YEA Recruits 84,483 Youth From January To May 20233 min read
The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has revealed that it recruited 84,483 youth from January to May 2023.
The Agency projected to recruit 71,500 youth through its programmes for the year 2023 but exceeded the target.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Kofi Agyepong explained that the figure exceeds its 2023 recruitment projection by 18 percent.
The Agency, he expatiated, has employed 6,000 community health workers, 15,000 community protection Assistants, and 1,500 Prison Service Assistants among others.
He was speaking at the launch of the Garment and Apparel Training and Employment Programme under the Apparel and Textiles module of the YEA in Kumasi on Monday, 14/08/2023.
The Module, he said aims at bridging the skill gaps and creating sustainable employment opportunities for young people interested in tailoring or dressmaking and ultimately contributing towards the growth and development.
He said the beneficiaries will be equipped with in-depth knowledge and hands-on training in various aspects of tailoring, and dress-making.
“We will engage the services of 30 big garment companies as well as 500 micro and small-scale seamstresses and tailors to train the youth under the module,” he noted.
Each of the micro and small-scale seamstresses and tailors, he said, will be given GH¢10,000 to train three or five of the beneficiaries for one year while the big garment companies will be given between GH¢10,000 to GH¢20,000 to train 10 beneficiaries each.
According to him, he has always been guided by His Excellency the President’s vision of a sustainable job creation for the youth by ensuring that the majority of them benefit from various programmes rolled out by the YEA and under the current management, the YEA has been able to achieve the recruitment of 6,000 Community Health Workers; recruitment of 15,000 Community Protection Assistants; recruitment of 1,500 Prisons Service Assistants; recruitment of 800 artisans for the INZAG Project.
“We still have the 45,000 beneficiaries for the youth in Sanitation Module, recruitment of 4,000 farm workers for the Afarinick Cocoa rehabilitation Programme; recruitment of 6,000 insurance agents, creation of over 11,000 employment opportunities through the YEA’s Job Centre,” he said.
Mr Agyepong said each of the beneficiaries will be given a GH¢500 stipend every month to undergo the training.
Chief of Staff
Chief Of Staff at the Office of The President, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare said the government is committed to youth employment interventions, by initiating policies aimed at providing skills, necessary for productivity growth and sustained development.
She said this at the official launch of the Youth Employment Agency’s (YEA) Youth Employment Agency’s Garment and Apparel Module in Kumasi.
According to her, the Free SHS policy, Free TVET intervention, and the numerous business support schemes available for youth start-ups and youth entrepreneurs across the country are key programme the government had employed to make lives better.
According to her, the YEA’s Garment and Apparel Module is a laudable initiative that plugs into the government’s efforts at promoting the Technical and Vocational Sector as a viable alternative means of employment.
The Chief of Staff called on all the master craftsmen of the Garment and Apparel Module to demonstrate a strong commitment by providing high-quality training to all beneficiaries, urging them to provide top-notch, high-quality technical skill transfer and acceptable business culture for all beneficiaries to emulate.
Minister of Employment
On his part, the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah on his part, stressed efforts the government is making to build the capacities of youth and create an enabling environment for them to secure and create jobs.
He mentioned that job creation has become a major factor in the development of the country hence, the government would not gloss over issues relating to the sector.
Ignatius Baffour-Awuah said his ministry together with YEA will soon launch and add other disciplines to the modules, adding that more is in the pipeline and Ghanaian youth must have confidence in the government.
