The Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment has raised concern over the inadequate budgetary allocation, stressing it could derail its plans to train 100,000 young people under the 2026 National Apprenticeship Programme.
According to the ministry, the GH¢150 million allocated to the programme in the 2026 budget can only support the training of about 6,000 beneficiaries, a figure far below the government’s target for the year.
The ministry noted that the allocation represents a significant reduction from the GH¢240 million previously earmarked for the initiative.
The ministry further disclosed that interest in the programme continues to surge. In 2025 alone, more than 200,000 young people applied for the National Apprenticeship Programme. However, due to limited funding, only 14,000 applicants were able to benefit from the training.
Sector Minister George Opare Addo warned that the budget cut could undermine the core objectives of the programme, particularly its impact on youth employment, skills development, and economic empowerment.
Speaking during a visit by Vice President Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang to the ministry on Wednesday, January 14, the minister appealed for an increase in funding to enable the programme to scale up and meet its expanded target.
“The challenge is that this year we promised we were going to do 100,000. When His Excellency launched it, the conversation was that we’re going to increase the numbers to 100,000 this year. Unfortunately, our budget was slashed from 240 million to 150 million. And if you look at the presentation, the target of 100,000 cannot be achieved.
“The average training cost, because we pay stipends as well, we give them start-ups, is GHC23, 200 to train one person for five or six months, including the stipends that you pay and all the start-up kits. So, on average, we’ll need GHC2.3 billion to be able to train 100,000. So we have a difference of GH¢2.115 billion” he said.
