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By Yussif Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Obuasi (Ash), Nov 04, GNA \u2013 The Obuasi Office of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), has held a day\u2019s sensitization workshop for the youth in Obuasi on the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project (GJSP), as part of efforts to whip up interest in the project.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The project which is one of the components of the YouStart Programme introduced by the government, seeks to equip the youth with employable skills and set them up in business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The YouStart programme is a vehicle through which government intends to provide funding and technical support to the youth and youth-led businesses to assist them start, build and grow their own businesses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mr Kelvin Ofori Atta, Head of the Obuasi Office of the GEA, said the goal of YouStart was to create over one million jobs for the youth between the ages of 18- 40 by 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He said it was targeting Junior and Senior High School leavers, graduates, beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corp (NABCO), National Service Personnel who have ended their service as well as people with no formal education.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor those who successfully went through the registration, we would have to select those who qualify for the programme, train them, assess their business plans and give them money in the form of grant to support their business\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mr. Elijah Adansi-Bonah, Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi in a speech read for him, said the youth who were regarded as the future of the country, needed to be equipped with employable skills in order to contribute immensely to national development.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He said youth development remained key on the agenda of government as demonstrated in the introduction of many youth-centred programmes since 2017.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The government, he said, would continue to implement more youth oriented programmes for the youth of the country anchored on skills development.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe government has taken noticed of the importance of skills development thereby investing hugely in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET),\u201d he noted\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He disclosed that Obuasi would soon have a TVET school and urged the youth to avail themselves for the numerous policy initiatives targeted at equipping the youth with employable skills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Madam Barbara Sakyi Yorke, the Municipal Coordinator of the National Youth Authority, underlined the importance of skills development and charged the youth to take keen interest in skills acquisition to be relevant in the 21st Century.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
GNA\u00a0<\/p>\n