Registered unemployed youth to know fate soon

Accra (Greater Accra) 08 March 2002 - The fate of the 950,000 unemployed youth who were registered by the government in October last year will be known by the end of this month. At the moment a budget proposal to cater for those who registered is ready for cabinet’s consideration.

Mr Emmanuel Bartey, Project Manager of Action for Employment Generation (APEG), which initiated the exercise, told “The Evening News” in an interview that the major work on the exercise has been completed. According to him, work on the remaining few regions are at their final stages and the Institute of Statistics, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana would submit the report by the end of the month.

He said the exercise had delayed because of the volume of work, as the youth had to respond to 43 questions. Mr Bartey said the respondents would be grouped into six categories based on their response after which they would be attended to by the government.

The project manager said the first group would be those to be trained in the fields or trade of their choice. The second group, he said, would go under apprenticeship based on their already acquired skills and would be attached to master craftsmen and equipped with the needed tools afterwards.

According to him, those who already have some entrepreneurial skills and wished to set up their own business would form the third category and would be assisted by AFEG to do so. The fourth category, he said would be those based on their background can be placed in on-going projects. He explained that such people can be recruited into the Police Service, Prisons Service the Fire Service and other public institutions.

Mr Bartey said the fifth category would be made up of JSS and SSS graduates who have good grades. He said the last and sixth category would include those to be trained in various vacations and integrated into the society.

Mr Bartey denied rumours that the exercise was imposed on the government by the World Bank, which is not ready to provide funds. He emphasized that the project was the brain child of the President and it was put forward at the National Economic Dialogue (NED). He said the World Bank had nothing to do with the project, but the government would not hesitate to accept any offer by the World Bank. – The Evening News