About 80 girls from senior high schools (SHS) across the country have undergone mentorship sessions from seasoned professionals within the aviation industry in Accra.
Aged between eight and 17 years, the girls were mentored by air traffic controllers, pilots, ground marshallers and engineers in the industry and were taken on a tour through the airport terminals and the control tower to see how some select professionals conducted their duties.
It was to encourage them to take up careers in the aviation industry and to further boost the number of women working in aviation.
The event was part of the fourth edition of the Girls in Aviation Day celebration organised by the Women in Aviation International (WAI), Ghana Chapter on the theme ‘Connect, Explore and Experience.’
Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, Minister of Aviation, speaking at the event on Saturday, encouraged the young girls to consider pursuing a career in the aviation sector as a total of 50,000 jobs would be made available in the sector across Africa.
He said his outfit was in consultation with the Minister of Finance to set up dedicated funds to support the training of pilots.
The ministry, he said, would soon begin career counselling in tertiary institutions and extend the initiative to lower level institutions to help more youth become aware of the numerous opportunities in the sector.
Mr Adda, therefore, advised the girls to learn hard and focus on their studies to prepare themselves for future opportunities.
“After an intense survey done in the aviation industry we found out that women are more efficient than men as such I hope more women would venture into the industry,” the minister added.
Mrs Juliet Aboagye-Wiafe, Country President of WAI and Director of Audit at Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), in an interview said it was essential for the youth, especially women to venture into aviation as professionals in the field were soon to fall out.
According to her, a research on the aviation industry stated that professionals in the aviation industry were dwindling as such more youth were needed to fill those gaps.
Mrs Aboagye-Wiafe said the GACL in collaboration with the Ministry of Aviation was in the process of establishing aviation clubs in schools to motivate the youth into aviation.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
