Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpe, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Keta constituency in the Volta Region has advised youth of the area to venture into skill training.
He said this would reduce youth unemployment rate and equip more young ones with the requisite skills and knowledge.
Mr Gakpe, disclosed this to Ghana News Agency, in an interview during the final graduation ceremony held for some 103 apprentices, he sponsored in various skills at Kedzikope, a suburb of Keta.
“I spend close to 12 million Ghana cedis to get about 1,000 youth into various apprenticeship training and the idea was to make sure they also have something doing to support themselves,” he said.
Mr Gakpey expressed disappointment about how about 500 youth could not endure the three years’ apprenticeship skills training period with only a few to be graduated.
He said apprenticeship programmes were a game-changer for individuals and businesses alike which provided hands-on work experience, help develop industry-specific skills and can boost job creation and entrepreneurship.
He said apprenticeship programmes were crucial for skills development, improving productivity, and enhancing employability and help reduce unemployment rates and bridge the gap between education and work.
“We engaged youth in skills training such as carpentry, masonry, electrical work, fashion design, hairdressing, among others because this is a great way to identify and develop future talent for one’s business.”
Mr Gakpey said that apprenticeship programmes created opportunities to develop the skills of employees by combining on-the-job training with classroom instructions whilst apprentices gave practical experience and knowledge that benefited business.
He encouraged youth especially the male counterparts to engage in various skills and apprenticeship, “since it is beneficial to establish your own business or job than to always depend on others for survival.”
He said tools which included hairdryers, laptops, sewing machines, and others, worth thousands of cedis were provided to the graduating apprentices to help as a start-up to boost the economy and alleviate unemployment rate.
Mr Gakpe, the incumbent NDC MP for Keta who is contesting for the second term urged the constituents to ignore other competitors in the parliamentary race and give 95 per cent massive votes to the NDC and John Dramani Mahama for more development projects in the area.
Some apprentices of the GNA spoke with expressed gratitude and thanked the MP for the kind gesture and pledged to vote for him to continue the life changing projects.
