By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
One hundred unemployed university graduates and out-of-school youth have completed a year’s training in employable skills in selected basic engineering programmes to venture into the job market.
Even though some of them are already close to securing employment with AngloGold Ashanti having gone through some competitive recruitment processes at the Obuasi Mine, the company says the Programme aims primarily to prepare the youth for either corporate work, particularly in the mining industry or self-employment towards reduction in the rate of joblessness in the Adansi traditional area in the Ashanti region.
The Senior Manager, of Sustainability of AngloGold Ashanti, Emmanuel Baidoo, assured that, even though the Mine is prepared to assist the beneficiaries to set themselves up, they must avail themselves to compete for job placement within the company anytime vacancy is advertised.
“We’re looking at them rising beyond all the boundaries and putting themselves out there so that we can be proud of them.
They can come back to take up management positions in the Mine, they can take up positions in other mining within the mining industry and other related fields which, we believe, they’re more than capable”, Mr. Baidoo said.
He emphasized however that, being selected for the Apprenticeship Programme is not a guarantee that, the mine will employ the trainees after the apprenticeship and therefore expressed disgust about alleged improper conduct and utterances by some of them inciting residents of the Obuasi Municipality against the company.
Of the 101 youth selected for the ‘Youth Apprenticeship Programme’, 21 were women while one person dropped out.
They were selected from the Obuasi East District and Obuasi Municipality within the operational area of AngloGold Ashanti as part of a deliberate plan by the Obuasi Mine to empower the Adansi traditional area in the Ashanti region to be economically self-sustaining after 10 years to diversify economic sources with or without the gold mine.
This is to avert the almost shutdown of Obuasi in case of a downturn in the life of the mine drawing from the 2014-2019 experience when production at the mine significantly suffered for various reasons.
The beneficiaries of the ‘Youth Apprenticeship Programme’ went through a year of both theoretical and practical training in basic Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Automobile, Welding, and Fabrication at AngloGold’s Engineering Training Centre during which period they received monthly Allowance, Personal Protective Equipment, free meals as well as two month-internship with AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine, all at a cost of three million Ghana Cedis to the Mine.
At the passing out ceremony, they were presented with Certificates equivalent to that of the National Vocational Training Institute, NVTI as Technicians in their respective areas of study with Tawiah Dasaah emerging as the Overall Best trainee. Mr. Dasaah, a graduate of the Takoradi Technical University, described the Youth Apprenticeship Programme as valuable.
“Though they teach us practicals at the tertiary institution, it is not enough.
But, when you come to the AngloGold Engineering Centre, they teach you what is in the real job.
It’s not about theory alone, you’ll work with people in the mine”, he shared his experience with GBCNews.
The Gyaasehene of the Adansi Traditional Council, Baffuor Mireku IV, while commending AngloGold Ashanti for the initiative, appealed to the management to help the beneficiaries secure jobs in its partner and other mining companies to achieve the aim of reducing youth unemployment in the traditional area.
The number of beneficiaries of the Youth Apprenticeship Programme has increased to 300 since its introduction in 2020 with more others to be selected for subsequent schedules.