Over 230,000 youth without employable skills said to enter Ghana’s job market annually

Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, on Monday said the need to train unemployed youth in various vocational and technical skills was crucial to solve the unemployment problem in Ghana.

He said over 230,000 people, with the majority being the youth between 15 and 35 years, entered the labour market annually with limited or no employable skills.

He therefore urged development partners to support the country’s budget to strengthen technical and vocational training institutions to help produce the competence needed.

Mr Mensah made the observation when Mr Nicholas Westcott, British High Commissioner to Ghana visited him to discuss labour and social welfare issues.

He said the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) was established to deal with unemployment; however there were challenges that undermined its success and sustainability.

Mr Mensah explained that the programme did not address the need for career progression beneficiaries; hence their transition from the programme to the world of work, stressing, skills training was government’s priority.

He therefore requested the British Government to continue to support the Ministry; especially in human resource development needed to enhance employment and social welfare issues.

Mr Mensah thanked the British Government for the support so far received and said the United Kingdom (UK) Government was a key supporter of the Multi-Donor Budgetary Support and provided the largest bilateral support in the form of about 40 million pounds sterling grant annually.

Mr Westcott said the UK Government was committed to increase aid and Africa remained top on British priority list for support.

“Reducing poverty and increasing wealth in Africa and the world at large is good for Britain,” he said and pointed that there was the need for sustainable jobs in the private sector.

Source: GNA