The management of the Ghana National Service Scheme (NSS) received a delegation from the Republic of Kenya as part of a two-day visit to Ghana on the 27th – 28th June 2018.
The visit was to afford the delegation an opportunity to study the operations of the NSS with the hope of learning new ways to improve youth service in their country.
The five-member delegation, led by the Administration Secretary at the State Department for Post Training and Skills Development, an agency under the Ministry of Education in Kenya, Ms. Lucy Mulili, met the top management of the NSS, led by its Deputy Executive Director (Finance and Administration), Dr. Gifty Oware-Aboagye, at the start of a two-day tour.
Discussions between the two parties bothered primarily on youth service policies, strategic modules, and challenges in implementing the policies. They discussed the role of the government in tackling youth unemployment, which is taking a toll on the youth.
Both parties agreed that the comprehensive approach to address the concerns of the youth required modules that are integrated with the development of skills that are linked to industry.They also shared ideas and expertise on the best way forward.
On the first day of the visit, the team was given a brief about the mandate, activities and operations of the scheme. On the second day of the visit, the team was taken on a tour to some project sites of the scheme such as the Papao Demonstrations Farm and the Nungua Farms where they witnessed the many agricultural projects the scheme was undertaking such as poultry, piggery, aquaculture, etc.
They also had the opportunity to interact with National Service Personnel who shared their experiences.
“I am very impressed with the self-supporting programmes of the service in terms of their agricultural sector, catering services, bottled water production as well as manufacturing and fabrication modules that generate income for the scheme” Ms. Lucy Mulili stated.
Ghana’s approach
Dr. Gifty Oware-Aboagye, the Deputy Executive Director of Ghana National Service highlighted the effort by the government aimed at curbing the issue of unemployment in the country. She specifically mentioned the Nation Builders Corps Programme (NABCO), Youth Employment Agency (YEA), the Youth Enterprise Support (YES) and the establishment of the National Youth Authority (NYA), to strategically address such needs.
The Kenyan Experience
Explaining the operations of the Department of Post Training and Skills Development in Kenya, Ms. Mulili said her country was restructuring its youth service programmes to match with the need of the times and thus, needed fresh ideas to comprehensively address it.
She, however, called for collective and integrated solutions to address the needs of the youth since they form majority of the African population.