The trainees received certificates after their training in interior decoration, painting, plumbing, carpentry, land surveying and tiling, machine operation, electrical installation, welding and fabrication.

The YIEDIE project is funded by the Global Communities (GC) and supported by the Youth Employment Synergies (YES), the Artisans Association of Ghana (AAG) and the African Aurora Business Network (AABN).

The project is a five-year programme that targets young people between 17 and 24 years who are out of school and unemployed but interested in working in the construction industry.

The YIEDIE

The Executive Director of the Opportunities Industrialisation Centre, Ghana (OICG), Mr Samuel Debrah, said the centre had succeeded in capitalising its strengths and external opportunities which had made an impact in the communities where it operated.

He said the board members of the OICG, in 2001, on the realisation that some youth could not access the formal training programmes at its three centres, opted for the YIEDIE project.

“Therefore, a new approach to provide systematic and holistic training for the youth was developed, using the traditional apprenticeship system. This was meant to bring skills training to the doorstep of the youth,” he said.

Government support

The acting Director of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), Mr Fred Kyei Asamoah, said the government had been working hard to enhance vocational education in the country through the prioritisation of resource allocation, which signified hope for the future.

“The industrial base of a country depends on the skills of its citizens. It is an agenda for economic transformation and as a nation, we need to give the needed attention to and support technical and vocational education,” he said.

Create jobs

A representative of the GC, Mrs Catherine Adwoa Mills, urged the graduands to use the knowledge and skills acquired to create jobs for themselves, either as individuals or by forming entrepreneurial groups.