The Executive Director of the National Service scheme Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi has disclosed that the focus of the National service scheme is to become an employable agency that will create job opportunities for the youth in the country.
Speaking at the 2021/2022 Ladekotopon Municipality National Service scheme Personnel Association (NASPA) Election and Orientation at Burma Camp in Greater Accra said data available indicated that only 24 percent of the youth after National service do get employed but the remaining 76 percent becomes jobless which is affecting the nation’s development.
“Per our records, only 24 percent of National Service Personal reliably find a job while a whole 76 percent end jobless at the end of each service year”. Mr. Assibey Antwi
According to Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi, the scheme aims is to roll out innovative programs that will ensure that service personnel is gainfully and reliably employed after each service year to help reduce the growing number of unemployed graduates in the country.
He explained that the programs among others will equip the service personnel with the requisite skills to successfully create their enterprise after each service year.
Mr. Assibey Antwi said the new focus of the NSS emanated from the fact that statistics showed a rather staggering number of service persons add up to the unemployed numbers each year.
According to him, the newly introduced initiatives included Pathways to Sustainable Employment (PaSE) Project Ghana Tech Lab (GTL), which is currently training 600 service personnel in mobile apps and websites building skills; Venture Building Program (NSS) and University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) which is grooming 91 Service Personnel with entrepreneurship skills throughout the service year and GNSS/Ghana Export Promotion Authority, which is training 63 personnel in entrepreneurship and other skills required to create products and services which can be exported outside Ghana.
Other modules include GNSS/Ghana Enterprises Agency, a program training National Service Personnel in entrepreneurship and provide support in various business fields in the country; the Stanbic Graduate Transition Support Program (GTSP), which is currently providing a sustainable financial support system for National Service Personnel in the areas of financial literacy and business development; the NSS-GTA Support program, which has currently deployed 677 personnel to support the development of tourism in the country; Youth in Greenhouse Enterprise Project, which is training National service personnel in agri-business field and NSS
Construction and Housing Project which is training Personnel to embark on construction of real estate housing.
According to Mr. Osei -Asibbey Antwi, the initiatives, which are currently running as pilot programmes would be ran as fully operational modules with increased number of personnel intakes by the beginning of the next service year.
“For example, the PaSE project which is currently training 600 personnel in the development of mobile applications and websites will be expanded to train 20,000 personnel by the beginning of next service year,” he explained.
He said the programs were created on the back of careful and in-depth research on the current industry demands that require skill set to propel growth and optimum income.
“All these programs have been introduced to solve problems; we didn’t just create them but we did research and found the problems and we are providing the solutions”, he emphasized.
Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi further urged service Personnel to exhibit good traits to uphold the name of the Scheme.
“You are all ambassadors of the Scheme and as such, you have a big responsibility to be respectful to authorities, be time conscious and hardworking because it is only by these traits that you can be recommended to businesses and at the same time project and protect the good name of National Service Scheme” he further stressed”.