A section of the artisans. INSET: Dominic Eduah
About 400 artisans who were supported by the GNPC Foundation to write this year’s National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) certificate examination have graduated.
The examination was held at the Jubilee Grounds in Takoradi in the Western Region after the artisans had undergone a series of mock examinations also sponsored by the foundation.
The artisans who were drawn from the Western and Western North regions enrolled under the foundation’s ‘Skilled Artisans Project’, in collaboration with Aseda Foundation, a non-governmental organization in the Western Region.
The project offered a two-year free training to the beneficiaries in vocational and technical skills.
The Executive Director of GNPC Foundation, Dominic Eduah, said the foundation would continue to support communities with basic amenities and other educational facilities as well as giving of scholarships.
He mentioned that the foundation’s ‘Skilled Artisans Project’ would train about 4,000 youths in various vocational and technical disciplines in the region.
He disclosed that this year’s beneficiaries also went through some training in financial literacy and management.
He said apart from giving the beneficiaries the requisite logistics to enable them to start an enterprise on their own, the foundation would also be providing them with metal containers in their respective districts to operate from.
Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of GNPC Foundation, said the foundation was making sure that all Ghanaians benefitted from the oil revenue by embarking on numerous initiatives to improve the living standards of the people.
The Member of Parliament for Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira, Catherin Afeku, said the current government was keen on skills development and was inaugurating more NVTIs in the country to train the youth to acquire employable skills.
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aseda Foundation, Diana Adjei, said the objective of establishing the foundation was to help the Ghanaian youth acquire skills in craftsmanship.
She said the foundation trains the youth in vocations such as fabrication, fitting, welding, aluminium works, electronics, spraying, painting, tiling works, dressmaking and hairdressing, among others.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi