International Youth Day 2019

NEWS COMMENTARY ON INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY

In view of the importance of the youth in World affairs, the United Nations has found it necessary to institute a youth day on August 12, every year.

This is meant to highlight the important role that can be played by the youth when guided to pursue relevant agenda in the world.

Today, the world can boost of about 1.8 billion young people who are aged between ten (10) and Twenty-four (24) years.

This constitutes the largest segment of population in the world. Looking at the size-able number of the youth in the world, there is the need for every country to pursue programs aimed at giving hope to the youth and directing them to do the right things so that at the end of it all the world as a whole will benefit from their potential abilities.

The theme for the celebration on Monday, August 12 was, “Transforming education.” This places a heavy burden on all countries to use more resources not only in education for the youth, but transforming the educational system to make young people more productive, effective, dynamic and relevant to the needs of society.

It is often said that the youth of today are the future leaders of tomorrow.

However, it looks as if more effort will be needed to transform our youth and make them effective leaders if they are to provide the kind of desirable leadership we need in our society.

The educational system forms an effective tool by which the young people of today can be made to learn youthful skills and develop their productive potential capacities to enable them to become not only effective but efficient in the management of affairs in the world.

Leadership in the world today is the result of the input made by those in the past to transform young people of yesteryears to take up the mantle of leadership.

This means that the leadership skills we see today is the result of efforts made in the past to make young people of yesterday more productive today.

If the world is to acquire better knowledge and skills in future then we need to channel more resources into the educational system and also make it more relevant to the needs of society.

Here in Ghana, much investment is being made in the area of education to make it possible for everyone of school-going age to get access to free compulsory education.

It is believed that a few more countries are also working hard towards the attainment of this noble objective. While all this is good, the various countries in the world must also strive to ensure that at the basic level, children do not only get access to education but are also made to become effective scholars.

At the same time, we need to ensure that the basic needs of our schools are provided, no matter what it will take, to ensure comprehensive transformation of education in line with this year’s theme for the International Youth Day.

There is no doubt that if much effort is made to transform education in various parts of the world, it is not just the youth that will be the beneficiaries but rather the entire global community.

We, therefore, expect all countries to work hard and avoid wastes in their systems so as to be able to use education to make our young people more productive, effective, relevant and excellent achievers for the world.

BY DR. KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, GHANA STANDARDS AUTHORITY.