Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with Salifu Saeed and students of Ghana Senior High School in Tamale
The Akufo-Addo’s government resolve to fully collapse the association of unemployed youth has resulted in the formation and launch of the schools entrepreneurship initiative to be rolled out in some selected senior high schools across the country.
The objective of the initiative is to inculcate entrepreneurial skills in SHS students, giving them the platform to become innovative and creative in job creation and subsequently bridging the educational and industrial gab in the country.
Launching the initiative, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia explained that it is not the sole preserve of any government to create jobs.
According to him, job creation should be collaborative efforts between government and mainly the private sector, where government gives and creates the right climate, atmosphere and economy for businesses to thrive.
He indicated that the entrepreneurial initiative in senior high schools would train some two million senior high school students in the next five years, with 10,000 students expected to be train with entrepreneurial skills annually.
Giving more details on the initiative, the vice president pointed out that under the initiative, entrepreneurial clubs would be instituted in some selected senior high schools through collaboration with the Ministry of Business Development, Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education.
These clubs, according to the vice president, would see to the entrepreneurial training of students in the selected schools.
The members of the clubs would then be allowed to come up with business plans, modules and proposals.
The vice president further revealed that business plan competitions will be organised among the selected schools, where members of the club would be expected to present their business plans to a selected jury.
The best business proposal would attract support from government through the Ministry of Business Development.
The Business Development Minister, Awal Mohammed, stated that the gap between education and industrialisation is the main cause of graduate unemployment in the country.
To change the narrative, the renowned business developer and strategist pointed out that promoting entrepreneurship among students, starting from the senior high school levels, is the way forward.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale