Be creative and innovative to create jobs - MCE urges youth

Mr Drissa Ouattara, the Dormaa Central Municipal Chief Executive, has called on the youth to be creative and innovative to create jobs for themselves.

He said there is a mismatch that exists in the number of graduates being produced by tertiary institutions to feed industry and the availability of job openings.

This, the MCE said, was because available statistics suggest that 120,000 new graduates were churned out by tertiary institutions to enter the labour market annually, but government could employ only 10,000 out of that number.

In this regard, he said, it is unrealistic to expect government to create sustainable jobs for the entire unemployed youth of the country, hence the need to be creative to become self-employers and employees of others to contribute in diverse ways to the development of the country.

Mr Ouattara was speaking at the second matriculation ceremony of the Dormaa Technical/Vocational Training Institute (DTVTI) at Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Bono Region.

The event was held under the theme: “Equipping the Youth of Ghana with Employable Skills: The Role of the NVTI”.

The Institute admitted 102 new students, 96 males and six females to pursue Carpentry and Joinery, Plumbing, Electricals, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), Secretariat Studies and Catering programmes.

These numbers have increased the total student population of the institute to 281, composing of 238 males and 43 females.

The MCE said there is the need for stakeholders to work to change the erroneous perception about technical education and adjust the current curriculum to suit the present needs of society because “there is too much emphasis on academic subjects with little attention on technical education”.

He said government recognises that through an efficient technical and vocational training system the manpower needs of the country would be met.

As a result, Mr Ouattara said, government has realigned the TVET sector and placed it under the Ministry of Education to ensure effective standardisation, coordination and regulation.

"The capacity of technical universities and polytechnics are being strengthened. Government has come out with strategies in expanding TVET opportunities in secondary and tertiary levels in order to strengthen the linkage between education and industry”, he said.

As part of this, government is facilitating the construction of 20 modern TVET institutions across the country, Mr Ouattara said.

He urged the students to be submissive to authority and study hard to become well-trained skillful tradesmen and women to contribute to the development of the country.

The MCE said the Municipal Assembly would assist the Institute to construct a borehole to address its water supply challenges.