Mrs Sedinam Tamakloe-Ationu, National
Co-ordinator of National Youth Authority on Wednesday stressed the need for a national focus on the educational development of the youth especially those who are disadvantaged.
She said the youth formed the majority of the population and needed to be given much attention in all aspects of their lives.
Mrs Tamakloe-Ationu made the call during a working visit to Afienya Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institute at Afienya in the Greater Accra Region, to interact with the staff and have first hand information about the affairs and challenges of the facility.
She assured the staff and students that the authorities were working tirelessly to ensure that the institute received support from the Ghana Education Trust Fund and other organisations to improve operations.
Mrs Tamakloe-Ationu said more was required internally to improve the conditions of staff and students.
“To resolve problems of the institute there is the need for effective planning and implementation of programmes and policies to address issues internally,” she added.
Mrs Tamakloe-Ationu presented 10 laptops to the institute to facilitate the teaching and learning of Information Communication Technology.
Mr Evans Inkoom, Principal of the institute said since its inception in 1974 there had not been any major renovation of the structures, therefore the poor state of the infrastructure had affected teaching and learning.
Major problems of the institute are basic logistics to facilitate learning, infrastructure, inadequate staffing and funding.
“Since we are not included in the mainstream educational system, very little is done by government to support us. The little we receive cannot cater for all our needs,” he explained.
Mr Inkoom appealed to the government to organise periodic training programmes for the staff to upgrade their knowledge and skills and make provision for the students to participate in Inter-schools sports competitions organised by the Ghana Education Service.
He appealed to the Co-ordinator to take a critical look at the authority’s budget and make it more flexible to enable the institute to have a fare share, adding “government’s subvention for feeding and administrative expenses should also be considered.”
The Afienya Youth Leadership and Skills Training Institute was established to provide basic hands-on training to the disadvantaged youth in the society for them to learn a trade and become responsible adults in future.
The institute offer courses in Plumbing, Electrical, Building and Concreting, General Agriculture, Secretarial, Catering, Dressmaking, Welding and Fabrication.