200 Benefit from skills training
Two hundred trainees of the pre-employment skills training designed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to provide employable skills for unskilled and disadvantaged youth have completed the programme.
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They include head porters (Kayayei) from Agbogbloshie and Ashiaman in the Greater Accra Region, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and over 40 young men.
The kayayei were trained in beauty care, dressmaking, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), bead craft among others, while the young men trained in carpentry and joinery, masonry, tiling, electricals, leatherworks and driving.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Accra yesterday, the Gender Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, said the programme aimed at tackling the menace of child labour and forced marriage in society.
According to her, the government, concerned about the plight of the kayayei, had put in place many initiatives under the domestic violence and skills development programme to secure the welfare of the head porters.
Internship
She said some of the beneficiaries had already been absorbed in recognised institutions on internship and the rest are yet to be placed.
Furthermore, she said they would receive a monthly allowance of GH¢300 for the next two years.
Nana Oye added that the programme had not only succeeded in providing socio-economic sources of opportunities through productive job creation for the beneficiaries but also transformed their livelihood.
Prior to the skills training, many of beneficiaries, she stated were engaged in mostly unsustainable menial jobs in and around Accra.
Skills programme
The minister indicated that the training programme was also aimed at helping the country to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, which seeks to substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training.
She expressed her gratitude to the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS), the Youth Employment Agency and Metro Mass Transit for supporting the training programme.
Vocational education
For his part, the Executive Director of AGREDS, Mr Joseph Wumbee, called for the promotion of a positive image for vocational education.
He advocated for investment to improve youth access to work-relevant skills training.
A beneficiary of the programme, Mariam Razak, a 21-year-old head porter from the Northern Region who operates at the Makola Market, said “I planned to learn dressmaking but the funds were not forthcoming. Having this opportunity to learn my dream skill is a great achievement for me.”