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Mr Frank Paa-Kumi, founding President of PALI Global, a talent development and public policy influencing entity, has advised the youth to build self-competence beyond what the country offers them in both social and academic environments.

He said exercising self-leadership was what could compensate for the prevailing falling standards in education, training, development and the inadequate employment avenues to match the growing demographics of the youth.

Mr Paa-Kumi gave the advice at the 2021/2022 Matriculation Ceremony of the Pantang Nursing and Midwifery Training College.

He admonished the over 400 matriculates, not to rely solely on the curriculum, but to embrace self- learning.

Mr Paa-Kumi, also a renowned Social Enterprise Practitioner, said the African environment submerged and suppressed enterprise and talents.

Therefore, every young person desirous of maximizing his or her fullest potential must be intentional and unconventional of the status quo.

He spoke about Self-empowerment as a tool to sharpen their practical skills, and more importantly, why they needed to direct their focus and energies on their inherent talents for 21st-century relevance and competitive edge as well.

Mr Paa-Kumi said if political actors and policymakers continued on the same developmental path without a fundamental shift, there was no future for the youth as they had been made to believe.

He said Ghana ranked 138 out of 189 under the medium-level category of the UN Human Development INDEX.

Adding to the reality checks, he stated that the current life expectancy ratio of Ghanaians was 64.17, which was a sharp contrast to Norway’s 82.64.

Furthermore, he said Ghana’s Gross Tertiary Ratio in the Education front presented a huge deficit in our human capital development.

Mr Paa-Kumi said to solve the problem, there should be a powerful presence of servant leadership; the emergence of leaders with sound ethical fortitude; pro-legacy driven leaders; strong demonstration of exemplary leaders.

There should also be a holistic approach for social orientation; responsive and patriotic citizenry and the need to alter the content and overall approach to instructional learning and outcomes.

On her part, Madam Mercy Adzor Kporku, Principal of the College, charged the matriculates to become agents of change in the overall mission of revamping the face of nursing and midwifery in the country.

She added that deciding to become career nurses and midwives was not only a noble cause, but sacred and global in nature.