Bawumia commissions 10,000 YEA artisans - They receive starter packs for business

The government has graduated 10,000 youth trained in various vocations under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) and commissioned them with packs of tools and equipment to start their businesses.

They are the first batch of 20,000 young people to be trained through a six-month intensive skills acquisition in various vocations.

The trainees went through accelerated apprenticeship training in hairdressing, plumbing, auto mechanics, plaster of Paris (POP) ceiling work, painting and general electricals.

Other areas are tiling, decoration, aluminium fabrication, steel work and welding, among others.

At the graduation ceremony in the Bono East regional capital, Techiman, yesterday, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, with the assistance of the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YEA, Kofi Baah Agyepong, and others presented boxes of tools, equipment and other accompaniments, also known as starter packs, to enable them to start businesses on their own.

The Vice-President also launched the second phase of the YEA skills training programme to engage another 10,000 people.

During the training, which started earlier this year, each beneficiary received GH¢500 monthly allowance during the six-month training period. The rationale behind the YEA was to offer the graduates decent jobs and reduce unemployment among the youth.

Rationale

The initiative, which is one of the several programmes launched in 2019, is targeted at reducing unemployment and boosting the economy.

The starter packs for distribution

Dr Bawumia, who is also the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), said the government had paid critical attention to entrepreneurship and training of artisans to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth for which reason the government was very interested in YEA programmes.

He said the next NPP government would train one million youth in digital skills, and added that such skills would help the Ghanaian youth to stay in the country but also work in other countries.

Dr Bawumia said through the YEA, the government had also instituted a programme for female porters, popularly known as kayayei, which had provided them with accommodation and training in vocational skills.

He said the government had planned to train 5,000 kayayei before the end of the year to provide them with decent jobs. Dr Bawumia said if he was elected President, he would invest heavily in YEA to expand its activities to enable the organisation to create more jobs.

He commended YEA for working hard to graduate the first batch of the 20,000 trainees, saying the initiative would help reduce unemployment.

The Vice-President expressed how glad he was to witness the passing out ceremony because a section of the public had criticised the government that it was not possible to roll out such a programme.

GHartisan APP

Dr Bawumia said the government was set to launch GHartisan APP, an online platform where the profiles of all trained artisans would be listed, with their locations and contacts, for the public to procure their services.

The Vice-President said the APP would connect artisans with people seeking their services in various trades, making it easier for users to find skilled professionals in their local areas.

"I'm personally happy that YEA is going digital," he said, explaining that the APP would be launched next month to open its services to the public.

Dr Bawumia said when citizens acquired skills and knowledge, they would be able to contribute to the development of the country.

Free SHS

On Free Senior High School (Free SHS), Dr Bawumia said the government introduced the policy to enable every eligible Ghanaian to acquire knowledge, irrespective of his or her financial status, adding that the policy had helped to increase enrolment in SHSs to 1.4 million.

The Vice-President said the government had invested GH¢6 billion over the last seven years in technical and vocational education in order to ensure skills and knowledge development.

Employment

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations said the government had employed 2.3 million people in the public sector alone between 2017 and this year.

In addition, Mr Baffour-Awuah said, the government had provided jobs to more than three million people through many initiatives rolled out in the country.

YEA alone, the minister said, had trained and employed more than 700,000 beneficiaries, including more than 100,000 staff. In all, he said, the government had created more than five million jobs in the country since 2017.

Absorb artisans

For his part, the YEA CEO appealed to the government to absorb the artisans in ongoing national projects such the Agenda 111 initiative.

Mr Agyepong highlighted the need for the country to formulate policies to prioritise the services of trained and certified professionals from the YEA programmes in all government projects.

The CEO congratulated the beneficiaries on their graduation, adding that their hard work and the skills acquired had equipped them to contribute significantly to the development of the country. 

Writer's email: biiya.ali@graphic.com.gh