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Dr Eric Osei-Assibey, Director of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, University of Ghana,  reading the communique
Dr Eric Osei-Assibey, Director of the School of Continuing and Distance Education, University of Ghana, reading the communique

Establish Agric Development Fund to support cottage industries

The 89th New Year School and Conference has ended with a call on the government to establish an Agricultural Development Fund in the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to develop the appropriate infrastructure to support cottage industries to create jobs for the youth.

In a communique issued on Thursday, January 18, 2018, at the end of the four-day conference held at the University of Ghana, Legon, the participants underscored the need for the youth to be exposed to international best practices in order to engender an entrepreneurial culture among them.

It particularly urged the Ministry of Education to promote visits to industrial sites (both domestic and international), mentorship and entrepreneurship competitions in the educational curriculum, especially at the basic level.

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The conference, which had the theme: “Job Creation for Accelerated National Development: The role of the Private Sector”, was organised by the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education, University of Ghana.

It brought together about 350 participants from across the country, including district chief executives (DCEs), presiding members (PMs) from district assemblies, chief executives from some state institutions and private sector employees.

Enforce standards

The communique recommended that the government, through the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and other regulatory agencies, strictly enforce international standards for the production of goods and services as a way of ensuring Ghanaian products were competitive domestically and globally.

While urging for a policy that would mandate all state agencies to purchase made-in-Ghana products, the participants called on the government, through the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Health and Education, to strengthen and make it compulsory for government institutions to purchase produce from local farmers.

“This will ensure that we attract private investments into the agricultural value chain,” the communique said.

Bring centres together

The communique further called for expedited action on bringing all the skills training centres in the country, such as the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) and the Integrated Community Centre for Employable Skills (ICCES), under the Ministry of Education as provided in the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training Act (Act 718, 2006).

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“A clear deadline by which the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) can begin to regulate all government skills training centres should be established and followed,” the communique stated.

It asked the government to enforce the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act (Act 925) through the Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority to ensure that all lands were properly planned before permitting development on them, including the protection of lands earmarked for industrial parks.

It also called for the intensification of the campaign to change the negative mindset of Ghanaians towards local products in order to boost demand for locally produced products and reduce imports, adding that the action plan should include specific steps by the government to provide subsidies to local businesses to make their products competitive.

Call to AGI

The delegates wanted the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and all such bodies to, as a matter of urgency, collaborate with and support tertiary institutions to train sector-specific human resource for the country’s emerging industry.

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It tasked the Ministry of Communications to develop and expand specific information and communications technology (ICT) training modules for local and “emerging local entrepreneurs” to strengthen, empower and accelerate private sector participation in e-business.

Closing the conference, the acting Provost of the College of Education and the Dean of Continuing and Distance Education at the University of Ghana, Prof. Michael Ayitey Tagoe, said the conference provided a platform for dispassionate discussion of various topics for national development.

 

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