Justina Owusu Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister has revealed that the rising youth unemployment in the country can be attributed to a mismatch in skills.

According to her, the increasing unemployment among the youth can be resolved via entrepreneurship and educational reforms.

Ms Banahene explained that what is needed is a mandatory entrepreneurship experience for the youth and educational reform. She further noted that the reforms must place emphasis on Technical, Vocational and Educational Training (TVET), which will make the youth employable.

“Mr. Speaker, a mismatch of skills has been found to contribute to the rising youth unemployment. All levels of education need to be smarter and teach academic skills through internships and apprenticeships to help young people learn things about work that they cannot get in the classroom”.
Justina Owusu Banahene

Additionally, Ms Owusu Banahene concerted to the fact that government regards the issue of youth unemployment and underemployment as a major developmental challenge. This, she emphasized, requires different approaches to resolve.

To resolve the challenge, the Bono Regional Minister stated that government is determined to provide the youth with employment opportunities.

Job creation in the private sector

Commenting on the limited job spaces in the private sector, Ms Banahene underscored the need for a reform in the educational sector. She explained that this will aid the preparation of the students to meet the demands of the industries and businesses.

The Bono Regional Minister equally highlighted government’s various interventions to ensure youth get employed.

Highlighting on the various achievement of the government, she emphasized on the introduction of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) to provide temporary jobs for the youth and help the youth acquire the necessary experience. Also, she intimated that the One District, One Factory has broadened their employment opportunities with the Planting for Food and Jobs making Agriculture more attractive to the youth.

That notwithstanding, Justina Owusu Banahene, emphasized that fundamental way of combating youth unemployment is through mandatory entrepreneurship experience and skills training via TVET.

“Many of our young people in our tertiary institutions have great business ideas, and if provided with the right nurturing and sensitization, they could easily set up their businesses after school and succeed”.
Justina Owusu Banahene

Youth Parliament initiative

On her part, Director of the National Youth Authority for the Bono Region, Fati Bamba, explained that the youth parliament initiative provides “the youth with a platform to learn how to express their views, give constructive criticisms, and above all participate effectively in the decision-making process on various developmental issues at the local level”.

She further stated that Bono Regional Secretariat has inaugurated about two-thirds of the youth Parliamentarians in the districts in and will soon inaugurate that of Bono East and Ahafo Regions.

Moreover, Fati Bambi stressed on the fact that the Youth Parliament initiative is non-partisan and offers room to the youths of Ghana. According to her, it incorporates individuals with different political affiliations.

Following this, she urged the members to conduct themselves properly during their deliberations befitting of the high office of Parliamentarians.

The Bono Regional NYA Director further noted that the Youth Parliamentarians must equally feed their peers with the right information.