Vocational Training for youth in Central business district (5/2/9)

Story:Gifty Bamfo & Jennifer Dornoo
SOME youth of Agbogbloshie, Konkomba, Sodom and Gomorrah and Abuja, all in the central business district of Accra, are to benefit from a three-year technical and vocational skills training programme.
The programme, which is free, is intended to provide the youth with skills in auto-repairs, auto-electricals and wielding through the Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institute under the National Youth Council (NYC).
This would be in addition to existing skills training in the areas of carpentry, dress making, and building construction, among others, being provided by the NYC to some of the youth in these areas.
Briefing the press, the Acting National Co-ordinator of the NYC, Mr Archibald Donkoh, said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to that effect had already been signed between the NYC and the Great Imperial Company Limited of the Kristo Asafo Church at Gomoa Mpota in the Central Region.
The group were at the residence of the Head of the Kristo Asafo Church and owner of the Great Imperial Company Limited, Apostle Kwadwo Safo, to formally introduce themselves and brief him about the joint project.
Mr Donkoh said the training was aimed at equipping the youth with sustainable economic livelihood skills, especially the vulnerable and those out of school.
“The training centre would also provide opportunities for the youth in the 11 vocational and technical institutes under the NYC across the country to have internship programmes to upgrade themselves and be equipped with entrepreneurial skills,” he added.
He said the centre would help the youth to establish themselves in their various regions and also pass on the skills acquired to other people.
Mr Donkoh noted that the move would create jobs in the rural areas and help reduce the increasing rate of rural-urban migration.
Apostle Kwadwo Safo called on the government to pay more attention to vocational and technical skills education, because it held the key to the nation’s quest for becoming a middle-level income country.
He urged entrepreneurs and inventors to pass on their knowledge and skills to the younger generation for the benefit of the country.
Apostle Safo pledged to help the youth to acquire the needed skills and knowledge to help enhance the development of the country.