Govt secures €31 million for youth empowerment

The Government has signed a 31-million-Euro loan facility to support youth empowerment and social protection programmes.

Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, who announced this said, seven Million of the European Union (EU) credit facility would be dedicated to Vocational Training and Technical Education.

Mr. Iddrisu, who was interacting with the Management, staff and students of the Yamfo Vocational Training Institute at Yamfo, in the Tano North District of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The Sector Minister, was accompanied by Mrs. Freda Prempeh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North Constituency, and staff of the Ministry, was there to acquaint himself with the operational challenges of the Institute.

Mr. Iddrisu said it was the Government’s priority to upscale and strengthen the 34 Technical and Vocational Training institutions across the country to enhance the employable skills of young people.

He said his Ministry had additionally agreed to earmark 10 per cent of the Youth Employment Fund every year to support Technical and Vocational Education.

“This implies that every year the Government would pump 10 million Ghana Cedis into Vocational and Technical Education,” Mr. Iddrisu explained.

The Sector Minister said the National Youth Employment Programme would soon enroll the youth in the Catering Module and offer skills training to 5,000 to 10,000 young people, every year.

Mrs. Prempeh, the MP for the area, expressed concern about the obsolete equipment and logistics at the Yamfo Technical Institute.

She, however, commended the Minister for the visit, and expressed the optimism that the Government would supply the school with the needed equipment and machines to enhance effective teaching and learning.

Mrs. Prempeh said youth unemployment was increasing and becoming a national security threat.

She said if Technical and Vocational Training institutions were well-resourced and retooled, it would attract the youth to be enrolled and acquire employable skills.

That, the MP explained, could empower them to enter into self-employment to create wealth for themselves.

Mr. Stephen Bismark Amponsah, the Executive Director of the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), said the country had not realised the benefits of Technical Education, which had the potential to turn around the fortunes of every developing nation.

Mr. Philip Effah Atakorah, the Institute’s Manager, said it was established in 1977 and had trained 5,000 students in different programmes.

These include Catering, Masonry, Building and Construction, Carpentry and Electrical Works.

He said the Institute needed total retooling as all the machines and equipment at the various workshops were worn-out or obsolete.

Mr. Atakorah said the Institute urgently needed general infrastructural development, a vehicle to facilitate their administrative duties and field trips for the students, and accommodation for the female students.