The Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Swiss-based company, Insted, to train about 125,000 Ghanaian youth in “Skill farm” over an eight-year period in a bid to reduce unemployment and eradicate poverty.
The first cohort of 15,000 are expected to be trained over nine months in eight different tracks, including construction and development, manufacturing, agro processing, cyber security and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
A 250-acre land has been secured for physical infrastructure and the recruitment of Ghanaian industrial leaders to partner their foreign counterparts to train the different cohorts.
Selection process
The selection process is open to Ghanaians with basic education who would go through four different selection processes — writing of personal statement, social contract, leadership skills and demonstration of business etiquette.
The numbers will be scaled down to 15,000 across the country to begin the process once the physical infrastructure is ready.
The strict selection process, which is expected to be supervised by the foreign partners, is to eliminate “friction” or manipulation and adhere to international standards.
Insted partners are different international foundations which believe in youth development to raise money to fund such projects, especially in Africa.
Already, a number of African countries, including Rwanda, are benefitting from the project borne out of the understanding that to effectively combat poverty, Africa must truly understand it.
Signing ceremony
The Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr Abdul Hassan Rashid Pelpuo, signed the MoU on behalf of the government while the Ghanaian-born Chief Executive Officer for Insted, Adu Opoku-Boahin, signed for the Swiss-based company at a ceremony in Accra last week.
Ghana is expected to provide an undisclosed counterpart funding to beef up what will be raised by the foreign partners.
The minister described the relationship as an opportune one for the Ghanaian youth, whom he described as intelligent and smart to turn the economy around.
“This is a pragmatic venture to take our hardworking youth off the streets and give them a meaningful future,” Dr Pelpuo said.
He assured the people of Ghana that the selection process would be fair, irrespective of the background of applicants.
On his part, Mr Opoku-Boahin said the programme was different from TVET, which was for students in high school.
This, he said, was because it offered an opportunity to everybody, even up to those in their 40s, to get started.
“You don’t need to have a background in cyber security to get trained. Just show up and go through the process.
Our focus is to help them put their ”hands on the keyboard (hands-on training) to provide that middle manpower that the country needs to develop,” he said.
Mr Opoku-Boahin said while any effort to fight poverty was commendable, the strategies that had historically been used had failed to live up to their promise.
“Traditional, income-based measures often paint and incomplete picture, failing to capture the complexities of deprivations that trap individuals and communities,” he explained.
“With this in mind, insted set out to redefine poverty assessment and provide organisations with the tools they need to deliver meaningful and impactful change.
The CEO said with foreign assistance declining, it had never been more vital for available funds to be spent precisely and purposefully.
“Using advanced AI tech, insted transforms limited resources and noble aims into real and positive change for those experiencing poverty,” he added.
Mr Opoku-Boahin said per the agreement, the programme would continue to run even if there was a change in government.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
