The Minister for Youth and Sports, Papa Owusu Ankomah, MP has proposed a consultative forum involving all stakeholders on the revised youth policy for comprehensive deliberations before its adoption.

Speaking during a familiarization tour of the National Youth Centre in Accra, the Minister said the forum would first be held at the regional level to have the views of every one involved in the youth. A national forum would then be held before the end of the year.

The Minister assured the youth of his government's preparedness to give them the needed attention in view of the influential role they played in bringing them to power. He said the youth would be the focus of all policies of his ministry adding that they could not afford to fail them in any way.

Papa Ankomah said not much attention had been directed towards them in the past, adding that this has made them lose trust in the ministry. This was expected to change with the adoption of more result-oriented policies.

He asked the NYC to change its image to win back the confidence of the youth especially those on the street who urgently need their expertise to become productive citizens.

Papa Ankomah said one area that would be important to him would be the scheme of apprenticeship outside the school structure in order to derive maximum benefits with the NYC playing a more important role.

"For us to achieve any result in the goals we have set for ourselves, we need to put in much more than we are doing at the moment with commitment, ability and competence as our key words.

"Positive Change would have to be accompanied by attitudinal change before one can be part of the new vision and strategies to overcome any of our problems." He said the NYC should be restructured to play the role of facilitators with agencies under it playing a more active role on the field.

The Acting National Co-ordinator of the NYC, Edward Kofi Adomah said the philosophy of the ruling government is synonymous with the agenda of the council, which is youth empowerment to change their social status to enable them achieve their potentials in life. He asked the ministry for support to achieve their objectives. He expressed the hope that the board of trustees for the council whose mandate expired in April of this year would soon be reconstituted to facilitate the council's work.