Youth pivotal in development – NCCE

Mrs Dora Hammond, Director of Project Citizen, a concept by the National Commission on Civic Education, said the youths were a pivot around which the country’s socio-economic growth revolved.

“They must, therefore, be supported to develop their cognitive skills and become innovative in finding solutions to most of the societal challenges we face today,” she said.

Mrs Hammond was speaking at the 2013 Western Regional Showcase of the Project Citizen in Sekondi, under the theme: “Advancing into the Future, The Youths at the Forefront”.

The Project Citizen concept, developed some eight years ago by the NCCE, is aimed at helping the youth understand, monitor and influence public policies and  suggest other alternatives in the quest to grow and develop the nation.

It also assists the youths to identify problems of their communities and make recommendations to address them.

Some thematic areas for students in selected senior high schools in the region included Child Labour, Poor Sanitation, Drug Abuse, Road Carnage, Illegal Mining and Effect of Mobile Phone Usage in Schools.

Mr Alphonsus Arthur, Western Regional Director of the NCCE, said activities undertaken during the students’ research work on their selected topics had often helped them to develop critical thinking skills.

“We have, over the last eight years, created a pool of young think tanks that would be better placed in future as effective and responsible leaders of their communities in particular and the nation at large.

Mr Arthur expressed gratitude to the European Union and the Hanns Seidel Foundation for sponsoring this year’s event and called on local companies to support to make the programme more sustainable.

Source: GNA