The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has introduced new innovative, employable and self-sustaining programmes aimed at redirecting the narrative of the agency, and serving as a fortune for beneficiaries and a panacea to all existing challenges faced by the beneficiaries of the agency.
The Director of Corporate Affairs at YEA, Emmanuel Kwasi Afriyie, in a statement, said, “These programmes – Job Centre, Artisan Directory and the Regional and District Agric-based Flagship projects – have been developed after thorough review and value for money audit of the existing modular programmes which the agency has been engulfed in during the past 12 years of existence.”
“The unemployment situation in the country necessitated stopgap measures that will train and give hands-on experience to young people and make them academically and practically ready for the job market. The agency over the period has done very well in this direction by implementing community health workers module, community protection assistants module, prisons service assistants module, fire service assistants module, community education teaching assistants module, among others,” the statement indicated.
However, it noted that a major challenge identified after the review was the fate of beneficiaries who exit the modules. It explained that even though some get absorbed by mother institutions, the figures are woefully inadequate leading to a bulk majority of them finding their way back unto other modules, and the rest going back into the labour market unemployed.
“Existing data also suggests that notwithstanding the immense contribution of these traditional modules, there is still a lot that can be done to facilitate sustainable employment for young people. This can be achieved through skills development, mechanised agriculture and extensive partnerships with both the public and private sectors,” it said.
“There is the need for an end to the seeming recycling of unemployment. The agency has, therefore, put forward and will within the next month launch its three new initiatives – the Job Centre, Artisan Directory and the Regional and District Flagship programmes. The Job Centre is a platform (online and physical) that will connect job seekers to employers of all fields within the public and private sectors across the country. It will capture all formal and informal employers as well as graduate and non-graduate job seekers,” it explained.
“The platform comes with three main components: Online portal – this is a virtual platform that allows job seekers to search and apply for jobs advertised by employers while employers on the other hand enjoy the convenience of advertising vacancies online and placing a request to the Job Centre for the supply of goal-oriented personnel.
Walk-in Centres – these are localized offices across all districts in the country designated to support and guide job seekers and employers alike. It is a face-to-face centre where advisory, counselling and mentoring services will be provided.
Training Hub – will be temporal centres set up to provide quality training, skills upgrade and matching to give job seekers a head start in the job market. Second is the Artisan Directory.
“Our third self-sustainable programme is the Regional and District Flagship programme. This project is premised on the peculiar agro-business needs of the various districts across the country. Our district offices are being supported with funds to venture into viable agricultural projects that will thrive within their communities while providing employment for its people,” it added.
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