Initiative to generate youth employment proposed

Amos Larbi, a social science student, completed the University of Ghana in 2008 and has since remained unemployed.

Frustrated and uncertain about his future, Amos represents the face of youth unemployment in  Ghana. 

Unemployment is one of the deepest economic and social problems facing economies the world over and is increasingly considered an ‘international time-bomb’ for both developed and developing nations. Ghana’s unemployment rate as at 2010, stood at 8.5 per cent.

Data from the Ghana Population and Housing Census show that youth unemployment is largely concentrated in urban areas and the rate was as high as 30.8 per cent in Accra.

It was expected that general policy initiatives such as the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes (GPRSP II) which provide a blue-print for the nation’s development agenda, the pro-poor decentralisation and good governance reforms, the Rural Enterprise Project, Alternative Livelihood Programme, the Village Infrastructure Project (VIP) and projects implemented by the Social Investment Fund (SIF) would help curtail youth unemployment in the country.

Yet youth unemployment continues to be a problem.

Youth in Agric Programme (YIAP)

In 2009, the government introduced the YIAP as an intervention to create jobs and ensure food security in Ghana. Under this programme, 45,000 hectares was cultivated in 2012 out of which 210,000 tonnes of grain was produced.

GYEEDA

In 2013, the NYEP metamorphosed into the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Development Authority (GYEEDA) and according to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper, GYEEDA as at 2013,  had recruited a total of 457,779 youth into its various modules with the Youth Enterprise Development project which began last year creating about 300,000 jobs.

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All these interventions, including the Skills development for employment creation, implemented by the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) last year  have not matched the rate at which the country’s tertiary institution are producing students every year into the labour market. This, therefore, implies that Ghana produces human resources than it needs.

Research from the  Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research indicates that 23 per cent of youth between the ages of 15 and 24 and 28.8 per cent of graduates between the ages of 25 to 35 wait for two years or more before they get employed. This situation often creates unemployment, particularly among the educated youth.

New  Thinking

The new thinking towards solving the problem of youth unemployment is to help the youth use their own initiatives to create employment after their formal education.That according to that school of thought can be achieved by equipping teachers to develop the entrepreneurial skills of their students.

This implies that the current practice where the emphasis is on formal education must change. 

 KAMA Educational Project.

An example of an effective model of developing entrepreneurial skills of students is the KAMA Educational Project being implemented by the KAMA Group of Companies Limited.

The project, which began in 2011, educates teachers on the need to focus more on entrepreneurial and skills development training.

In its last encounter with teachers at the Obuasi Secondary Technical in the Ashanti Region, the project brought together over 300 teachers from surrounding schools where they were given skills on how to develop the entrepreneurial abilities of their students.

The KAMA  Educational Project, which is a non-governmental organisation,  also supports the education of brilliant  needy children with entrepreneurial training.

As at October 2013, the project had touched the lives of over 500,000 students from over 95 senior secondary schools (SSS), 15,000 teachers and 25 organisations from across the country.

The Governor and Chief Executive Officer of the KAMA Group of Companies Limited, Dr Micheal Agyekum Addo, is convinced that youth unemployment can only be tackled by helping teachers to develop the skills and talent of their students instead of giving the students only practical knowledge.

He, therefore, called for partnerships from key players in the educational sector, such as the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COVET), the NVTI, the Ghana Association of Teachers (GNAT) the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and other vocational and technical associations to intensify their interest in training the youth in entrepreneurial skills to secure their future.

 Dr Agyekum Addo further called for the support of government and other development partners implementing educational projects to support the KAMA Educational Project  to make it sustainable.

The Headmaster of Obuasi Secondary Technical School, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Akomeah, says the project has so far proved beneficial and called for it to be replicated across the country.

According to him, the project exposed the beneficiary teachers to initiatives that would help them impact positively on the lives of their students for their future.

Writer's Email: rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh

Daily Graphic/Ghana

A version of this article appears in print on November 7, 2013, on page 45 of the Daily Graphic with the headline: Initiative to generate youth employment proposed