STEM & ICT Skills for the Girls of Coastal Area (SISGCA) is an initiative of Bangladesh Freedom Foundation (BFF) aimed at bridging the digital divide for secondary school girls in grades 6 to 8 from three coastal regions of Bangladesh. Implemented in association with Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN) and supported by the Malala Fund, the SISGCA project focuses on providing girls with access to smart devices and creating opportunities to engage with STEM education and ICT career pathways. By raising awareness among both students and the wider community, SISGCA seeks to inspire positive attitudes toward girls’ participation in technology and science fields.

SISGCA’s main goals are

• Reducing digital divide among secondary school girls (grade 6 to 8) of three coastal areas of Bangladesh by giving them access to smart devices and internet, and providing them digital knowledge and technological trainings.
• Bringing positive change among girls and community people regarding STEM education and ICT career for girls, by creating awareness about gender inequality, prospects of STEM education and career, and career opportunities for girls in ICT sector.

To reduce the digital divide, SISGCA work on three major objectives

• To provide access to smart devices like laptops, tabs and internet connectivity for the participants of this project and also to give them necessary training so that they can use these smart devices and internet efficiently.
• To create awareness among students, local teachers, parents, community people and others through Uthan Boithak, Launchign event, sessions, tv and radio show, newspaper articles, etc.
• To develop skills and capacity by providing training on Mathematics, Science, Programming, Robotics and Online Safety. Moreover, we will give the girls Scholarships for ICT trainings, practical Exposure to ICT field and Networking Opportunities.

Geographical Coverage of SISGCA

BFF and BdOSN are implementing SISGCA in three coastal upazilas, namely:

Tala in Satkhira, Rampal in Bagerhat, and Rupsha in Khulna.

The schools have been established as hubs for project activities, serving as centers for learning and outreach in these underserved areas for the secondary schools girls (grade 6 to 8) of all adjacent schools and community.

Activities of SISGCA

Activities:

Designing a STEM Curriculum for the secondary school girls and developing portable STEM lab

To foster a vibrant hub for STEM learning, each selected school was equipped with comprehensive science and math experiment kits, as well as digital devices to facilitate robotics and programming education. To nurture a reading habit among the girls, a diverse collection of books was also provided — covering topics such as science, programming, and robotics, alongside adventure stories, novels, and other engaging genres. This initiative aims to inspire students to grow into problem solvers, logical thinkers, and future innovators.

Capacity Development Session on Programming, Robotics, Science and Mathematics

To bridge the gap in ICT, Scratch programming and basic Robotics were introduced, enabling them to design interactive projects and automate simple tasks. Also to remove the fear of science and mathematics, few sessions were conducted on hands on science experiments and mathematic problem solving related to the secondary education curriculum. These sessions were tailored to be interactive and participatory, encouraging students to collaborate, ask questions, and explore innovative solutions. This approach not only built their technical competence but also boosted their confidence to participate in STEM activities and competitions. Till now, a total of 180 sessions were conducted.

Equipping teachers with STEM knowledge through Teachers Training Workshop

One of the most impactful activities of the SISGCA project was the teacher training initiative, designed to ensure the project’s sustainability by equipping teachers with practical STEM skills through hands-on experiments. Over the course of the project, SISGCA successfully conducted six Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions, reaching around 220 secondary school teachers across the three targeted coastal regions.

Regional Contest: STEM Fest

The STEM Fests, organized under the STEM and ICT Skills for Girls of Coastal Area (SISGCA) project, have become a turning point for hundreds of girls in the coastal regions of Bagerhat, Satkhira, and Khulna. These events brought science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to life for young students who often have limited access to such opportunities.

Held in collaboration with the Bangladesh Freedom Foundation, Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN), and supported by the Malala Fund, each fest created a space where girls could imagine, create, and experiment. Students built robots, wrote code, presented science projects, and solved real-life problems through innovative ideas—all in a single day of learning and discovery. A total of 6 STEM fest was organized and around 885 students.

Exposure Visit: Obak Kutuhole

OBAK KUTUHOLE is one of the most highlighting events, which brings underprivileged school going female students to the capital city Dhaka and takes them to several places that are symbolic to science and ICT or directly involved to the ICT industry of Bangladesh. The idea behind this program is to make the girls desirous of science and technology through an enjoyable and joyful journey.  A total of 2 exposure visit was organized where 86 students participated in two cohorts.

Awareness Raising Session

As part of our continued efforts to empower girls in coastal communities, we organized a series of awareness and advocacy sessions engaging both students and their parents. The parents’ open discussion created a vital platform to highlight the importance of girls’ education, the value of ICT skills in today’s world, and the dangers of early child marriage. These conversations aimed to shift mindsets and encourage families to become active supporters of their daughters’ futures.

In parallel, gender awareness sessions were held to help girls understand their rights and build the confidence to speak up—especially when it comes to their education and career choices. A dedicated session on cyber safety equipped them with essential knowledge on staying secure online and maintaining cyber hygine. Most importantly, advocacy sessions featuring female role models offered the girls real-life stories of success and resilience, leaving them inspired to dream bigger and push beyond societal barriers.

STEM Camp

The advanced STEM Camp held in Khulna brought together 60 girls from coastal secondary schools for an immersive two-day residential experience focused on science, technology, and robotics. Through hands-on workshops on scientific research, Scratch programming, and Arduino robotics, students were introduced to real-world problem-solving in a collaborative and engaging environment.

The camp not only built technical skills but also boosted confidence, creativity, and curiosity among the participants—many of whom had never before interacted with such tools or mentors. This camp marked a meaningful step toward bridging the gender and digital divide in underserved regions.

Day-long preparatory Workshop on Robotics for Bangladesh Robot Olympiad

In 2024, a preparatory workshop for Bangladesh Robot Olympiad was organized in Khulna for the girls of coastal area. Around 60 students from six project schools were participated in this day long workshop and know about the categories and other details of Bangladesh Robot Olympiad. The day-long workshop opened doors to an entirely new world. The girls learned about the different categories of the Olympiad, the rules of participation, and—most importantly—the limitless possibilities that robotics could offer. For many, it was their first hands-on experience with technology beyond the classroom textbooks.

As a great impact of this workshop, a total of 5 teams from six schools got the opportunity to participate in online selection round and among them two teams got selected to compete in online national round of BdRO. From a small coastal workshop to the national robotics stage, this was the beginning of a journey filled with innovation, ambition, and breaking barriers.

After submitting initial robotics project concept on online, a total of 5 students from two schools got the opportunity to compete in the selection round of the Bangladesh Robot Olympiad 2024, out of which 3 students from Comrade Ratan Sen Collegiate Girls High School were selected for the final national round and presented their projects online.

We have observed a significant change in the girls. Their participation in the local upazila based activities has increased. In the year of 2023, Students of Naihati Secondary Girls’ School participated in the Upazila-based Science Festival with 5 science projects and secured 2nd place. Next year they have also participated in the open speech competition, debate competition and so on and earned awards for their school.

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