Avenorpeme (V/R) June 11, GNA - Madam Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, National Coordinator of the National Youth Authority, has expressed frustration about the deplorable state of the infrastructure of at the national Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institutes.
She complained: 93I am not happy about the deplorable state of infrastructure in our training institutes. It is disheartening. They look very obsolete and depressive and I wonder if they can enhance effective teaching, learning or training."
Madam Attionu said these when she paid a working visit to the Avenorpeme Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institute at Avenorpeme in the Akatsi District.
The Institute's workshops are empty. The Cookery Department has only a charcoal oven and a fridge. All tractors for the Agriculture Department are broken down. Electricals, Dressmaking, Carpentry and Building and Construction workshops are all empty.
Madam Attionu said the problem could be attributed to the institutes not being under the Ghana Education Service, however, the level of neglect could not be justified.
She said the situation was one of the major reasons for rising youth unemployment and underscored the need for urgent attention to be given to the Institutes.
"Most people who are trained here are self-employed so it is unfortunate that the place has been left to deteriorate while young people are in search of jobs," Madam Attionu said.
She said given the needed resources, students of the Institutes could manufacture 93small electronic gadgets" like mobile phones, watches and door bells.
Madam Attionu said the Authority was working out exchange programmes for teachers and students of the Institutes so they could have some exposure and impact positively on the society.
She presented 10 computers to furnish the Institute's computer laboratory.
Mr Emmanuel De-Graft Sam, Principal of the Institute, said the Institute had trained several entrepreneurs since 1975.
He appealed to the National Service Scheme to rope in graduates from the Institutes for national service so they could have an experience of the job market before establishing themselves.
Mr Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, District Chief Executive of Akatsi, said the Assembly has been sponsoring 20 students to the Institute every academic year.
He said it had also promised to get the Institute a corn mill and was working hard to make the Institute an examination centre so that students would not have to travel to Ho for their examinations.
Mr Nortus-Kotoe noted that the Institute's needs were enormous and called on stakeholders and private individuals to invest in it.
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
