The Department of Vocational and Technical  Education (VoTEC), University of Cape Coast, has celebrated the 2023 edition of the UNESCO UNEVOC World Youth Skills Day on the theme, “Skilling teachers, trainers and youth for a transformative future.”

 The annual celebration is to sensitise governments across the world to implement pragmatic interventions to support hands-on job creation and deepen awareness of citizens on economic opportunities that are available in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

 An expert in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), Dr Henry Fram Akplu, addressing the audience, attributed the rise in youth unemployment to the high demand for foreign goods by Ghanaians.

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Dr Henry Fram Akplu speaking at the programme

 "If we stubbornly buy foreign goods…we must realize we are punishing ourselves. I will say that the main cause of youth unemployment in Ghana, especially among skilled people, is our craze for foreign goods" he stated.

 Dr. Akplu advised the youth to acquire soft skills such as punctuality, positive attitude towards work, character and communication skills in their chosen career. He indicated that it was not enough for Ghanaian youth to have hard skills, pointing out that the soft skills provided an added advantage in developing one's career. The TVET expert further added that aside hardskills, no employer would hire an individual without a good attitude.

He counseled them to have multiple skills and refrain from limiting themselves to a particular job career.

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The audience at the lecture

Dr. Akplu said with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, Robots were taking up jobs of people in the world as a result of the attitudes of employees.

 "Robots don't steal, human beings will steal. Robots can’t feign sickness, humanbeings feign sickness," he explained.

 Dr Akplu advised Ghanaian youth to take jobs seriously to improve the socioeconomic development of the country.

The Director of DAQPA, Prof. Daniel Agyapong charged the youth to take a keen interest in the acquisition of skills that would make them employable so they do not end up joining thousands of unemployed youth parading on the streets across the country due to the lack of job opportunities in the country.

He was, therefore, confident that the current state of training the Department had empowered its students would soon turn the nation’s economy around as many students keep equipping themselves with the right skills to make them economically stable after completing their education.

 For her part, the Head of Department of VoTEC, Dr.  Patience Danquah Monnie, in a short address, said the Department would do everything it could to unleash the potentials of  students.

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HoD of VOTEC Dr. Patience Danquah Monnie speaking at the function

 She said the Department would imbibe the requisite technical knowledge and skills to ensure that Ghana’s future workforce was productive.

 Background

 In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 each year as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.

 It is based on this that countries select appropriate days to mark the day to remind the world of the need to support the training and acquisition of skills for the youth.

Source: Documentation and Information Section-UCC