Government launches student entrepreneurship Initiative in Tamale

By
Rashid Mbugri, GNA

Tamale, Sept 16, GNA – Vice President Dr Mahamudu
Bawumia has launched the Student Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI) to help in
building an entrepreneurial mind set among students in the country.

The SEI is a government policy under the
National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP) entrepreneurship programme
that aims at exposing students to business concepts and plans at their early
ages to enable them to develop products and services whiles in school.

The launch of the SEI took place at the
weekend at the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) in Tamale.

It was also attended by the Ministry of
Business Development, Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, and
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and other
stakeholders.

Dr Bawumia said under the SEI, the Ministry of
Business Development would trade and stimulate at least 10,000 students
annually to think entrepreneurship and engage two million students over the
next five years.

He said unlike the developed countries, Ghana
had less than two per cent of young people having the intentions of engaging in
entrepreneurship and this initiative would help, if not, encourage students to
venture into entrepreneurship.

He said through the initiative, schools would
be assisted to form entrepreneurial clubs for students and with the active
collaboration of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service
(GES) to organize a competition among schools to generate sharing of ideas and
research findings and finally execute a business project.

Dr Bawumia said the grand finale of the
business plan competition would be held in Accra early next year where students
of the various schools would present their ideas and winners of the competition
would be moved around the world to experience the audacity of entrepreneurship
and to understand the real world’s business.

He said this would go a long way to help
change Ghana’s narrative from graduate unemployment to graduate job creators as
an index in the employment sector within the next five years.

Dr Bawumia said the president’s agenda of a
Ghana beyond aid could be realised when students are encourage to take their
education seriously.

He said the three northern regions still
lagged behind in education and it was imperative that parents, guardians and
opinion leaders sensitise people to take education seriously.

Dr Bawumia, therefore, urged young people to
take advantage of the free Senior High School policy to acquire knowledge and
skills to better and improve on their lives.

He encouraged all students to take advantage
of the SEI and come out with business ideas and assured that the government
would support them to realize their dreams.

Hajia Amina Maidale Musah,  the Headmistress of GHANASCO expressed
profound gratitude to the government for launching such an initiative and
assured that the school would not only attach special interest to the SEI but
also ensure that it’s chapter of the entrepreneurial club would be one of very
best in the country.

She urged students not to relent but grasp
this entrepreneurial initiative to help reduce the unemployment rate and to
help invigorate the private sector, create more wealth and enhance economic and
general well-being.

GNA

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