62nd Annual New Year School and Conference closes

Accra, Jan. 16, GNA - Participants of the 62nd Annual New Year School and Conference at the weekend recommended the change of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) to the National Youth Empowerment Scheme. They argued that such a change would re-orient and empower the youth for future responsibilities and make the programme more efficient and sustainable.

This was contained in a communiqu=E9 they issued at the end of the sch= ool in Accra. The participants suggested that the NYEP should be placed under a statutory body, Ministry or Department with legal backing for effective and sustainable management.

A policy should also be put in place to encourage the district assembles to take ownership of the process and ensure sustainability of the scheme.

The communiqu=E9 acknowledged that although volunteerism had been a glo= bal tool for developing active citizens, fostering national cohesion and creating opportunities for skill development and application among young people, it would be more sustainable in terms of funding and attractiveness to the youth if the private sector was brought on board to complement government's efforts and inspire patriotism. Dr Michael Tagoe, Director of the 62nd Annual New Year School and Conference who read the draft communiqu=E9 said recommendations were aimed at pressing upon government and policy makers the need to integrate action on youth issues in the national development agenda. He said the final document would be forwarded to the Cabinet and circulated among all the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies for further action.

The five-day residential school and conference which was on the theme: "Harnessing the Power of the Youth for Accelerated Development," was organised by the Institute of Continuing and Distant Education (ICDE) of th= e University of Ghana In Accra.

Dr Tagoe said the communiqu=E9 stressed the fact that although the youth of today had better education, access to health care and information than the older generation, they were still faced with several challenges such as substance use and drug abuse, limited access to credit, unemploymen= t and underemployment, lack of entrepreneurial skills and limited participation in decision-making.

It also mentioned other health hazards such as unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortion and HIV and AIDS, due to limited access to quality health information and called on government to invest in the youth in order for them to become responsible adults and leaders of their societies. The document indicated that there was the need for the formulation of a framework which should be a collective commitment to action by the youth, government, non-governmental organisations, universities, the private secto= r and parliamentarians, considering the youth as a critical human resource base of the country that is awaiting opportunities for capacity building an= d national development.

Dr Tagoe said the communiqu=E9 called for the revision of the education= al curricula to make agriculture more practical and vocation-based, while including entrepreneurship into the curriculum of basic, secondary and tertiary institutions as a lifelong learning process. It called for an urgent need for financial institutions to provide funding in the form of venture capital for young entrepreneurs and establis= h a youth endowment fund support youth activities especially apprenticeship. It urged the NYEP, the National Youth Council (NYC) and the National Service Scheme to collaborate with relevant institutions to organise entrepreneurship forum and workshops for out-of-school youth to train and provide them with entrepreneurial skills for self-employment.

It stated that to fully harness the power of young people for the accelerated development of the nation, there should be better pre-service and in-service opportunities to enhance teacher knowledge of mathematics an= d science and align all national standards, curriculum frameworks, instructional methods and assessment practices to address the challenges facing science education and use of technology in teaching and learning. On youth and culture, 93we appreciate the relevance of culture to Ghan= a's development life, however we are of the view that culture ought to be part and parcel of the youth's life". The communiqu=E9 said in order to restore the culture of the Ghanaian, a charter with the name 93The National Charter of Morality and Ghanaian Values," should be drawn up by experts for integration into the nation'= s educational system.

It recommended that local festivals, proverbs, traditional music and folklore should form the basis of developing critical thinking and analytical minds in the schools and other educational establishments. It also called for the establishment of an inter-sectoral District Youth Board which would be responsible for planning and supporting the NYC in the management of youth programmes in the districts. It called for the intensification of awareness and education on drug an= d substance use among the youth, arguing that minimising and controlling advertisements on alcohol, drugs and tobacco in both the print and electronic media could go a long way to curb the problem. It acknowledged the immense contributions of the youth in Ghana's str= ide in the sub-region to multi-party democracy, saying the youth wing of the various political parties had been very instrumental in ensuring that their parties campaign and win elections.

To realise this potential it proposed the speedy implementation of the National Youth Policy, the institutionalisation of a youth forum at the constituency, district, regional and national levels to redirect energies o= f the youth into useful means of engagements in the decision making process. It called for the strengthening of public education institutions such a= s the National Commission on Civic Education, Information Services Department and the mass media to proactively develop and implement nation-wide youth political education programmes.

Professor Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi, Director, ICDE, identified inter-generational dialogue as very critical in nation building, saying the youth must be encouraged and guided to participate in the decision making and development process of the country.

He described the 2011 school and conference as most successful in terms of public patronage, saying the school had over the past six decades contributed immensely to policy changes and development processes of the country.