NYEP zooms off with criticisms

Some youth advocates and activists are challenging the Manpower ministry’s youth employment program and are insisting that it cannot in anyway curtail the youth unemployment problems facing Ghana.

Prince Derek Adjei is one such activist who insists among others that “there are fundamental issues that have not been answered; therefore it’s more like a trial and error situation. If you look at the youth fund, it was actually aimed at solving the same problem. It did not succeed, it failed. The minister has admitted that, the National Youth Council has admitted, everybody has admitted it failed. But the point is at what point do you expect success if you keep on doing the same thin the same way and fail? If we fail by taking steps in a certain direction and you keep on taking the same step, you will definitely be the person to fail. And so I will not be surprised if this fails.”

The National Youth Employment Programme launched last week is targeting over 155,000 new jobs for the country’s unemployed youth. The program which will be operational in all 138 districts of the country seeks to equip the youth with technological know-how, industrial skills, appropriate work ethics and individual initiative to enhance productivity.

According to official information available, these jobs will be created in varied areas of community protection, education, agribusiness, rural health and sanitation, graduate internship and information communication technology.

But Mr. Adjei says these are all stop gap measures that will achieve very little purpose. “If you say for instance that you are going to pay someone seven hundred thousand cedis a month for teaching, teachers are already on strike. Now so you see it’s a stop-gap measure that would not really solve the problem. The fundamental problem of teachers has a lot to do with deciding to pay some people very little to go and do the same job that others have refused to do, then you should expect that down the road they would refuse to go because the conditions are not right.”

Mr. Adjei’s position is contrary to the advise by President Kufuor to the youth to always adopt a positive attitude to life and always look at their cup as half full rather than half empty.

“With such a positive attitude, you will turn every little opportunity into a big gain. You must be optimistic, have hope and look forward to better times. Do not be affected by pessimism.”

Referring to previously launched government programs of addressing the escalating unemployment problem in the country such the unemployment census of 2001 and Skilled Training and Employment Programme which many perceived as failures, the president said about 27 000 youth have been trained in various skills and vocations while 3000 of this number have been assisted with credit schemes to set up their own businesses.

He said the NYEP should contribute to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development goals of improving food security, environment, health and education delivery system.

According to the president, “the programme certainly will restore self-confidence and dignity in the youth who have for long suffered unemployment. In the long term, it will be a critical factor in the sustained accelerated growth of the economy.”

Explaining the structure of the programme, Manpower Development & Employment Minister Alhaji Abubakar Saddique said “the NYEP has been structured along 10 components or modules and covers all the 138 districts and 37 sub-metros making it a total of 175 operational areas. The chosen modules reflect the areas we can register immediately and get aximum impact.”