana’s digital transformation agenda,” he emphasised.

He explained that the decision followed the pilot phase of the programme, during which only nine out of 859 trainees were PWDs, an imbalance government is determined to correct.

The ministry, he added, is partnering the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) to identify beneficiaries.

The One Million Coders Programme, launched by President John Dramani Mahama in April, aims to train one million Ghanaians in coding, cybersecurity, data analytics and related ICT fields over four years.

Mr George revealed that implementation delays were due to efforts to secure internationally recognised certifications from Google, Microsoft and Cisco.

“These globally accepted certificates will enable PWDs and other beneficiaries to qualify for remote jobs with international companies, which often do not accept local certificates for employment,” he explained.

He noted that although Ghana had made strides in inclusive education, digital public services and ICT accessibility, many PWDs continued to face barriers due to high costs and limited access to digital tools.

To close those gaps, he announced plans to enforce accessibility standards across all government digital platforms and collaborate with the NCA and telecom companies to improve affordability through concessionary data packages and inclusive service channels.

The NCA is already engaging device manufacturers to ensure that all mobile devices entering Ghana meet minimum accessibility standards by 2026.

Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, reaffirmed government’s pledge to deepen disability-inclusive policies and expand access to assistive technologies.

She disclosed that the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project had supplied desktops, laptops, accessible software and braille devices to seven special schools to support digital literacy for learners with disabilities.

NCA Deputy Director for Technical Operations, Suleman Salifu, highlighted the Authority’s Accessibility-Based Applications Project (ABAP), designed to upgrade its platforms for users with visual, auditory and motor impairments. He restated the NCA’s commitment to prioritising the needs of PWDs in line with its mandate under Act 769.