Gibraltar Chronicle Logo
Local News

Tower of Homage lights up for Girls in Tech

Cyber Centurian Girls 09-02-2018 (Photo John Bugeja) finalists

The Tower of Homage will be illuminated with the ‘Girls in Tech’ logo on Thursday in recognition of the achievements of a team of Westside schoolgirls who have made history by becoming the first all-girls team to compete in the Cyber Centurion finals.

The team have been competing in this competition for the past three years, and managed to reach the finals without the use of a 'wildcard' entry which was offered by the competition organisers to encourage female participation.

They qualified by finishing in the top ten out of 500 registered teams, the majority of them being all male teams.

Thursday is also International Women's Day and this tribute is very fitting as it highlights the ability for women to achieve identical results, when given the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

“There should be no barriers when it comes to opportunities both in and out of education,” the Gibraltar Government said in a statement yesterday.

“With only one in ten technology jobs being held by women, they must be given the confidence to know that they can carry out these tech orientated jobs as well as any man,” it added.

“There should be no assumption or stigma that males are more suited, and it is something we must work on as a society.”

“Both boys and girls should always have the same expectations, regardless of what they may be.”

The Government added that with the introduction of co-education in the 2019 ‘education revolution’, this will go a long way to ensuring equal opportunities to all.

Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento, said: “It gives me great satisfaction to know that a local all-girls team from Westside School has made history by becoming the first all-girls team to compete in the Cyber Centurion finals in the UK, particularly since girls are under-represented in STEM fields.”

“I am very proud of their performance and I know that their success will spur on other students, especially female students, to take part in the competition.”

“Challenges like these develop our students personally and socially but they are also important in sending out the message that girls are just as capable as boys.”

“I would like to send my best wishes to all local students participating in this competition.”

Most Read

Local News

DPC clears two major developments

Download The App On The iOS Store