Youth not interested in vocational skills – Dep. Minister

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Ebo Barton-Oduro, has expressed his concern about the negative attitude of some unemployed youth in the Cape Coast Metropolis towards vocational skills training.

He said most of the youth preferred white colour jobs to learning a trade and establishing their own businesses.

Mr Oduro who is also the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, expressed these concerns when he presented 48 sewing machines to apprentice dressmakers who had successfully undergone a six month training period under the National Youth and Employment Programme.

He said in the program, 100 people were engaged but only 48 of them managed to complete the training.

He said time had come for the youth to shift their attention from white colour jobs and engage in projects like bee-keeping, mushroom farming as well as grass-cutter rearing of which they would be their own masters instead of looking for non-existent jobs in the urban centres.

Mr Oduro said it was unfortunate that the youth in his constituency were not taking advantage of the NYEP to acquire employable skills for themselves but were rather blaming the government for doing nothing about their joblessness.

He called on the beneficiaries of the program to take their work seriously and should be honest and truthful to their clients.

He appealed to the beneficiaries to encourage their colleagues to make themselves available for the program, this he noted would help enhance their living conditions.

Mr Anthony Egyir Aikins, Metropolitan Chief Executive of Cape Coast, said government was committed to improving the living conditions of the youth and asked all unemployed youth in the metropolis to take advantage of the NYEP to acquire some employable skills.

He said the district assembly would continue to monitor the work of the beneficiaries and warned them against selling their sewing machines.

Source: GNA