Tech enthusiast lauds training of 1 million youth in digital skills

Ms. Winifred Zooyar, a tech enthusiast and Girls-In-Tech Lead at Noni Hub has lauded the commitment of two major political parties to train one million Ghanaian youth in digital skills.

Sharing their visions with Ghanaians in the build-up to the 2024 general elections, two leading political parties in Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have captured in their manifestos to train a million Ghanaian youth in digital skills.

The move, according to the political parties, is to stem youth unemployment by opening avenues for youth to leverage the digital space to land jobs remotely.

Ms. Zooyar emphasized that digital skills can help create jobs and bridge the digital divide between rural and urban youth while equipping the youth to compete in the fast-globalizing workforce.

“Training young people in digital skills, is a promising initiative, especially as a political party in Ghana focused on addressing youth unemployment and improving livelihoods.

“It also bridges the technological divide. You and I know that training initiatives can help bridge the gap between urban and rural areas by providing rural youth with access to modern technologies and the ability to compete in the globalized workforce,” she said.

Ms. Zooyar however highlighted challenges such as inadequate digital infrastructure, poor internet connectivity, lack of electricity, and limited access to digital devices as key holdbacks to the effective implementation and utilization of digital initiatives.

“Many young people in the [Upper West] region may not have access to the necessary digital devices such as laptops or even ‘proper’ phones for them to be able to learn or use them in the digital space,” she observed.

She noted that acquired digital skills might be valueless if trainees do not have the needed devices to practice or work with.

She, therefore, called on the political parties to consider making readily available to the youth, digital devices as part of the training initiatives or through subsidizing those devices when they eventually win power.

Ms. Zooyar also observed that a lack of foundational skills in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and information literacy barriers might hinder the effective enrolment of youth in the training initiatives.

“While digital training is often conducted in English language and other high technical languages, there may be a need to consider local languages and simple explanations to make the training more inclusive and comprehensive for all learners to comprehend,” she suggested.

She added that cultural hostilities, especially towards females could hamper their enrolment if much sensitization is not done.

Youth unemployment continues to rise in Ghana and has become a critical variable in determining the voting patterns of particularly, the Ghanaian young people.

Thus, a promise to clamp down on the rate of unemployment by creating job opportunities is an essential bait to win the voting discretion of the youth who form a significant proportion of the electoral bloc.