By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Two thousand youth across the country are beneficiaries of a new job creation initiative of the government code-named ‘Skills for Employability and Productivity’ as an intervention to cut down on the rate of unemployment in the country.
Government is spending about five million Ghana Cedis for the training and setting up of the beneficiary young people, who are to undergo technical and vocational skills apprenticeships with selected master craftsmen.
Skills Toward Employability and Productivity, or “STEP,” is an intervention of the government through the National Youth Authority (NYA) aimed ultimately toward addressing unemployment among the youth in the country.
About two thousand members of the target age group in selected districts across the country are benefiting from the pilot phase of the initiative.
In the Ashanti region, three districts, including Kumasi and Oforikrom, are benefiting from STEP, with the selected young people being assigned to master craftsmen in four trades.
The Ashanti Regional Director of the NYA, Mfr. George Amponsah Orwell, mentioned age and readiness of the participants to go through the apprenticeship as some of the criteria used in selecting the pilot participants.
In the Kumasi Metropolis and Oforikrom Municipality, the first batch of trainee apprentices were introduced to their master craftsmen at separate ceremonies during which they symbolically received their startup tools for the four vocational skills namely television satellite installation, cosmetology, hair dressing, and dressmaking.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the NYA, Mr. Nelson Owusu Ansah, disclosed that government has already secured about five million Ghana Cedis to ensure a smooth takeoff of the programme meant to push the youth into self-employment by paying for their apprenticeship fees aside from the supply of startup kits for the beneficiaries.
According to the Deputy NYA CEO, government is bearing GHC1,200 as the apprenticeship fee for each of the beneficiary apprentices in dress making, hairdressing, and cosmetology, while those in television satellite installation’s apprenticeship fee is GHC500 each.
Mr. Owusu Ansah explained why the National Youth Authority has come up with the intervention.
He said the initiative falls within the mandate of the NYA and entreated unemployed youth in the age bracket, even those with postgraduate degrees, to take advantage of it to become self-employed.
The Acting Ashanti Regional Director of TVET, Richmond Addo Gyamfi, described vocational and skills training and acquisition as the way out of youth unemployment and national development.