Speaking at the 21st graduation ceremony of the POKS Vocational Training Institute at Ashaiman, Mrs Mayne stressed that Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) had the potential to unlock the unemployment challenges facing the country if the youth embraced it to acquire practical skills and training to become economically self-reliant.

That, she explained, would reduce dependence on the government for employment.

Twenty-three young ladies graduated from the institute after a two-year course in fashion design and were presented with certificates.

The graduates made a bold fashion statement on the runway and wowed the audience with bold fashion statements and designs appropriate for various occasions including weddings, church activities and conferences, among other events.

Opportunity

Mrs Mayne urged the students to go out there in confidence and make the best of the opportunity given and continue to be ambassadors of the school.

She also encouraged them to take advantage of initiatives such as the intervention offered by the GEA for small and medium-sized businesses to build and scale their businesses.

These interventions, she stressed, will enable these businesses to become more competitive and also build and scale their businesses and create new job opportunities.

She encouraged the students to approach the GEA through its Business Advisory Centres located across the country to benefit from the numerous opportunities available at the moment to own their future.

Speaking on the theme “Advancing fashion skills for decent jobs and sustainable livelihood”, the CEO of POKS Vocational Training Institute, Rawlene Abena Pokua Guh, emphasised that the productive capabilities of the youth in skills acquisition and competencies were key to transforming from stagnation to growth and from low-income status to high-income status.

She said the institute, since its establishment in 2016, had trained more than 500 young women who had been equipped with skills such as pattern drafting, garment construction, fashion illustration, English and Business Management, adding that most of those graduates had gone ahead to established their own decent jobs and found sustainable incomes to support themselves and their immediate families.