The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) is targeting 17,200 recruits for teaching assistant and skills training programmes in November 2026 as part of efforts to create employment opportunities for young people.
The target comprises 6,000 community teaching assistants and 11,200 beneficiaries under a skills and employment programme supported by the African Development Bank.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency, Mr Malik Basintale, announced the plans at the Government Accountability Series press briefing on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, where he outlined the agency's performance and recruitment plans.
He said the agency had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ghana Education Service in September to recruit and deploy 6,000 beneficiaries under the Community Teaching Assistant Model, with deployment expected by the end of November.
Under the programme, qualified young people will teach or assist teachers in basic schools, particularly in hard-to-reach communities where staffing gaps exist. Mr Basintale stressed that the beneficiaries would not replace trained teachers but would support teaching and learning in the affected schools.
Skills training
The second recruitment exercise will be under the Ghana Women and Youth Employment and Social Cohesion Programme, which is expected to train and provide employment opportunities for 11,200 beneficiaries.
Mr Basintale said US$3.6 million, equivalent to about GH¢44 million, had been earmarked to train and employ the beneficiaries. Preparatory activities had begun, with recruitment expected to start in the first week of November 2026.
The programme will provide training in six areas: briquette production, bio-digester construction and installation, hospitality and domestic services under the Awaawi Care Connect initiative, construction, sustainable transport services and beauty care services.
Other programmes
The agency also plans to enrol 2,000 beneficiaries in information technology programmes through an agreement with Ghana Digital Centres, and another 2,000 under its motorbike dispatch and delivery initiative. The dispatch intake will be the first batch towards a target of 10,000 beneficiaries over four years.
The briefing did not provide application procedures, eligibility criteria or closing dates for the teaching assistant and skills programme recruitments.
Agency performance
Mr Basintale reported that the agency had recorded 100,628 beneficiaries as of September 30, 2026, representing about 75.7 per cent of its annual target of 133,000. He acknowledged that while several programmes had exceeded their targets, others required greater attention.
