gisw13_chapters

• Of the five MPCTs selected, two were managedby women while the rest were managed by men.• Of all the services offered, the most solicitedwas the internet. Others included photocopying,word processing, printing, photography,scanning, use of the telephone, and postal services.• Of the 1,015 students interviewed, 453 were femalewhile 562 were male.• Of the 235 teachers interviewed, 70 were womenwhile 165 were men.It was observed that those who make use of ICTs atthe centres are generally youths under the age of 25(55%), and few people over 40. These youths andyoung adults include students who use the centresto do research and homework assignments, andteachers who prepare their lessons.The results also made it clear that women haveless access to the internet and computers than men.However, despite the fact that they have less access,there is increasing interest in and use of ICTsamongst women. For many people the MPCTs wereplaces where they encountered their first computerand learned how to use it.When it was asked during the interviews whyfew girls visited the MPCTs, the reasons, which area reality of everyday life, included:• Many girls still think that computers and technologyare a man’s issue.• Some girls do not see what benefit they willgain from using technology.• Many girls are not even encouraged to use technologybecause of cultural constraints whichcreate a situation where many boys end up orientedtowards science subjects while girls endup oriented towards the arts.Apart from girls who go to the MPCTs for schoolrelatedwork, there has been a growing tendencyfor many women, and even men, to become addictedto social networks, the most common beingFacebook, Twitter and hi5. Most of the youths whovisit MPCTs spend at least 30 minutes on thesesocial networks to chat with friends, to commenton friends’ status updates and events which havebeen posted, to make new friends, and – in thecase of girls and young women – to look for boyfriendsand husbands. This attitude has become socommon that it is tarnishing the image of girls whoaccess the internet in public venues such as MPCTsand cybercafes.However, a positive image of women and theiruse of ICTs is equally pervasive. Throughout theworld, and in Cameroon, governments are workingto reduce the gap between men and womenwho use ICTs and to empower women to makeuse of ICT tools. One will find more women todaylearning how to use computers and connectingto the internet, and more women are involved incomputer studies. There are associations here inCameroon which have that goal, such as PROTEGEQV, and even associations specialised in the promotionof women computer scientists, such asPROFIN. 4In addition, the involvement of women in thesmooth functioning of MPCTs has also been remarkable.Women managers work very hard inorder to be recognised as good performers. Thisis how Salamatu Yinyuy Sule, a woman managerat the Jakiri MPCT in the northwest region of Cameroonsince 2008, received an award from theTelecentre.org Foundation 5 for being one of theoutstanding telecentre managers in 2012. Shedistinguished herself through her leadership andmanagement capabilities, and her efforts to makeher MPCT one the most visited in the country. Duringthe research by PROTEGE QV, her MPCT wasfound to have the greatest positive impact on students’education (70% of the students who usedthe centre had better grades in class due to theiruse of the MPCT).Another aspect of ICTs is the use of mobilephones. Nowadays, their use is widespread in Cameroon.Almost every youth has a mobile phone. Ingeneral, females tend to have more sophisticatedphones than males.Women, it was found, prefer sophisticatedphones to show off to peers. However, many ofthem do not make use of one third of the phones’applications. The applications they make most useof include chatting applications like WhatsApp, Viber,Yahoo Messenger and Skype.According to Research ICT Africa’s Gender Assessmentof ICT Access and Usage in Africa survey, 6the diffusion of ICTs is unevenly concentratedin urban areas, leaving some rural areas almostuntouched. Access to these technologies is constrainedby income, as is usage, and – as theybecome more complex – access is increasinglyconstrained by literacy and education. The survey4 Promotion de la Femme Informaticienne: www.profin.cam.cm5 An independent, non-profit, non-stock international organisationthat manages the global programme telecentre.org; thisprogramme supports the establishment and sustainability ofgrassroots level telecentres. www.telecentre.org6 www.researchictafrica.net85 / Global Information Society Watch