The Ashanti Regional Co-ordinator of the Integrated Community Centre for Employable Skills (ICCES), Nana Boateng, has appealed to the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment to adequately resource its youth training institutions to enable them to carry out their mandates effectively.
He alleged that the existing youth training institutions were not included in the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) currently being pursued by the government, saying rather, they must be linked to the programme and made to use their expertise to lead it and ensure its successful implementation.
Nana Boateng was speaking at the graduation of 27 students who had completed a three-year skills and technical training programme at the Baworo ICCES in the Ejisu-Juaben district of Ashanti.
The students undertook courses in carpentry and joinery, building and construction, dressmaking and fashion design, electrical, catering, Batik, Tie and Dye, Pomade and Soap making, agriculture, entrepreneurship as well as business studies.
Nana Boateng said the ICCES were established to provide skills to the youth in rural communities and to create employment opportunities, thereby reducing rural-urban migration.
He said their training should be linked to the promotion and development of small-scale and micro enterprises in order to prepare them as potential business owners rather than potential job seekers.
Mr Padmore Mensah, acting Ejisu-Juaben District Co-ordinating Director, said the Centre had become a beacon of hope for most youth in the district and pledged the assembly's continued support to ensure its growth and expansion.
The Baworo Centre had since its establishment in year 2000, trained 148 students, some of whom were furthering their education, while others were in employment.